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An intimate Q&A with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, President Emeritus and the Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University.[vc_raw_html]JTVCb3B0aW4tbW9uc3Rlci1zaG9ydGNvZGUlMjBpZCUzRCVFMiU4MCU5RGh3bGFsemRvdjRteWF3YThwZGR4JUUyJTgwJTlE[/vc_raw_html][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Larry%20Summers%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22President%20Emeritus%2C%20Harvard%20University%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Lawrence%20H.%20Summers%20is%20President%20Emeritus%20of%20Harvard%20University.%20During%20the%20past%20two%20decades%20he%20has%20served%20in%20a%20series%20of%20senior%20policy%20positions%2C%20including%20vice%20president%20of%20development%20economics%20and%20chief%20economist%20of%20the%20World%20Bank%2C%20Undersecretary%20of%20the%20Treasury%20for%20International%20Affairs%2C%20Director%20of%20the%20National%20Economic%20Council%20for%20the%20Obama%20Administration%20from%202009%20to%202011%2C%20and%20Secretary%20of%20the%20Treasury%20of%20the%20United%20States%2C%20from%201999%20to%202001.%20He%20received%20a%20bachelor%20of%20science%20degree%20from%20the%20Massachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology%20in%201975%20and%20was%20awarded%20a%20Ph.D.%20from%20Harvard%20in%201982.%20In%201983%2C%20he%20became%20one%20of%20the%20youngest%20individuals%20in%20recent%20history%20to%20be%20named%20as%20a%20tenured%20member%20of%20the%20Harvard%20University%20faculty.%20In%201987%20Summers%20became%20the%20first%20social%20scientist%20ever%20to%20receive%20the%20annual%20Alan%20T.%20Waterman%20Award%20of%20the%20National%20Science%20Foundation%20(NSF)%20and%20in%201993%2C%20he%20was%20awarded%20the%20John%20Bates%20Clark%20Medal%2C%20given%20every%20two%20years%20to%20the%20outstanding%20American%20economist%20under%20the%20age%20of%2040.%20He%20is%20currently%20the%20Charles%20W.%20Eliot%20University%20Professor%20at%20Harvard%20University.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2232263%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22%20Director%20of%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20In%20addition%20to%20being%20the%20editor%20of%20Top1000funds.com%2C%20she%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20global%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts.%20She%20holds%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20and%20a%20Masters%20of%20Art%20in%20Journalism%20and%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2025%20years.%20She%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2231872%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
Key takeaways
The government needed to step in to contain the potential of vicious spirals caused by COVID-19.
We need a more effective strategy for COVID-19 because it has arisen not from the financial system, but from an external force, the virus.
I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been more ingenuity in the United States regarding testing and tracing… I’m disappointed we are not doing more to plan more aggressively for future pandemics.
A W or K shape recovery may eventuate.
Beyond the threat of COVID-19, there are profound questions around the functioning of American democracy, the complexity of the US-China relationship and public concerns around climate change and terrorism.
The US is supposed to be a democratic role model and yet roads are filled with potholes, male life expectancy is declining, racial injustice is prevalent, there is an unwillingness to support the idea of international community and educational standards are lagging much of the world.
The rest of the world has a very profound stake in the future of America and yet the US is, in many ways, a society that isn’t working. We are increasingly ineffective and polarised. This is a huge challenge for those that believe in a positive American destiny.
The fact that the government is so distrusted raises some very real questions.
I do not subscribe to the orthodox finance narrative that suggests excessive borrowing is the USA’s major issue right now. I am worried about the US budget deficit, but I’m more worried about the environmental and justice deficit and the crumbling roads.
It’s a mistake to think that an increase in inflation is inconceivable – things have a way of coming back over time. However, there are currently a number of deflationary pressures.
This should be the best opportunity ever for the leading universities to magnify their impact all over the world via digital distribution of content and achieving greater personalisation. I don’t know whether they will step up in this regard.
A great strength of US society has always been its resilience. I am hopeful that America’s best days belong to the future.
The US & China are like two people that don’t have much time for each other stuck in a 2-person lifeboat in rough seas far from shore. Can they find ways of accommodating each other to get safely to shore? This will require restraint from leaders that we haven’t yet seen.
For the election, there is 1/3 chance that Trump is re-elected, 1/3 chance that Biden is elected and 1/3 chance that Biden wins with a significant margin of victory.
If Trump is re-elected, the biggest thing we will see is the continuity of chaos. A Biden victory would bring a return to normality (which would be good for markets) and more prudent public investment that will support business. Biden would invest in trade peace not trade war.
The Florida State Board of Administration has made some strategic moves to take advantage of opportunities in the dislocation, including in private equity, distressed debt and active listed equities.. But CIO, Ash Williams, is concerned about the underlying real economy.
The Responsible Asset Allocator Initiative finds that 25 leading public pension and sovereign wealth funds, with assets of $6 trillion, are investing tens of billions of dollars in COVID-19 solutions and in funds to support stricken companies. Here they look at what the leading asset allocators around the world are doing to respond to the pandemic.
Global economic activities will not be back to pre-COVID levels until 2022 according to CPP Investments’ outlook, with the giant Canadian investor expecting the situation to get worse before it gets better.
The coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge of volatility across global financial markets. In this paper, MSCI looks at five key lessons for investors from the crisis, including that managing factors was more critical than picking stocks.
New research looking at the impact of COVID-19 under different scenarios – from opening of economies to no vaccine – suggests the economic consequences of COVID-19 under all scenarios is substantial and the ongoing economic adjustment is far from over.
Meticulous planning for the next market crash, and an eye on liquidity, meant IMCO was well positioned to invest, particularly in credit, when the opportunity arose. The fund continues to use its agility to its advantage and is now looking for opportunities in private markets.
It is critical to analyse how much COVID-19 could impact the US economy and stock markets but most of the traditional factors or economic indicators will lag the market movement. Therefore, alternative datasets other than the financial data show their explanation power to provide insights into the pandemic. This article, by academics at Tsinghua University, University of Illinois and Carnegie Mellon University, looks at the pattern of the market fluctuation from the perspective of alternative data.
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