Think buying American will help ease inflation? Larry Summers says it won’t

Many Americans believe the best way to fight rising prices is to purchase US-made goods, in theory, less affected by COVID-fueled disruptions to global supply chains.

For former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, they're wrong.

"I think the right thing to do is to buy cheap and buy inexpensive."

When Americans decide to buy more expensive US-made products, he says that contributes to driving up prices even more, and to what he calls an "inflationary psychology" that only makes the problem worse.

Tariffs from the trade war with China, Summers clarifies, are indeed costing American jobs, but at the end of the day it's a negotiation — and playing hardball with the Chinese has definitely not helped with inflation.

Watch this clip from his interview with Ian Bremmer on the upcoming episode of GZERO World.

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