“Do we have huge problems? Yes. Is this the first time we’ve had huge problems? Hell no. Is there the prospect that we can solve those problems? Yes!”

Larry Summers

That’s Larry Summers at the All-In Summit last week. The former Treasury secretary gave a sweeping overview of America’s current position on the world stage — and we’re looking good.

“I’d rather be playing the hand of the United States than the hand that Xi Jinping is playing, than the hand that India is playing, certainly than the hand that societies in Asia, where they’re only going to be half as may people a century from now, are playing, certainly than the societies of Western Europe.”

Larry Summers

I couldn’t agree more with Summers here.

Xi has crushed the entrepreneurial spirit in China. India has ethnic tensions far beyond anything we could imagine.

Japan and Korea’s populations are falling off a cliff. Europe is aging and sclerotic.

There’s no German ChatGPT. There’s no French SpaceX.

That tells you everything you need to know.

For all his optimism, Summers is clear-eyed about our problems. He thinks it will take a recession to beat inflation, noting that a soft landing would be unprecedented.

He blames the Fed’s slow reaction to escalating prices for today’s predicament.

“…they made bad decisions and they kept making them too long…”

Larry Summers

Nonetheless, America has one thing going for it: a dynamic system.

When we face problems, we don’t just sit on our butts. We find a way to fix them.

Our self-criticism makes us take action. We just have to be sure it doesn’t make us lose hope.

“Patrick Henry said in 1792…that the spirit of the revolution had already been lost.”

Larry Summers

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve heard the same refrain: “The country is going down the tubes.” Meanwhile, with a couple brief interruptions, all we’ve done is grow richer.

The little rust belt town where I grew up is now filled with high end condos. The field across from my grandma’s in Kentucky is now McMansions.

For all it’s problems, America keeps moving forward. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

“We are the place that people from every part of the world want to come to.”

Larry Summers

What do you think of Summers talk? Leave a comment and let us know!

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