Event Summary
Lawrence H. Summers and Robert B. Zoellick both oppose various elements of "the new Washington Consensus" that is emerging against trade and for industrial policy. They share their different perspectives on the impact of this new approach on the US and global economies in a discussion hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) on July 25, 2023.
Zoellick has written on the subject in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that President Biden's "industrial policy doesn't serve consumers, but its rules and subsidies will be hard to undo." Adam S. Posen contributed to the topic in a Foreign Policy essay in March, "America's Zero-Sum Economics Doesn't Add Up." Summers and Zoellick have also coauthored two recent pieces in Foreign Affairs and the Washington Post on using Russia's seized assets for rebuilding Ukraine.
A Q&A with PIIE president Adam S. Posen follows.
SPEAKERS
Lawrence H. Summers
Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus, Harvard University
Robert B. Zoellick
Senior Counselor, Brunswick Group; Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor, Harvard Kennedy School