Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers opposes political interference in the Federal Reserve and expects a 50-basis-point rate cut in September.

Odaily Odaily News: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned against allowing the president to interfere in monetary policy making, otherwise it will only end up hurting the economy over time. "It's a fool's game to let politicians get involved," Summers said Friday. "The end result is higher inflation and a weaker economy." Summers' remarks came a day after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he believed the president should have a "say" in Federal Reserve policy making. The former president, who urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to ease policy while in office, said: "I think in many cases my instincts are better than those of Fed officials or their chairman." "I'm really shocked at how bad this idea is," Summers said of Trump's proposal. "The president has a lot to do at any time and is actually not as closely connected to the economy as the 19 Fed governors and presidents," who are focused on constantly reviewing every economic statistic. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Summers stressed that countries around the world have long given central banks independence because they recognize that politicians have "serious conflicts of interest" in monetary policy. He said officials "will always be tempted to print more money and lower interest rates - step on the gas pedal to boost the economy." Summers, who served in senior economic positions in the Clinton and Obama administrations, said this pressure raises people's inflation expectations and pushes up long-term interest rates. "You get higher inflation but you don't get any substantial output growth." (Global Market Report)