Larry Summers, who served as treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama, has issued a stark warning that inflation, rather than “excessive slack” in the economy as it bounces back from the pandemic recession, has now become the chief risk. Summers penned an op-ed in The Washington Post on May 24, in which said that “even six months ago, it was reasonable to regard slow growth, high unemployment, and deflationary pressures as the predominant risk to the economy.” But the recent stream of economic data, including a sharp rise in the consumer price index, record-high levels of job openings, business hiring difficulties, growing wages, and an economy growing at its fastest pace in decades, strongly suggest that inflation is looming ever larger as the key risk, he argued. “Now, the primary risk to the U.S. economy is overheating—and inflation,” he …