MW Here's Larry Summers' advice to Trump on the economy and Elon Musk

By Chris Matthews

'Build, baby, build' should be the Trump administration motto, Summers said

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is a longtime Democrat who served as an advisor to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, but he remains cautiously optimistic that President-elect Donald Trump, and his advisor Elon Musk, could make some positive contributions to the U.S. economy.

Asked what advice he would give the to the incoming president, Summers said that the government's motto should be focused on removing roadblocks to innovation.

"We need to be able to build, baby, build in the United States," Summers said Thursday at the FinRegLab AI symposium in Washington, D.C.

He argued there were too many barriers to constructing data centers, energy producing facilities, and electricity transmission systems to help power the AI revolution and new green technology.

"These are potentially complex and risky technologies, and the government needs to, less by law than by moral force, establish close connections where real experts within government who are closely monitoring and following developments," in the sector, he said.

Summers argued that a key risk for the U.S. economy is a failure of government and other institutions to engage in "forward motion" and evolve in ways that support innovations like AI.

He also argued that Tesla $(TSLA)$ CEO Elon Musk could be a positive influence on the new administration, and that he is "watching with fascination and considerable alarm" as Trump assembles his cabinet and plots a new course for the American government.

Summers said asking whether Elon Musk's presence as a Trump advisor is a good thing is a question "that is too hard to give a simple answer to."

"It's like asking whether rain is good for New England," Summers said. "Yeah rain is good for New England, but not too much."

He added that Musk's impact on the American capacity to explore outer space has been a "stunning thing," and a clear positive for the economy and national security.

"Has his every political and cultural attitude accorded with my concept of the national interest? I'd have to say no," Summers said. "Government has to draw a delicate balance between drawing on the the wisdom, experience and effectiveness of the private sector and not getting co-opted by the private sector."

-Chris Matthews

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November 21, 2024 10:42 ET (15:42 GMT)

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