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

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned against allowing the president to interfere in monetary policy making, otherwise it will only hurt the economy over time. "It's a fool's game to let politicians get involved," Summers said on Friday. "The end result is higher inflation and a weaker economy."

The day before Summers made these remarks, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he believed the president should have a certain "say" in the Fed's policy making. The former president, who urged Fed 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 was 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 related 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, 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)