Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Summers opposed to political interference in the Fed, expects September may be able to cut rates by 50 basis points

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned against presidential intervention in monetary policymaking, which would only end up hurting the economy over time. As for the Fed's policy decision, the former Treasury Secretary said that given the market volatility since Monday's turmoil and the stock market downturn has eased, “as far as the current facts are concerned”, any emergency rate cuts are untenable. Nonetheless, Summers said that “a 50 basis point rate cut may be appropriate” at the September policy meeting.