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Trump Tariffs Could Cost $30 Trillion Or About $300,000 Per Family, Says Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers: 'Most Expensive And Masochistic'

Former Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers, also known as Larry Summers, described the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump as the “most expensive and masochistic” move by the U.S., which could roil the economy, erasing trillions of dollars.

What Happened: Summers explained the calculation behind the magnitude of losses that the economy can endure in a series of X posts. According to him, the stock futures fell 2-3% after Trump's announcement, erasing about $1.5 trillion, and the market had already priced in some of the impact in the days leading up to April 2nd.

Thus, he estimated losses of about $4 trillion in the stock market, which represents the lost corporate profits. Additionally, Summers explains that “Corporate profits are about 10 percent of GDP, so very conservatively the present value of economic loss is 5 times the stock market loss or $20 trillion.”

Trump's tariffs are the most expensive and masochistic the US has pursued in decades.A very crude estimate of Trump's tariffs puts the projected loss at $20 trillion dollars, or well over $200,000 per family of four.Here is the basis for the calculation:

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) April 3, 2025

As the market tumbled further, in a following post, he ...

https://www.benzinga.com/25/04/44622754/tariffs-are-most-expensive-and-masochistic-could-cost-30-trillion-to-the-economy-erasing-300k-per-family-explains