Summers, the former US Treasury secretary, recently told Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Weekly that "engaging politicians is a stupid game" and that "the end result is higher inflation and a weaker economy." Mr. Summers warned that any presidential influence on US monetary policymaking would ultimately hurt the economy. Administration officials "always want to print more money and lower interest rates - put their foot on the gas pedal to boost the economy". Such pressures raise expectations of inflation and push up long-term interest rates. Such actions by administration officials would only "increase inflation without a substantial increase in output". As for the Fed's current policy decisions, Mr. Summers said any emergency rate cut was unnecessary "based on the facts as they stand" given that market volatility and stock market selling had eased since Monday's turmoil. However, Summers believes that at the September policy meeting, "a 50 basis point cut may be appropriate".