(Reuters) – Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker warned the Trump administration’s handling of domestic issues as well as trade talks with China is hurting the United States’ long-term prosperity.
“We have not been on a constructive track,” Volcker told Bridgewater co-chief investment officer Ray Dalio, in a podcast video released on Tuesday. “I think that’s fair to say.”
Volcker, widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s, said Trump’s big tax cuts and spending increases underscore the lack of transparency of the president’s administration.
“We rammed through a massive tax bill. Whatever you think about that tax bill, it shouldn’t have been rammed through Congress without any debates at midnight on Dec. 31,” Volcker said.