Clinton Treasury secretary and Bank of America sound alarm over inflation and recession

Bank of America Chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett and Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers both warned about the dire state as inflation continues to rise and recession may already be hitting families.

"We're in [a] technical recession but just don't realize it," Bank of America chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett wrote Friday in the bank's Flow Show note, Business Insider reported.

He predicted the economy will get worse.

"In short, inflation shock not over, rates shock just starting, growth shock coming, no release valve from peak in yields, bear market rally too consensus," Hartnett wrote.

Summers, Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the United States is likely to fall into a recession soon. 

"I think, when inflation is as high as it is right now, and unemployment is as low as it is right now, it's almost always been followed within two years by inflation, by recess," he told host Dana Bash. 

"I look at what's happening in the stock and bond markets. I look at where consumer sentiment is. I think there's certainly a risk of recession in the next year. And I think, given where we have gotten to, it's more likely than not that we will have a recession within the next two years," Summers predicted. 

The former secretary also said that the United States will be up to the challenge of a recession. 

"That is something we can manage. We have had them for the whole history of the country. We need to be prepared and to respond quickly if and when it happens," he said. "But I think the optimists were wrong a year ago in saying we'd have no inflation, and I think they're wrong now in being -- if anyone's highly confident that we're going to avoid recession."

The Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index report released Friday showed that overall, the cost of goods for urban customers increased by 1% in May.

The cost of all items increased 8.6% from May 2021, marking the largest 12-month increase since December 1981.