Lagarde reiterates Europe, US shouldn’t engage in subsidy race

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reiterated that Europe and the US should avoid excessively offering economic perks in a bid to boost growth.

“We should not become engaged in a subsidy race between our economies, which creates a zero-sum game,” Lagarde said Monday in a speech at Yale University. 

“We should instead ensure that we use our collective weight in international trade to discourage others from anti-competitive practices, while increasing the free flow of ideas amongst ourselves — a positive-sum game,” she said.

The remarks echo comments last week by Lagarde, who reckons Europe and the US would be better served by ensuring “a level playing field between countries that play by the rules,” while acting “robustly” where rules are being broken to create an unfair advantage.