Summers Sees Signals of a Sharp Drop-Off in Economic Activity

Former Treasury chief says data on current conditions strong

Leading indicators suggest risk of ‘Wile E. Coyote’ moment

• Inventories “look to be building up relative to sales.”
• Companies are “reporting concerns about their order books.”
• The business sector appears to have a high payroll head-count relative to “the level of output they’re producing.”
• “Consumer savings are being depleted, with a low savings rate.”
  

The most worrying is forward order books, and the high payroll head-count.