President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have dismissed the concerns of many economists who predicted a coming recession, saying that a U.S. recession was not inevitable. Moreover, Biden insisted that the U.S. will “overcome this inflation,” while Yellen acknowledged that “inflation is unacceptably high.”
Biden: U.S. Recession Not Inevitable
President Joe Biden reiterated to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Monday that a U.S. recession is not “inevitable.”
When asked by Biden about the possibility of a recession, one reporter said, “Economists are saying a recession is more likely than ever.”
The president immediately interrupted the reporter and said, “I’m not.” It’s not a majority. Come on, don’t make it up. Biden added: “Now you sound like a Republican politician. I’m joking. That was a joke, a joke.”
“Joking aside,” the president continued.
No, I don’t think it is. I was talking to Larry Summers this morning, and there is no inevitability to a recession.
Referring to a conversation Biden claims to have had with former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, he said on NBC Sunday:” My best guess is a recession awaits.”
Summers explained his recession prediction. He said, “Because we’ve never had a situation like we have now, where inflation is over 4%, unemployment is over 4%, and we’re going to have a recession within a year or two. So I think the Fed is likely to raise interest rates to the point where the economy is in recession in order to do what is necessary to stop inflation.”
This is not the first time Biden has dismissed fears of a coming U.S. recession. In an interview with the Associated Press last week after the Federal Reserve announced its biggest interest rate hike since 1994, he opined.
First of all, it is not inevitable. Second, we are in a stronger position than any other country in the world to overcome this inflation.
Chair Yellen predicts a slowdown in the U.S. economy, but insists a recession is not entirely inevitable
Sharing Biden’s optimistic view of the U.S. economy is Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. She told ABC News on Sunday that the recession that many Americans fear is “not imminent at all.”
“I expect the economy to slow down. The economy has been growing at a very fast rate since the labor market recovered and reached full employment. It is now natural to expect a transition to steady and stable growth,” Yellen emphasized, saying:
But I don’t think a recession is entirely inevitable.
Nonetheless, the Treasury Secretary stressed:”
Yellen also said earlier this month at the Times Dealbook D.C. policy forum that “there is nothing to suggest a recession.”
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