“Do you think there’s going to be a recession this year?” Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour asked President Joe Biden Wednesday.
“No,” he answered. “No. Or next year. From the moment I got elected, how many of the experts are saying ‘within the next six months there’s going to be a recession?’”
During his State of the Union address Tuesday, Biden praised the economic accomplishments of his administration, citing low unemployment, rising incomes and inflation that appears to now be coming down after months of increases. He also made headlines for pushing heckling Republicans into cheering for Medicare and Social Security.
However, Woodruff noted that polls going into the address indicate that Americans had a pessimistic view of the nation’s economy.
CBS poll results released this week showed that more than half of those surveyed believed that Biden’s policies were negatively impacting inflation, gas prices and the U.S. economy. Additionally, 49% said the president’s policies were making their family’s finances worse, compared to 33% who said the policies had no impact and 18% who said the policies made their finances better.
According to Gallup poll results released Wednesday, 50% of respondents said that they were worse off financially that the year prior.
“It’s clear our overall economic plan is working, but there’s much more work to do,” Biden said during a Thursday speech. “Now, let’s build on the progress we made. Let’s protect lower prescription drug costs for seniors. Expand health coverage for more who need it and can’t get it. Defend and strengthen the Social Security and Medicare system. Keep building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. We know we can do this.”
Even with some positive economic markers, Americans should expect continuing pressure from interest rate hikes instituted by the Federal Reserve Bank, which make it more expensive to borrow money. The most recent rate increase was this month.
“We’re just at the beginning of this process,” of lowering inflation, said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week. Rate hikes are a method the bank uses to decrease inflation – however, they also bring the risk of a recession if they slow the labor market too much, according to The New York Times.
While Biden is optimistic about the economy, some experts believe it is only a matter of time before the U.S. is in a recession.
“There’s a 100% chance of a recession at some point. And it’s just a question of the arrival time, the depth, the duration, the severity of it,” Mark Hamrick, Washington Bureau chief and senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com, told WWL’s Newell Normand in an interview this month.
Other analysts “are raising the possibility that it will not land at all – that growth will simply hold up,” The New York Times reported this week. Reuters also reported that signs of a global recession also seem to be growing fainter this week as China’s economy reopens, European gas prices come down and inflation in the U.S. eases.
According to The New York Times, Ajay Rajadhyaksha – global chairman of research at Barclays bank – said that “so far, the U.S. economy has proved unexpectedly resilient,” as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine have spurred economic disruption.
“I’ve long said it’s never, ever – and I mean this from the bottom of my heart – it’s never, ever been a good bet to bet against the American people,” Biden said Thursday. “And I can honestly say – we’ve got a lot – a lot more to do, but I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future. Just remember who we are, for God’s sake. We’re the United States of America. Nothing – nothing is beyond our capacity if we work together.”
Related
Related
