President Joe Biden told reporters Monday that he’s not worried by speculation that the U.S. economy might be in a recession when economic data comes out Thursday.
Biden held a virtual press conference Monday afternoon, in advance of data scheduled to be released on Thursday that could confirm that the economy has contracted for two consecutive quarters, a commonly used definition of recession.
Biden was asked by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy how “worried Americans should be that we could be in a recession,” to which he responded “we’re not gonna be in a recession, in my view.”
Biden says he doesn’t expect the US to go into a recession https://t.co/YWxsZlQkFi pic.twitter.com/eNhl7EeC4a
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) July 25, 2022
Biden’s response comes following similar comments by administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, economic adviser Brian Deese and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, disputing what makes a recession. (The White House Wants To Redefine ‘Recession’ Ahead Of Possibly Disastrous GDP Report)
Two consecutive quarters of negative growth is a recession no matter what the Biden Administration says.
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) July 25, 2022
The administration noted that the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) determines whether the economy is in a recession, and NBER does, in fact, say that “there is no fixed rule about what measures contribute information to the process or how they are weighted in our decisions,” including the two quarters of contraction indicator.
But in each of the past ten instances that GDP has contracted two quarters in a row, NBER has deemed the economy to be in a recession, casting doubt on Biden’s optimism.
The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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