U.S. is equipped for downturn, he said.
America’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022 after posting significant gains to round out 2021. Generally, the economy must post consecutive quarters of negative growth coupled with high unemployment and other signs of declining commerce, before it is considered to be in recession.
A member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, Jared Bernstein, said he is not discounting a recession in the near future. But, he said, the United States is uniquely equipped to handle such an economic downturn.
Mr. Bernstein stated, “I can tell the American people that we are in a much better position when it comes to that recession question than pretty much any other advanced country we’ve seen. You can never rule anything out, so that’s not really a relevant question.” He claimed the “key point here is less about forecasting and probability. That’s a very uncertain game right now. It’s what we are actually doing, correctly, to meet the challenges we know that American households face.”
“The thing you have to ask yourself, with all of these polling results and all these inflationary pressures of which we are acutely aware, is: ‘Is this country, is this economy, in a position of strength to face what’s coming at us, especially compared to other economies that face the same pressures?'” he said. “I think the answer, if you look at our job numbers, if you look at our GDP growth, if you look at household incomes and how their savings are doing, you would conclude that we are approaching this moment from a position of strength.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For wisdom for the members of the Council of Economic Advisors as they advise the president.
- For discernment for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as the board raises interest rates.
- For the president’s administration as they make decisions that address the U.S. economy.
Sources: CNN, Washington Examiner
