A Fox Business host said the U.S. economy is now in a recession as the coronavirus spreads throughout the country.
“I think we are in a recession right now. In fact, I think we’re going into it,” said Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Monday, indicating the economy would contract in two consecutive economic quarters.
However, Varney & Company co-host Susan Li responded with a different view, suggesting the United States is “close” to a recession.
“A recession is two quarters of negative growth, right? We have JPMorgan saying we’ll get negative growth in the first quarter, second quarter, but this is contingent on the fact that you get some sort of stimulus — hundreds of billions from the government for a sharp, V-shaped rebound in the back half,” she said. “Goldman is still not predicting a recession, and neither is Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.”
“But Goldman is saying in the second quarter of this year,” Varney added, “the economy will contract to 2%-5%.”
Hours earlier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 3,000 points, falling to 20,180 points overall. The number is at its lowest point since President Trump’s inauguration, when it was approximately at 19,732 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite both fell nearly 12% after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to nearly zero and purchased $700 billion in bonds.
Despite the market losses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin estimated on Sunday that the economy will witness significant regrowth so long as the U.S. manages to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
“I expect we’ll have a big rebound later in the year,” Mnuchin said on Fox News Sunday. “So, this isn’t like the financial crisis, as I’ve said. This will have an end to it as we confront the virus.”
