<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655503336412,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000016e-3da0-d10d-abef-3df3e9dc0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655503336412,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000016e-3da0-d10d-abef-3df3e9dc0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55502620", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1035210"} }); ","_id":"00000181-73b0-d082-a1ad-7bf92b8c0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedAs economists warn of a recession, President Joe Biden is defending his administration’s handling of the economy and attempting to tamp down fears that slow growth and job losses could be around the corner.
A stock market sell-off, rising consumer prices, and central bank interest rate hikes have spurred anxiety about the economy’s direction.
But despite the warning signs, Biden is pushing back, arguing that the United States could still avert a decline. Speaking to the Associated Press in a rare sit-down interview, the president said that while he “fully” understands voters’ concerns about sending their children to college or losing the ability to borrow money, a recession was “not inevitable.”
People “shouldn’t believe a warning,” the president said. “They should just say, ‘Let’s see — let’s see which is correct.’”
The odds of a recession have surged to 72%, according to Bloomberg Economics models, as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to counter inflation.
MOST CEOS SEE A RECESSION COMING: SURVEY
Last week’s consumer price index exceeded forecasts, reaching 8.6% year over year, its highest point in four decades.
The president defended his administration’s spending plans, twice insisting there was “zero evidence” that his administration’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending bill helped drive inflation, which is also running at a four-decade high.
But economists are raising the alarm, with Stephen Moore, a senior economic contributor at the conservative FreedomWorks think tank, predicting trouble.
“We are already in a recession,” Moore said. “The growth rate for the first half of the year is negative. The economy crashed in early June. By the end of July, the economy is going to look ugly.”
Moore told the Washington Examiner that small businesses, housing and manufacturing sectors, and jobs “are going to get hit hard.”
“Luckily, we have a 10 million-job cushion,” he said.
In the interview, Biden acknowledged that people are “really, really down” but said the country is well equipped to weather the coming economic winds thanks to low unemployment and his administration’s deficit reduction.
The public appears less certain, with Biden’s job approval collapsing in recent polls.
In a recent USA Today/Suffolk survey, 39% of people approved of the job Biden is doing as president, while 47% strongly disapproved. Just 16% strongly approved.
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More than 7 in 10 said the country was on the wrong track, including 46% of Democrats who were in agreement, compared to 34% of Democrats who felt it is heading in the right direction.
