National Economic Council director Brian Deese on Sunday claimed that a recession is “not inevitable,” despite a recent poll that found more than 60 percent of CEOs around the world are expecting a recession before the end of 2023.
Deese’s comments on CBS’s Face the Nation echoed President Biden’s assertion on Thursday that a recession is “not inevitable.”
“Not only is a recession not inevitable, but I think that a lot of people are underestimating those strengths and the resilience of the American economy,” Deese said, referring to strengths including increased household savings and low proportions of people missing payments on mortgages and credit cards.
Economic analysts predict a recession may be imminent given that the Federal Reserve has started to reverse its accommodative monetary policy. The Fed announced last week it would hike its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percent, marking the largest singular increase since 1994.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers predicted last week that a recession will likely hit the United States within the next two years.
Yet Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said earlier this month that she doesn’t think there will be a recession. “Consumer spending is very strong. Investment spending is solid. I expect growth to slow down,” she said.
“We have a very strong economy. I know people are very upset — and rightfully so — about inflation. But there’s nothing to suggest inflation if a recession is in the works,” Yellen added.
On Sunday, Yellen similarly said she doesn’t think a recession is “inevitable.”
“I expect the economy to slow,” Yellen said on This Week. “It’s been growing at a very rapid rate. … The labor market has recovered, and we have reached full employment.”
“It’s natural now that we expect a transition to steady and stable growth,” she added.
Deese on Sunday blamed “unprecedented global circumstances, a global pandemic and a war in Europe” for impacting the global economy.
“But at the same time, we have a strategy that will make a difference,” he said.
“We have been through Delta and Omicron,” he said. “We’ve had a war in Europe and all of the impacts that that has had, and through it, the American economy has remained resilient. What we want to focus on now is taking every step we can to continue that progress.”