President Joe Biden speaks at the White House. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden on Thursday threw cold water on a potential recession in a new interview with the Associated Press.
Driving the news: “First of all, it’s not inevitable,” Biden said in a 30-minute interview at the Oval Office. “Secondly, we’re in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation.”
Economic experts have suggested a recession is on the way. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Obama administration adviser Larry Summers said over the weekend that a recession will likely hit the U.S. in the next two years.
The big picture: Americans are currently feeling recession angst due to decades-high inflation, which has soured their view of the economy, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.
What he said: Biden told AP that Americans are “really, really down” after the COVID-19 pandemic, rising gas prices and the overall economy.
- “They’re really down,” he said. “The need for mental health in America, it has skyrocketed, because people have seen everything upset. Everything they’ve counted on upset. But most of it’s the consequence of what’s happened, what happened as a consequence of the COVID crisis.”
- Yes, but: Biden told AP that the United States has reason to be optimistic with the 3.6% unemployment rate and "America’s relative strength in the world."