President Joe Biden admitted on Tuesday there’s a possibility a “very slight recession” could happen in the near future, though he reiterated that he doesn’t believe it will actually happen in the United States.
In an interview aired on “CNN Tonight,” Biden said Americans shouldn’t be afraid amid growing risk and fear of a global recession, arguing the United States is “in a better position” economically than any other major country in the world.
“Look, they’ve been saying this now how—every six months, they say this. Every six months, they look down at the next six months and say what’s going to happen. It hasn’t happened yet. It hasn’t—there has—there’s no guarantee that there’s going to be a—I don’t think there will be a recession,” the president said, adding that if there’ll be one, “it’ll be a very slight recession—that is, we’ll move down slightly.”
Biden was responding to a question by CNN’s Jake Tapper, who asked the president if Americans should prepare for a recession following JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent warning that the United States is likely going to head into recession territory in the next six to nine months.
“Look, think about what’s happened. We have done more—we are in a better position than any other major country in the world, economically and politically,” Biden said, further explaining that his $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” which was the fiscal stimulus and COVID-19 relief package, as well as the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act,” have helped position the economy and reduce inflation.
“Look what we’ve got done,” Biden boasted. “We passed so much legislation that significantly makes a point … I mean, there’s so much that’s been accomplished that the idea that there’s something—there’s an automaticity to recession is just not there. They keep—they’ve been predicting this off and on.”
Biden’s prediction is in contrast with many investors, economists, and banks, who’ve recently warned that a recession in the United States is unavoidable—and that it could be worse than a “normal” recession.
Oil slid more than 2 percent on Tuesday, a day after World Bank President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva issued dire warnings about the growing risk of global recession, noting that inflation remains a continuing problem.
“There’s a risk and real danger of a world recession next year,” Malpass said, kicking off the Monday discussion. He cited slowing economic growth in advanced economies and currency depreciation in many developing countries.
Debt levels are becoming increasingly burdensome in developing countries as their currencies depreciate, Malpass said, adding that “inflation is still a major problem for everyone, but especially for the poor.”
Poverty levels have soared across the globe, Malpass said, noting a “very concerning” 4 percent reduction in the median income.
The World Bank’s latest poverty report estimates that about 70 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, the biggest one-year increase since the agency started tracking prosperity levels in 1990.
Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.