Biden top economic adviser dodges recession questions, claims US economy merely in 'period of transition'

President Biden’s chief economic adviser on Sunday refused to state whether he believes the U. S. is headed into a recession, instead claiming that the American economy is in a "period of transition."

During a "Fox News Sunday" interview, host Martha MacCallum asked National Economic Council Director Brian Deese to react to assessments by PayPal founding COO David Sacks and a growing list of others suggesting the United States is heading into a recession in the near future.

"Our economy is in a period of transition. We’re moving from the strongest economic recovery in modern history to what can be a period of more stable and resilient growth," Deese responded, "And while there are absolutely risks with inflation at front and first and foremost, this is what is most important: The United States is positioned better than any other major economy to bring inflation down and address these challenges without giving up all of the economic gains we’ve made, and that’s because of the strength of our recovery. We have the strongest job market in modern history."

"Americans are getting back to work in jobs with higher pay," he continued. "That’s meant that Americans can increase their savings, pay down their debt, businesses are investing, entrepreneurs are creating new businesses at record rates, and manufacturing is coming back to the United States."

Interjecting, McCallum pointed to recent remarks by Bush administration economic adviser Glenn Hubbard, who suggested that regardless of the technical benchmark, Americans feel like they’re in a recession. Current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also recently claimed that higher food and gas prices are having "stagflationary effects," and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Americans can anticipate "some pain" as the central banks raise interest rates to fight soaring inflation.

"So, I’m asking for your opinion as the economic adviser at the White House. Should people be prepared in the United States that we are or will be in several months heading into a recession?" McCallum asked.

"What people should know is we are in this period of transition to more stable growth," Deese responded. "People should also take confidence that we are better positioned than any other country to navigate through this and keep our recovery going."

The Biden administration official cited a report from this week claiming the U. S. econ... (Read more)

Latest News