Image source: UChicago Institute of Politics
The continued status of inflation has been a jarring problem for many, leading people to believe that a recession is just beyond the horizon.
However, experts and the Biden administration have consistently reiterated that the country is not in a recession.
On Sunday, Economist Paul Krugman joined CNN’s Brian Stelter to again assert that the country was not in recession.
What they said
“Are we in a recession and does the term matter?” asked Stelter on CNN.
“No, we aren’t, and no, it doesn’t,” replied Krugman.
“None of the usual criteria that real experts use says we’re in a recession right now,” he explained. “And what does it matter? You know the state of the economy is what it is.”
“Jobs are abundant, although maybe the job market is weakening. Inflation is high, although maybe inflation is coming down. What does it matter whether you use the ‘r’ world or not?”
Krugman described the debate surrounding defining a recession as “vitriolic.”
“I’ve never seen anything as bad as this, the determination of a lot of people to say it’s a recession is above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” he added.
Read also: Inflation Is “Unacceptably High” but the White House Retains That the Country Is Not in Recession
The people’s sentiments
Paul Krugman suggested that people “want” the “Biden recession.”
“Never mind the fact that you know, it in fact is not a recession in any technical sense,” he added.
Krugman said that a “plurality” of voters weren’t aware that the country has been “gaining jobs” and that the news regarding US employment has been overly negative.”
“There’s been a kind of negativity bias in coverage. The press should be giving people – people have their own personal experience. And if you ask people how are you doing, they’re pretty upbeat,” he elaborated.
“If you ask people ‘how is your financial situation,’ it’s pretty favorable. If you ask them ‘how is the economy,’ oh, it’s terrible. That’s a media failing.”
“Somehow we’re failing to convey the realities of what’s going on to people.”
Read also: Rural America Takes a Heavy Hit from Inflation, People Considering Moving to the Cities
Attempts to redefine a recession
Before releasing the GDP numbers, members of the Biden administration appeared on news programs in an effort to redefine the technical definition of a recession.
The move drew criticism from journalist Glen Greenwald who posted on Twitter, saying their efforts showed “a new level of audacity no matter how low your opinion of them already is.”
“Watching them so brazenly re-define how they always used “recession,” and then Paul Krugman adding it doesn’t matter if we’re in one or not (it doesn’t matter for him), all to protect the Biden WH, is a new level of audacity no matter how low your opinion of them already is,” Greenwald tweeted.
Meanwhile, National Economic Council Director and Biden White House economic advisor Brian Deese denied the country was in a recession last week when the GDP numbers were released.
“Well, we’re certainly in a transition, and we are seeing slowing as we all would have expected,” said Deese.
“But I think if you look at the full data and the type of data that NEBR looks at, virtually nothing signals that this period in the second quarter is recessionary.”
Reference:
Paul Krugman declares US not in a recession, claims ‘negativity bias’ in media
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