An economic recession is not some ethereal, mystical thing. Nor is it open to interpretation. Financial experts know precisely what constitutes this sort of economic downturn and it’s not complicated: Two consecutive quarters of diminishing GDP and it’s official.
Unfortunately, our Commander in Chief has simply chosen to deny reality.
President Joe Biden insisted the U.S. economy is on track after the Commerce Department said Thursday that the gross domestic product shrank for a second quarter in a row, which is typically the definition of a recession.
‘That doesn’t sound like a recession to me,’ Biden said Thursday afternoon in the State Dining Room, pointing to a ‘record job market’ and ‘record unemployment.’
Biden noted that ‘both Chairman Powell and many of the significant banking personnel and economists say we’re not in a recession.’
‘Businesses are investing in American in record rates,’ Biden boasted.
Biden was quickly ready to change the subject:
‘My message to Congress is this: This is the bill you can pass to lower inflation, cut the deficit, reduce healthcare costs, tackle the climate change and promote energy security – all the time while reducing the burdens facing working class and middle class families,’ Biden said.
‘So pass it, pass it for the American people, pass it for America,’ he added.
And while the idea that the President is abjectly defying the seriousness of the situation is certainly alarming, it’s nothing new for Biden, whose entire presidency thus far has been marked by a tacit unwillingness to act.
