It is official, the United States has met the requirements to be labeled as in recession in the wake of the economy shrinking at an annualized rate of 0.9% for a second straight quarter.
This past Thursday morning, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) primary estimate concerning the country’s gross domestic product was even worse than the predicted expansion of 0.5%, stated FXStreet.
“The decrease in real GDP reflected decreases in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by increases in exports and personal consumption expenditures (PCE),” explained the BEA. “Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”
Brian Deese, the economic advisor for the White House, has made the claim that a recession is not universally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
“It’s not the definition that economists have traditionally relied on,” stated Deese in a recent release when speaking about the definition.
Back in 2008, Deese stated to the assembled media, “Economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”
One research fellow from the Heritage FOundation, EJ Antoni, also stated that despite the attempts from the Biden admin to force a change onto the definition fo recession, the U.S. is actually in one for quite a few different reasons.
“Over the last 18 months, Congress, President Biden, and the Federal Reserve set our nation up for disaster. The consequence is that we are now in a recession,” stated Antoni.
“The current economic situation is the consequence of profligate federal spending financed by printed money. Now, instead of acknowledging responsibility for their failed policies, the Biden administration chooses to play word games, just like they did with inflation,” he went on. “The latest of their verbal gymnastics is an attempt to redefine a ‘recession’ and deny the reality of the current moment. It adds insult to injury for hundreds of American families when the Biden administration engages in this Orwellian doublespeak. Make no mistake—while Biden officials debate the meaning of ‘recession,’ working and middle-class Americans have been living in one for months.”
Despite the attempts to alter or skirt around the definition of recession, Antoni stated that Americans will still experience the economic hardships associated with a recession despite what the administration tries to do to claim it does not exist.
“Unlike the bureaucrats here in Washington, those American families have been feeling the economic pain and were well aware of the reality of this recession long before today’s numbers were released,” concluded Antoni. “By denying it’s even happening, the Biden administration is demonstrating just how out of touch they are.”