Paul Krugman Says US Isn’t in Recession, Claims ‘Negativity Bias’ in Media

New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman joined CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday and claimed the United States was not in a recession and the term didn’t matter.

“Are we in a recession and does the term matter? Stelter asked.

Krugman replied, “No we are not, and no we are not.”

“None of the usual criteria used by real experts says we’re in a recession right now. And what does it matter? You know, the state of the economy is what it is. Jobs are plentiful, even though the labor market may be weakening. Inflation is high, although it may be coming down. Does it matter whether or not you use the ‘r’ world?” he said.

Krugman said the debate over the definition of a recession was “vitriol”.

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“I’ve never seen anything as bad as this, the determination of a lot of people to say this is a recession is beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” Krugman said, adding that partisanship animated the debate.

The New York Times columnist suggested that people “want” the “Biden recession”. “As much as you know, this is actually not a recession in the technical sense of the word,” he continued.

Two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth has generally been the technical definition of a recession.

Krugman also said that a “plurality” of voters were unaware that the United States had “gained jobs” and that the news about employment in the United States was too negative.

A gas pump displays fuel prices at a gas station in McLean, Virginia on June 10, 2022.
((Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images))

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“There’s been kind of a negative bias in the coverage. The press should give people – people have their own personal experience. And if you ask people how you’re doing, they’re pretty optimistic,” Krugman said, adding that some would complain. on gas prices. “If you ask people how your financial situation is, that’s pretty good. If you ask them how the economy is, oh, that’s terrible. It’s a media failure. In a way, we don’t fail to convey the realities of what is happening to people.”

Prior to the release of the GDP numbers, several members of the Biden administration appeared on news programs in an attempt to redefine the technical definition of a recession.

Journalist Glen Greenwald slammed those trying to redefine a recession in response to a clip of Krugman posted on Twitter. He said their efforts to protect the White House from Biden showed “a new level of boldness, no matter how low your opinion of them already is.”

Paul Krugman joins Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources”.
(Screenshot/CNN/ReliableSources)

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National Economic Council director and Biden White House economic adviser Brian Deese denied America was in a recession on Thursday after the GDP figures were released.

“Well, we’re definitely in a transition, and we’re seeing a slowdown as we all would have expected. But I think if you look at the full data and the kind of data that NBER is looking at, there’s basically nothing to point to that period in the second trimester is recessive.”