Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to ease economic anxieties on Tuesday, dismissing concerns about an impending recession while taking aim at media narratives that he says underplay the economy’s strengths.
Speaking on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria, Bessent addressed comments he made over the weekend on NBC’s Meet the Press, where he had said that “there are no guarantees” against a recession. When asked to clarify, he called the original question “silly,” saying that while he can’t predict the future, there’s “no reason” the U.S. economy needs to enter a downturn.
Bessent pointed to positive economic indicators, including strong consumer spending data from credit card companies and banks, arguing that “the economy in the first quarter is doing better than the media is reporting.” He also downplayed recent weak airline travel numbers, attributing them to a decline in federal employee travel rather than broader economic struggles.
He reiterated that any economic slowdown would stem from rolling back excessive government spending, a move he says the Trump administration is prioritizing to prevent a financial crisis.
“We are going to get this spending under control, bring manufacturing back home, and make the country more affordable for working Americans,” Bessent said.
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One Response
Increased tariffs raise prices on American imported goods as well as domestic goods that compete with the imported goods, while at the same time reducing demand for American exports. If you want a recession or depression, high tariffs are the way to go.
At the same time the largest employer in the country (the Federal government) is having massive layoffs, and taxes are going up (a tariff has the same macroeconomic effects as a sales tax increase).
People voted for Trump since they thought he was clever and had all his wits, and ended up with yet another old fool, in effect a re-hash of Biden with different rhetoric.