Brian Deese denies that U.S. has entered a recession
White House economic adviser Brian Deese claims that the economy is in a "transition" not a recession.
During an appearance on CNBC, National Economic Council Director and Biden White House economic adviser Brian Deese denied the claim that the U.S. is currently is a recession.
Deese’s claims came on the day economic data revealed that the U.S. entered its second consecutive quarter of negative GDP growth, the traditional indicator that a nation’s economy has entered a recession.
Though the White House and mainstream media outlets have attempted to redefine what constitutes a recession and claimed that America has not entered one.
Deese himself has flipped on the definition. In 2008, he recognized that two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth represent a recession.
White House economic adviser Brian Deese was asked about the Biden administration's plan for inflation during CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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His appearance on CNBC’s "Squawk on The Street" represented his newly enlightened take on the subject.
CNBC host Carl Quintanilla prompted Deese, admitting that he didn’t "want to get into a recession label debate," but wanted to know if experts were going to eventually label the economic downturn a recession.
Quintanilla claimed, "I do wonder, do you eventually expect the NBER [National Bureau of Economic Research] to declare what we’re in a recession?"
Deese deflected the term "recession," responding, "Well, we’re certainly in a transition, and we are seeing slowing as we all would have expected. But I think if you look at the full data and the type of data that NBER looks at, virtually nothing signals that this period in the second quarter is recessionary."
He then touted some jobs numbers to bolster his case. "Obviously in the labor market – 3.6% unemployment, but also 1.2 millon jobs in the second quarter, 2.7 million jobs over the first half of this year. That’s not what a typical people or what the NBER would typically think of as recessionary."
Continuing, the economic adviser expressed optimism at the state of the economy in other aspects. "So as we look at where we are right now, the consumer continues to power forward with resilience, although at somewhat moderating levels as you would expect," he claimed, adding that his team is "continuing to see businesses invest" in the economy.
President Biden said that he's not concerned about a recession. (Getty Images)
The White House adviser also stated, "hopefully we can move forward with a strong CHIPS Act vote today," which he said would "actually provide some serious longer-term incentive for businesses to accelerate investment in the kind of areas where we actually need in this economy."
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Several Twitter users were not sold by Deese’s appraisal of the economic situation.
Grabien.com founder Tom Elliott – who shared the clip – called Deese the "Biden chief gaslighter."
NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham tweeted, "Brian Dense?"
And Hedgeye Risk Management CEO Keith McCullough blasted Deese, tweeting, "This gov guy @BrianDeeseNEC is completely full of s--t. He'd call inflation ‘transitory’ and now he sees no signs of recession!"
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New York Times headline says GDP numbers are "fanning recession fears." (Screenshot/NewYorkTimes)