Trump plays down fears of recession

Washington, August 19 

The US President has tried to reassure markets about the risk of the US falling into a recession by saying the economy was doing “tremendously well”, the media reported today. “I don’t see a recession. The world is in recession right now,” the BBC quoted Trump as telling mediapersons before boarding Air Force One from New Jersey on Sunday.

“I don’t think we’re having a recession. We’re doing tremendously well, our consumers are rich, I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they’re loaded up with money”. He also mentioned last week’s healthy profits from Walmart, the US retailer often described as the world’s biggest, and pointed to a strong performance from US consumers.

“Most economists actually say we are not going to have a recession. Most of them are saying we will not have a recession, but the rest of the world is not doing well like we are doing.” The President’s remarks came after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News earlier on Sunday that the US economy remained “in pretty good shape”. “There is no recession in sight,” Kudlow had stresssed. — IANS

Economists expect US slump, says study 

Washington: A number of US business economists appear sufficiently concerned about the risks of some of President Donald Trump's economic policies that they expect a recession in the US by the end of 2021. Thirty-four per cent of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics, in a report being released Monday, said they believe a slowing economy will tip into recession in 2021. AP