If you’ve seen the carnage on Wall Street today and own stocks as part of your retirement portfolio, you’ve probably had a sinking feeling in your stomach as you watch the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge over 600 points by lunchtime.
Many economists are warning that the Trump Recession has arrived.
The president’s ongoing trade war with China, uncertainty in many areas of the economy, and the growing federal budget deficit have all come together in a toxic brew to drive the U.S. into what seems to be a long-overdue economic correction, which is very bad news as President Donald Trump seeks reelection next year.
But to hear Trump and his top economic advisers tell it, the blame can all be placed on the Federal Reserve.
As the markets were tanking Wednesday, Trump sent out these tweets:
“The Fed has got to do something! The Fed is the Central Bank of the United States, not the Central Bank of the World.” Mark Grant @Varneyco Correct! The Federal Reserve acted far too quickly, and now is very, very late. Too bad, so much to gain on the upside!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019
“So far, you’ve had Tariffs imposed on 300 Billion Dollars worth of Chinese products, but you can’t tell me that it has hurt our economy…& it really hasn’t led to any kind of serious rise in prices at the consumer level.” @Varneyco @FoxBusiness And we are taking in $Billions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019
White House economic adviser Peter Navarro also tried to blame the Fed during an appearance on the Fox News show “America’s Newsroom,” remarking:
“This is basically the Federal Reserve’s problem. They are causing this because when Jay Powell got in this chairman he proceeded to rein in interest rates by at 100 interest points, too far too fast. Even though the Trump economy is rock solid, it slowed us down a bit because of those higher interest rates.”
Navarro also tried to claim that the yield curve inversion — a historically reliable indicator of a recession — was “mild” and only pointed to a “slowdown.”
But host Sandra Smith wasn’t buying that excuse, reminding Navarro:
“Hold on. It’s not just viewed as a sign of a slowdown. It’s historically been accurate in predicting recessions. That yield curve is inverted for the first time since 2007.”
Once again, Navarro pointed the finger at the Fed:
“Look, markets go up and markets go down. Yesterday we got a very big bump on the China tariff news.
“Today is all about the Federal Reserve interest rate policy.”
No. Today is about the Trump’s economic policy crashing down in flames as we learn once again that he knows less about how to run a business and a country than a slab of concrete.
Trump’s recession has arrived. He owns it.
Here’s Peter Navarro on Fox News:
WATCH: @SandraSmithFox spoke with White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro as the DOW is down on new recession fears #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/vq2BNbj5Xt
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) August 14, 2019
Featured Image Via Twitter
