Rampell: People and Government Should Prep for a Recession and the Government Isn’t

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” Washington Post columnist, CNN Commentator, and “PBS NewsHour” Special Correspondent Catherine Rampell stated that people should prepare for a recession, and, despite the fact that governments should as well, “I have seen no evidence that either the federal government or state governments have situated themselves to be ready if there is a recession next year.”

Host John King asked, “The president there telling Jake Tapper, no, Americans should not prepare for a recession. Should they?”

Rampell responded, “I think they should. I mean, I think the president was correct to say a recession is not inevitable, I’m not expecting a recession. It would be irresponsible for him to be more pessimistic than what he expressed last night because recessions can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. That said, there are plenty of warning signs that, because the economy has overheated so much, because the Fed will have to tighten financial conditions so much, that we will see a recession next year. Again, not inevitable, but it’s more likely than it was just a few months ago. And, look, we can hope for the best and prepare for the worst, and I think that’s what we should see consumers doing and that’s what we should see the government doing, frankly. And I have seen no evidence that either the federal government or state governments have situated themselves to be ready if there is a recession next year.”

She later added, “To be clear, neither party has an approach, has any sort of credible approach for dealing with inflation.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett