As President Trump marks his 100th day in office this week with a rally in Detroit, the American public is feeling the squeeze.
Naturally, Trump blamed Biden for ‘handing him a bad economy’, despite data showing that growth was strong when he took office.
Economic output is shrinking. The stock market has dropped sharply. And consumer confidence has tumbled to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This isn’t exactly the “golden age” the president promised on Inauguration Day just over three months ago.
On Wednesday, figures released by the Commerce Department indicated that the US gross domestic product contracted at 0.3% in the first quarter of the year.
“At the end of the day, recession is about a loss of faith,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Consumers lose faith that they’re going to be able to hold onto their job, and they cut back on spending and we go into recession.”