Why are some Americans so offended by the truth and reality about the mere possibility of a recession that they react with ugly comments and violence?
After reading about a number of credible economists predicting that America is probably heading for a recession, I decided to have a conversation about that on my talk show about it. I was shocked by how harsh some of the negative reactions were.
First of all, a recession is defined as an economic downturn for two consecutive quarters. We have been through recessions before, and after a period of sustained inflation, a recession is a natural correction in the economy. Some recessions are deep and bad, but not all recessions are a disaster. In any event, I decided it was time to have a conversation about it.
One would think that I was denouncing my U.S. citizenship. I assume that the overly-sensitive MAGAites perceived the conversation about a recession as anti-Trump and their criticism was a defense of President Trump.
Many of the economists predicting a possible recession link the possibility to President Trump’s flawed tariff plan which has been haphazard, since countries did not come begging to do business with Trump and the United States after the tariffs were first announced. And after delays, new tariffs went into effect today that are the highest since The Great Depression. But the tariffs were not the only factor in the predictions of a possible recession. We have had a sustained period of inflation, which Trump did not end on Day 1 as promised. I wasn’t surprised and said during the campaign that Trump would not be able to end inflation on day 1 or 2 or 3 and so on. Presidents do not have that kind of control over the country’s economy. I was called a Trump hater by the MAGAites, but I was right.
I never predicted, or hoped for, a recession and only mentioned the “possibility” of a recession and wanted to know what a U.S. recession would look like IF it did happen. One caller told my studio producer, Coleman, that “Scoot better shut his f***ing mouth because he’s talking out of his a** and if he doesn’t, someone will shut it for him.”
Any suggestion of violence over the discussion of a topic is the result of an individual’s inability to hold a meaningful conversation. This is America and we all have to stand up for the threat to our freedom of speech that is flooding political discourse.
We should all be interested in the possibility of a recession even if we hope it doesn’t happen. I had a meaningful conversation about the possibility of a recession with Gary Hoover, Executive Director of Tulane’s Murphy Institute and a professor of economics.
If you want to know about the possibility of inflation and what you might do as an American consumer and if you are NOT afraid of the truth – then listen to my conversation with Professor Hoover in the audio player above.