Wolfers: "This ain't a recession"

July 10, 2023 Marketplace

Justin Wolfers, Marketplace: Downbeat indicators don’t tell the whole story. Take consumers, said Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan. They might say they’re pessimistic about the economy.

“But if you look at what they do, consumers are out there spending like they’ve never spent before,” Wolfers said.

Wolfers said it’s true that some sectors of the economy are slowing down. But there just aren’t enough of them to be concerned.

“If you move beyond the vibes and look at the hard data, we’re creating jobs at a gangbusters pace, unemployment is at a 50-year low. This ain’t a recession, man,” he said.

Wolfers said the best way to predict the trajectory of the economy is to look at how the economy’s doing right now.