While some economic experts are sure the economy will come roaring back after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, one believes unemployment rates are set to reach historic levels.
White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett predicts unemployment rates will rise to levels akin to those of the Great Depression.
“Make no mistake, it’s a really grave situation,” Hassett said. “This is the biggest negative shock that our economy I think has ever seen. We’re going to be looking at an unemployment rate that approaches rates that we saw during the Great Depression.”
Watch his comments below:
NEW: White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett tells @gstephanopoulos that the economic outlook is a "really grave situation."
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 26, 2020
"We're going to be looking at an unemployment rate that approaches rates that I think we saw during the Great Depression." https://t.co/vM8WcrQKg0 pic.twitter.com/ds7QtseNqe
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Hassett if he agrees with President Donald Trump’s prediction the economy will recover as early as this summer.
Hassett explained it is all going to depend on what happens next.
“What we’ve done with the previous legislation is that we’ve built a bridge to the sort of hopefully the other side of the disease,” Hassett said. “But then we have to make sure that we have what it takes to prosper.”
Hassett acknowledged the burden weighing on the shoulders of policymakers.
“During the Great Recession, remember that was the financial crisis around 2008, that we lost 8.7 million jobs in the whole thing,” Hassett said.
“Right now we’re losing that many jobs about every 10 days. So the lift, the economic lift for policymakers is an extraordinary one.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is hopeful the economy will bounce back sooner rather than later, as IJR previously reported.
“I think it will be months. I definitely don’t think it will be years, we are going to conquer this virus. We are going to have terrific breakthroughs,” Mnuchin said.
He is sure the economy will come back stronger than ever, as IJR previously reported.
“I do know we will kill this virus, and when we do, I have great confidence the economy will become roaring back,” Mnuchin said.
