Conservatives blasted the Associated Press on Twitter, saying the “common definition” of recession doesn’t matter

Conservatives, politicians, and others were quick to criticize the Associated Press on Wednesday over a tweet claiming that The “common definition” of stagnation He was not the “person of interest”.

“By one common definition – the economy is shrinking for consecutive quarters – the US economy is on the cusp of a recession. However, it is not that definition that matters,” the Associated Press wrote on Twitter.

Critics have criticized the idea, which has also been promoted by several Biden administration officials. Several media outlets, including the Associated Press, seem to be repeating talking points in the White House about a possible recession as well.

White House Talking Points

“By one common definition—that a team scores more points than its opponent wins the game—Super Bowl LVI resulted in the Los Angeles Rams beating the Cincinnati Bengals,” former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai joked. “. .

Fox News contributor Molly Hemingway called the tweet “Soviet-style journalism.”

People shop at a supermarket as rising inflation affects consumer prices in Los Angeles, California, United States, June 13, 2022.
(Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)

The White House insisted In recent days, even if the GDP report, due for release on Thursday, showed negative second-quarter GDP growth, it does not mean that the US is in a recession.

Brian Dies, director of Biden’s National Economic Council, said Sunday on CNN that the report is “inherently looking back” and that “by technical definition, it’s not a recession.”

Former Obama economic adviser Larry warns summer there is ‘too high probability’ of recession

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Texans “really see through that spin when they pay dearly at the pump and the grocery store.”

Some Republican lawmakers joined in the sarcasm such as Rep. Warren Davidson, Ohio, who quipped, “Just say 2 + 2 = 5.”

Representative Daryl Issa, R-Calif., confirmed that the Associated Press “reprinted” the talking points at the White House.

Others followed Issa in highlighting how the media appears to be repeating messages coming from the Biden administration.

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Jared Bernstein of the White House Council of Economic Advisers was among several officials who declined The usual definition of stagnation When he said at the end of this week that Thursday’s GDP data will be “a little bit delayed”.

White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, United States, April 1, 2022.
(Reuters/Kevin Lamarck)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was also asked about a possible recession on Sunday.

Well, I look at all the data, and the GDP is going to be closely watched,” Yellen said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The common definition of a recession is two negative quarters of GDP growth, or at least that’s something that has been true in previous recessions. When we saw that, there was usually a recession. And many economists expect that second quarter GDP will be negative…it was Q1 GDP is negative, so we can see that happen, and that will be closely watched.But I want to stress, what a recession really means is a broad-based contraction in the economy.And even if that number is negative, we’re not in a recession right now, And I would, you know, caution that we shouldn’t describe it as a recession.”