Have you noticed all the talk recently by the mainstream media about a recession? Of course, many members of the MSM can barely contain their glee at the prospect of an economic downturn hurting President Trump's prospects in the election next year.
Well, Jim Cramer on Thursday's Squawk Box told host Joe Kernen that the only people talking about such a recession are "us," meaning members of the media.
This was part of a larger discussion about the trade dispute with China that was covered at CNBC by Matthew J. Belvedere in "Cramer: US economic strength empowers Trump to continue to play hardball on China trade."
President Donald Trump can continue to take a hard line on China trade because the U.S. economy keeps chugging along, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.
“Trump is set in his ways because he doesn’t see any weakening” in growth compared with the drag that China’s economy has been experiencing, Cramer contended on “Squawk on the Street.”
Cramer was reacting to China announcing on Thursday that top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators spoke by phone late Wednesday and agreed to meet early next month for another round of talks. U.S. officials confirmed the call but not the October timetable, saying only that talks would happen in the “coming weeks” in Washington. Previously, both sides were indicating they would meet in September.
Cramer also explained why he remains optimistic about the U.S. economy:
“What I’m surprised at is how strong the consumer is,” Cramer said, while dismissing the notion that the U.S-China trade war and the billions of dollars of import tariffs on both sides caused American manufacturing to slow. “Manufacturing has been in recession in this country for ages,” he said, advising investors not to worry too much about August data, out earlier this week, that showed U.S. manufacturing in contraction for the first time in three years.
So if things look strong in the economy, who is it that are talking about a recession? Cramer identifies the culprits:
The only people talking about a recession are us.
The good news is this recession talking point by some in the media might soon cease due to a possible break in the trade war with China also reported by CNBC in "China and US agree to meet in October for trade negotiations."
