After telling the American people not to worry about the economy during the 2024 presidential election out of political convenience, the liberal ladies of ABC’s The View had suddenly found reason to fret as they pushed the notion that President Trump was bringing about a recession. They betrayed their motivations with a conversation about how media narratives play a role in manipulating the public’s perception and possibly triggering recessions.
“Let me ask you this, because we did mention a possibility of a recession,” co-host Sunny Hostin asked of ABC News chief business, tech, and economic correspondent Rebecca Jarvis. “[E]xperts across the board have put the likelihood as high as 50 percent. What's your take on that based on the data? Should Americans start planning, start bracing for a potential recession?”
Jarvis responded by claiming a recession was “an increasing probability, and the probability increases the longer the uncertainty remains.” She went on to explain that consumers just reading headlines suggesting the possibility of a recession could be enough to tip things in that direction:
And, again, it goes back to this idea of consumers. If consumers really feel this, if they see the headlines and if their prices do go up dramatically at the grocery store and they can't spend in other areas that is where you start see it flow through to the broader economy and you see job losses.
And I want to say, I have now been doing this for almost two decades, and it doesn't take job losses for people to stop behaving as much with their money, to stop spending as much. People stop spending when they see a fear of job losses in their life.
Earlier in their conversation, Jarvis tacitly admitted that the media’s narrative around recessions plays a big role in possibly triggering them. “You see these headlines … And that's where these calls for things like recession start coming up, that's where the probability of a recession gets more pronounced,” she noted.
“And when you see a headline like that and think, ‘I'm not going to take as big of a summer vacation’ or ‘I'm not going to buy that coffee’ or ‘I'm not going to go out to dinner,’ whatever it is…if we all do it collectively, because we see these headlines and get scared, has an impact on the overall economy,” she said. “And then that can eventually ripple through to things like jobs which hit people in a very real way.”
The question then becomes: if doom and gloom media reporting could trigger a recession, how about the absent of it? Or, can a concerted effort by the media to claim there wasn’t a recession on the horizon, or perhaps one actively happening, stave one off?
Back in 2022, economic growth shrank for two consecutive quarters, the exact definition of a recession, but the media refused to use the term. And as NewsBusters reported at the time, The View tried to downplay the recession and argued that climate change was more important that the peoples’ economic pain.
During the 2024 presidential election, The View scolded the American people several times for thinking about their concerns for the economy. Several of NewsBusters’ items on the subject have been complied here for easy reading.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
March 12, 2024
11:28:16 a.m. Eastern(…)
REBECCA JARVIS: You see these headlines, and I'm sure everybody in the audience today, you've seen these headlines. Everybody who’s watching, you see it, and that makes you more skittish. And that's where these calls for things like recession start coming up, that's where the probability of a recession gets more pronounced.
Because our spending as consumers, we are the ones who generate growth. 70 percent of our economy is our spending. And when you see a headline like that and think, ‘I'm not going to take as big of a summer vacation’ or ‘I'm not going to buy that coffee’ or ‘I'm not going to go out to dinner,’ whatever it is.
Each little amount -- if we all do it collectively, because we see these headlines and get scared, has an impact on the overall economy. And then that can eventually ripple through to things like jobs which hit people in a very real way.
(…)
11:30:41 a.m. Eastern
SUNNY HOSTIN: Let me ask you this, because we did mention a possibility of a recession. Over the weekend, President Trump refused to rule out a recession. Now he's saying he doesn't see one happening, but experts across the board have put the likelihood as high as 50 percent. What's your take on that based on the data? Should Americans start planning, start bracing for a potential recession?
JOY BEHAR: Planning what? What are we supposed to plan?
JARVIS: Well. See. Okay. I like that question. I like both of your questions, but I do think – As the economics correspondent for ABC news, I think we should always be planning for a day when money doesn't flow easily, which is why you want to have an emergency savings account at all times. If you can put money aside, you put money there.
HOSTIN: If you can.
JARVIS: If you can, you put money into a 401(k), especially if your company has a match because that's free money that they’re putting out there. It doesn't exist for everyone, I know it's easier said than done.
As far as the calls for recession are concerned, it's an increasing probability, and the probability increases the longer the uncertainty remains. And, again, it goes back to this idea of consumers. If consumers really feel this, if they see the headlines and if their prices do go up dramatically at the grocery store and they can't spend in other areas that is where you start see it flow through to the broader economy and you see job losses.
And I want to say, I have now been doing this for almost two decades, and it doesn't take job losses for people to stop behaving as much with their money, to stop spending as much. People stop spending when they see a fear of job losses in their life.
[Crosstalk]
BEHAR: How do you feel about hoarding cash? A lot of people ask me that.
JARVIS: Let me just say, if you can put money into a high-yield savings account –
SARA HAINES: Not your mattress, Joy.
BEHAR: The mattress. The old mattress.
JARVIS: Well, your mattress, you're not going to get paid on that money. You’ll just have that money. But if you can put it in a high-yield savings account at an FDIC-backed bank, you're going to get paid 4.5 percent and that's risk free.
(…)
