"What is a recession?" The White House challenged on their blog on Thursday. The redefining of the term will suggest that, in the event that the GDP growth declines for a second straight quarter, the White House won't have to call it a recession.
Speaking to Meet the Press on Sunday morning, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that "A common definition of recession is two negative quarters of GDP growth," going on to say that "many economists expect second-quarter GDP to be negative. First quarter GDP was negative." She recently said the Biden administration "was wrong" on inflation forecasts.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
"While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle," the White House wrote.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
"Instead, both official determinations of recessions and economists’ assessment of economic activity are based on a holistic look at the data—including the labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes. Based on these data, it is unlikely that the decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year—even if followed by another GDP decline in the second quarter—indicates a recession."
RE-SHAPING THE FUTURE: TENNESSEE GOV. BILL LEE UNVEILS BOLD PLAN FOR "EDUCATION FREEDOM"
It's highly possible that in redefining the word, the White House is under the impression that a negative GDP report for the second quarter will be dropping Thursday, following a first-quarter negative report.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the "Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022." They note also that "In the fourth quarter of 2021, real GDP increased 6.9 percent."
WATCH: TULSI GABBARD ADDRESSES WHO REALLY INFLUENCES POLICY, AND IT'S NOT BIDEN...
While the White House believes both that the legal definition of a recession is a decline in growth for two consecutive quarters and that the first quarter of 2022 showed a decline, they seek to give additional context that can be used to say that the second quarter of negative growth does not actually show a decline.
FIVE ARRESTED IN SOUTHERN TEXAS FOR TRAFFICKING OF MILITARY-GRADE WEAPONS TO CARTEL
They say that "while inflation is highly elevated, real spending is still growing, powered by one of the strongest labor markets on record and an elevated stock of household savings." They also seek to mitigate the first quarter declined by saying that "Far from being a broad contraction, the negative estimate of the growth rate was a function of inventories—one of the noisiest components of GDP growth - and net exports, in part reflecting our economic strength relative to that of our trading partners, as well as less snarled global supply chains."