Moody’s Chief Economist: ‘Parts of the Economy’ ‘Are Already in a Recession’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Surveillance,” Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi stated that while he is “a lone voice” amidst “a lot of pessimism out there” who thinks that the United States economy will manage to avoid a recession due to the continued growth provided by American consumers, “there are parts of the economy” like housing “that are already in a recession.”

Zandi said, “I think that the most likely scenario remains that the economy’s going to navigate through without going into a recession. Yeah, there are parts of the economy that are already in a recession. You’ve been talking about housing, that already is taking it on the chin. But the key to continued growth is the American consumer, they’re the firewall between an economy that continues to grow and a recession. And there’s a fire and the firewall is under pressure, but I think it will hold and I think we’ll make our way through. … But having said that, I am certainly a lone voice. There is a lot of pessimism out there. I’ve never seen anything like it from CEO, to CFO, to investor, to the man on the street, people think we’re going into a recession.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett