Business
Corporate CEOs Sour On Economic Recovery, Varney Warns: No More Lockdowns
Corporate executives aren’t expecting a full economic recovery until the end of next year. This is according to the Q2 CEO Economic Outlook Survey conducted by Business Roundtable.
The bearish outlook coming from a generally optimistic group is concerning for those hoping that the economic recovery is slowly underway. The survey indicated that the executives are hesitant to increase capital spending, hiring plans or sales expectations for the rest of the year.
The index’s overall reading contracted to 34.3 in the second quarter. This is the lowest reading since the midst of The Great Recession in 2009.
As a group, expectations were for the country’s gross domestic product to shrink by 3.8% this year, and more than one-third of respondents expect it to take until 2022 for the economy to fully recover.
Joshua Bolten, president and CEO of Business Roundtable, said in a statement, “The outlook of Business Roundtable CEOs reflects the reality of current economic conditions. We appreciate the actions taken by the Administration and Congress so far to help American workers, small businesses and communities, but there is much more to do. We encourage policymakers to work together on additional measures that will help bring a rapid end to this public health crisis and encourage economic recovery efforts as business operations resume.”
No Round Two
If we are hoping for economic recovery anytime soon, we can’t shut down the economy a second time, says Fox Business host Stuart Varney.
“Quite simply, the economy couldn't take it. Nor could all those people who have been locked in with abusive relationships. And all those people denied life-saving medical tests and elective surgery. We can't go back to that,” said Varney.
Varney said efforts to minimize or lessen the effect of a second wave of outbreaks should be on a local, not national level.
“The president says no new national lockdown. Instead, put out the fires at the local level,” Varney said. “That’s what the bar and beach closings are all about. Wear masks, keep your distance, wash your hands. That’s the policy. Contain the outbreaks. Limit the spread.”
Numerous states, including California, Florida and Texas are either rolling back reopening plans or implementing new restrictions. These come as the number of coronavirus cases rises. Varney said we just need to live with the virus as part of our lives.
“We can argue all day long about whether it’s a spike in new cases or a surge, or a ‘serious' increase'. But the fact is, the number of new cases is going up, especially in some of the states that started to reopen,” said Varney.
He added, “There will be some impact on the pace of the economic recovery. You can't expand rapidly if there are still restrictions on economic activity. The virus will not go away completely any time soon. There are going to be local outbreaks. There will be local shutdowns. That’s the way it is. That’s what we have to live with.”
And he says absolutely no second shut down.
“Once was enough,” he said.
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