Treasury Secretary Reacts to Cardi B Tweet on Possible Recession: ‘Don’t Look to Me to Announce It’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reassured rapper Cardi B this week that she does not believe the U.S. is headed towards a recession.
At a Washington D.C. policy forum on Thursday, Yellen was asked about a recent Cardi B tweet by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. The 75-year-old first confirmed that she does in fact know who the rapper is, though she doesn’t “have much time” for her music.
“When y’all think they going to announce that we going into a recession?” Cardi B tweeted last week.
When y’all think they going to announce that we going into a recession?
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) June 5, 2022
According to Yellen, she’s not announcing any such recession anytime soon.
“Don’t look to me to announce it. I’m not going to announce it. I don’t think we’re going to have a recession,” she said.
Cardi B has dabbled in political punditry in the past, making headlines in 2018 when she posted a video where she demanded to know what was being done with her “fucking tax money.” She also interviewed President Joe Biden in 2020.
“When you donate to a kid from a foreign country, they give you updates of what they’re doing with your donation,” she said.
Yellen’s response aired on CNBC’s Squawk Box shortly after it was announced that inflation has hit a 40-year high. The Labor Department announced Friday that the consumer price index rose 8.6 percent from last year for the month of May.
The biggest increases have hit shelter, food, and gas costs, according to the index.
Yellen insisted on Thursday though that there are no signs of a recession.
“There’s nothing to suggest a recession is in the works,” she said at the forum, according to the New York Times.
At a Senate hearing this week, Yellen called current inflation level “unacceptable,” but said she expects it to remain high for the foreseeable future.
“I do expect inflation to remain high, although I very much hope that it will be coming down now,” she said.
Watch above via CNBC.
