Treasury secretary admits parts of U.S. economy are in recession, warns of pain for Americans
By isabelle // 2025-11-10
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  • The Treasury Secretary admits parts of the economy are in recession.
  • He blames Federal Reserve interest rates for creating distributional problems.
  • A Federal Reserve Governor warns tight policy risks causing a full-blown recession.
  • Deaths of despair have accelerated to triple the rate of the Great Depression.
  • The government shutdown is actively harming economic growth.
The American economy, long touted by the Trump administration as the strongest in history, is showing some very alarming cracks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has finally conceded that entire sectors of the nation's economy have already fallen into a recession, directly contradicting the White House's relentless optimism. This bleak assessment, delivered on CNN, confirms what millions of Americans already feel: the financial stability of the nation is crumbling under the weight of failed policies and out-of-touch leadership. Secretary Bessent pointed to the housing market as a primary casualty. "I think that we are in good shape, but I think that there are sectors of the economy that are in recession," Bessent stated. He placed blame squarely on the Federal Reserve, arguing its high interest rates have caused "distributional problems." The treasury secretary warned that lower-income consumers are being hit the hardest by soaring mortgage rates because they tend to have more debts. This reality is not unfolding in a vacuum. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran echoed the concern, dissenting from a recent modest rate cut to argue for a more aggressive half-point reduction. Miran warned that maintaining a tight monetary policy risks inducing a full-blown recession. "If you keep policy this tight for a long period of time, then you run the risk that monetary policy itself is inducing a recession," Miran told the New York Times.

A nation in quiet despair

Beyond the economic indicators lies a deeper, more human crisis. A resurfaced congressional report from 2019 revealed that "deaths of despair" — fatalities from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism — were higher throughout the 2010s than during the Great Depression. Recent analysis of post-pandemic data shows this harrowing trend has not subsided but accelerated dramatically, with the rate now triple that of the Depression era. This statistic paints a picture of a populace losing hope, a silent epidemic of suffering that economic talking points cannot erase. The administration’s chaotic fiscal approach is exacerbating the problem. The ongoing government shutdown, now one of the longest in history, is actively harming economic growth. Bessent himself warned that the shutdown could slash quarterly economic growth by half. He acknowledged the "human cost" as hundreds of thousands of federal employees go without pay and critical economic data goes unreleased, leaving policymakers and families in the dark.

Failed promises and a bleak future

The treasury secretary’s admissions stand in contrast to President Trump’s relentless boosterism. Just weeks ago, the president declared, “We have the best economy we’ve ever had.” Yet the American people are not buying it. Polling consistently shows a majority of Americans believe the president’s policies have made the economy worse. A CNN poll found 61% of the public holds this view, while a CBS News/YouGov poll showed 60% disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy. This disconnect between official pronouncements and lived experience reveals an administration that is either dangerously out of touch or deliberately misleading the public. The promise of a "golden age" has given way to the reality of a housing recession, a debilitating government shutdown, and a historic crisis of despair. For small business owners and working families, the economic pain warned about months ago is no longer a future threat but a present reality. The foundational strength of an economy is measured not just by stock market numbers but by the prosperity and hope of its people. When a treasury secretary is forced to admit that parts of the economy are in recession while the nation grapples with a historic level of despair, it signals a profound failure of leadership. The data and the dire warnings from within the government itself suggest that the much-promised economic boom has turned to bust, leaving ordinary Americans to bear the cost of this catastrophic miscalculation. Sources for this article include: Reuters.com DailyCaller.com MSNBC.com FoxBusiness.com TheHill.com
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