Goldman Sachs official tells 'Face the Nation' the risk of recession is 'very, very high'

On Sunday, Goldman Sachs Senior Chairman Lloyd Blankfein told CBS’s “Face the Nation” the risk of the U.S. falling into a recession is ‘very, very high’ and warned the federal government and Federal Reserve has pumped too much money into the economy. 

“It’s certainly a very, very high risk factor,” Blankfein said when asked by host Margaret Brennan if he thinks the U.S. is “headed towards recession”. 

“It’s definitely a risk. If I were running a big company, I would be very prepared for it. If I were a consumer, I’d be prepared for it,” Blankfein continued. 

FILE PHOTO: The ticker symbol and logo for Goldman Sachs is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo - RC1DD1B49500

FILE PHOTO: The ticker symbol and logo for Goldman Sachs is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo – RC1DD1B49500

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He did add that a recession is “not baked in the cake.” 

With inflation running hot, Blankfein noted that it is the job of the Federal Reserve to “slow down demand.”

“There’s an imbalance. Too much demand. And what you have to do is slow down that demand. You have to slow down the economy,” he said. 

Blankfein also pointed to the war in Ukraine as a driver of inflation, and noted that the nation is becoming more critical in the supply chain and our dependence on foreign nations for essential goods.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein 

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein 
(Reuters)

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“We were the beneficiary for a very long time of the globalization of the economy, which made goods and services cheaper because we took advantage of cheap labor and countries,” he said.

“How comfortable are we now to rely on those supply chains that are not within the borders of the United States that we can’t control? Do we feel good about getting all our semiconductors from Taiwan, which is, again, an object of China?” 

Margaret Brennan, Moderator of FACE THE NATION and Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent. (Photo by Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images)

Margaret Brennan, Moderator of FACE THE NATION and Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent. (Photo by Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images)

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Goldman Sachs’s chief economist Jan Hatzius recently cut the firm’s GDP growth projections for 2022 and 2023 to 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

This comes as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is signaling that an economic recession may occur in the near future. 

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