Ex-fast food CEO rips economists' US recession read: 'People are suffering'
The financial pressures of an economic recession aren’t so much based on the numbers, but rather a gut feeling, according to one former restaurant chain CEO who’s criticizing expert interpretations of the volatility.
"Whether or not there's a technical recession, the American working and middle class feels like it's in a recession," former CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder said on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday.
"And I think that's probably more important than whether or not economists determine there's a technical recession."
A technical recession is a short-term economic downturn in which there have been two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Recession fears seemingly materialized earlier this week as indexes resumed a downward spiral from the week prior, with Dow shedding 1,033.99 points, or 2.6%, on Monday, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 fell 3.43% and 3%, respectively.
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The Dow and S&P 500 closed out their worst day since September 2022, and now, the majority of investors are already pricing in an 84.5% chance of a 50 basis point reduction during the Fed's meeting on Sept. 17-18, according to the CME Group, which tracks trading.
"You're going to see people doing what you call buying into the dip: stocks go down in price, you want to get in and buy," Puzder explained.
However, the former CEO stressed that the "problem here" for the past three and half years is inflation.
"Americans, they've exhausted their savings accounts. They've ramped up their credit cards to where we have very high default rates. And we're seeing historic levels of credit card debt, and wages not kept up with inflation," he explained.
"So," he continued, "Americans don't have the money they had to spend, particularly during the pandemic with government handouts… And when people are suffering from inflation, they're not buying goods, businesses don't grow, they don't hire people… So we end up where we ended up."
During his tenure, Puzder oversaw operations at popular chains like Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and Red Burrito. When traveling abroad for work, the ex-CEO claimed that fast food meals are like a luxury purchase – a trend starting to take heed domestically.
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"There was a survey a couple of weeks ago, they said 78% of the people in the United States consider a fast-food meal a luxury. So going to McDonald's has become a luxury in this country. I saw Credit Karma had a survey out within the last day or so, they said 50% of parents in America are going to have to give up essentials to purchase school supplies this year," Puzder detailed.
And heading into November’s general election as a Trump campaign surrogate, the former CEO argued Americans have a "very clear choice" to make, supporting a platform "that views the American people as a solution, American businesses and jobs and prosperity."
FOX Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.