Many economic and financial experts have been warning people of the brewing recession that may come to the United States in the next few years and the best business executives in the country to believe that it might happen and ranked it as one of their main worries, a new report reveals.
Duke University/CFO Global Business Outlook survey released on Wednesday that more than half (53%) of the financial executives they have surveyed said that they believed that the United States would fall into a recession in late 2020. Two-thirds of them think that the economy will have a downturn before the end of this year.
U.S. business optimism dropped to a three-year low during the third quarter, the Duke survey said. The study cited the long-standing row between U.S. and China that has since been affecting American and global businesses alike int he pas few months. The uncertainty is on its peak as the two economic superpowers have yet to draw an agreeable trade deal for both parties.
Because of the newfound worry among businesses’ financial minds, it is expected that this would impact how companies spend. That means that a budget cut and pre-austerity measures are being drawn to prepare them for the recession.
“I do think this could become a self-fulfilling recession,” John Graham, a finance professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and director of the survey, told CNN Business. “If we are teetering on the edge of recession and companies are already worried, it’s going to make it more likely we tip into a recession.”
The brewing recession also does not just affect companies but also the rich, and spending has been seen to be cut over fears of an upcoming economic downturn.
There has been a significant cut back on how the rich and the elite are spending in the past few years but this year marks the worst year for high-end industries like luxury cars, designer items, and arts, since the financial crisis. All the while the rich are keeping their money intact in anticipation of a possible recession, the middle class are spending more and discounters like Walmart and Target are thriving, analysts revealed.