Economic recession remains a possibility

The United States continues to struggle with the possibility of entering an economic recession.

An economic recession is when two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product occur.

“I have noticed the prices increasing during 2020 during COVID,” Elizabeth Rogers ‘23 said. “I have mostly heard customers talking about how much the prices have increased at WalMart.”

The United States would enter a recession at the earliest in 2024 if the downturn in economic activity continues.

“I would assume that prices will begin to decrease because we are getting farther and farther away from COVID,” Rogers said. “COVID happened a long time ago, and I think that I’ve noticed some prices going down, but not gas.”

To try to stop or slow down the possibility of the recession, interest rates have risen to try to stop inflation. The rising interest rates have made purchasing homes and cars more difficult.

“We’re trying to stop the inflation,” social science teacher Amy Engle-Evans said. “That’s why we are raising interest rates, which is making it more difficult to buy homes and cars.”

Amidst the possibility of entering one, consistent increases in prices due to inflation have occurred in grocery products.

“It’s annoying,” Rogers said. “Because groceries are definitely getting more expensive for people to buy”

One notable increase was with baby formula prices. Due to the low amount of product in the formulas, the price increased at a steadfast rate.

“Prices in just about everything have gone up,” Mrs. Engle-Evans said. “When we had the shortages under COVID we saw the prices go up and in some instances they have gone down from the extreme, but prices of everything are still incredibly high.”

Wall Street is also still seeing a steady decrease in stocks, with Wall Street having the worst month since March back in 2020. 

“I hope that we don’t enter an economic recession,” Rogers said. “But I don’t believe that we will enter one.”

The economy continues to decrease, and inflation remains a looming issue when it comes to products.

“As Christmas comes around, prices are going to be higher,” Mrs. Engle-Evans said. “It’s kind of crazy, but in order to curb inflation, people need to stop buying, but in order to grow, you have to buy. It is a real delicate line that we are trying to balance, and then the government is trying to balance a more slow and steady growth so then you don’t see businesses go out of business.”