{"id":156575,"date":"2025-11-24T06:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/156575\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T06:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:15:08","slug":"very-very-optimistic-scott-bessent-downplays-2026-recession-fears-admits-some-us-sectors-remain-weak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/156575\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Very, very optimistic\u2019: Scott Bessent downplays 2026 recession fears; admits some US sectors remain weak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/untitled-design-38.jpg\" alt=\"\u2018Very, very optimistic\u2019: Scott Bessent downplays 2026 recession fears; admits some US sectors remain weak\" title=\"File photo: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent (Picture credit: AP)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>File photo: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent (Picture credit: AP) US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has insisted the United States is not heading for a recession in 2026, expressing strong confidence that President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff strategy and new trade agreements will bring economic relief over the next year. Speaking to NBC News\u2019 Meet the Press, Bessent said he was \u201cvery, very optimistic on 2026\u201d and argued that the administration had \u201cset the table for a very strong, noninflationary growth economy\u201d.Bessent said the White House expects healthcare costs to fall and promised fresh announcements on that front this week. At the same time, he acknowledged that some parts of the economy are struggling, echoing earlier comments from National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett that interest-rate-sensitive sectors, especially housing, have been in recession.<\/p>\n<p>Bessent says inflation \u2018has nothing to do with tariffs\u2019 as U.S. rolls them back: Full interview<\/p>\n<p>Bessent also pointed out that the 43-day government shutdown \u2014 the longest on record \u2014 had squeezed economic activity.A recent NBC News poll showed that nearly two-thirds of registered voters believe the administration has not delivered on the economy or cost of living. Despite this, Bessent highlighted Trump\u2019s sweeping domestic policy package \u2014 the so-called \u201cOne Big, Beautiful Bill\u201d \u2014 saying its various tax breaks and income-boosting measures are still kicking in and will support households next year. As per CNBC, the law introduces benefits including a larger state-and-local tax deduction, tax relief on overtime and tip income, and a senior \u201cbonus\u201d to offset Social Security taxes.Bessent blamed the services sector, rather than Trump\u2019s tariffs, for ongoing inflation. He said lower energy prices should help cool inflation further, which currently sits around 3% annually. Inflation is running 0.5% higher in Democratic-led states, a gap Bessent attributed to \u201cincreased regulation\u201d, reported Reuters.Hassett, speaking separately to Fox News, predicted that 2026 would be \u201can absolute blockbuster year,\u201d although he warned of a \u201chiccup\u201d in fourth-quarter data because of the shutdown.He said growth could slow to between 1.5% and 2% before picking up strongly next year.Bessent also defended the administration\u2019s approach to the Russia-Ukraine peace push, telling NBC News that Trump is \u201ca president of peace\u201d and arguing that Europe&#8217;s repeated sanctions packages had failed. He supported the 28-point peace proposal backed by the US, despite concerns raised by Ukraine, European governments and American lawmakers.Bessent further used the interview to urge Senate Republicans to end the filibuster if Democrats trigger another government shutdown, calling the recent closure a \u201c1.5% hit to GDP\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"File photo: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent (Picture credit: AP) US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has insisted the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[88280,72,88282,113,37509,34360,61,88284,60,22820,88283,7914,88281,70342],"class_list":["post-156575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-2026-recession","tag-business","tag-economic-growth-usa","tag-economy","tag-government-shutdown","tag-healthcare-costs","tag-ie","tag-inflation-rates","tag-ireland","tag-nbc-news","tag-one-big-beautiful-bill","tag-scott-bessent","tag-trump-tariff-strategy","tag-us-treasury-secretary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}