Billionaire Larry Fink has said that he thinks the US economy has already weakened, and may already be in decline.
‘I think we’re very close, if not in, a recession now,’ the BlackRock CEO told CNBC Friday.
Fears of an economic slowdown have soared since President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries last week, sending markets nosediving.
The sell-off continued into this week, hitting panicked Americans’ investments and retirement savings.
But on Wednesday, the President announced a 90-day delay in levies for countries that had not imposed reciprocal tariffs. This sent Wall Street surging to its biggest single day gain since 2008, but left investors and regular Americans reeling.
Fink, who has been CEO of the largest investment company in the US for decades, said the pause was not enough to restore confidence in the economy, and that he was ‘terrified’ about some issues in the short run.
‘I think you’re going to see, across the board, just a slowdown until there’s more certainty,’ he said during an interview on Squawk on the Street.
‘And we now have a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs – that means longer, more elevated uncertainty.’
Billionaire Larry Fink has said that he thinks the US economy has already weakened, and may already be in decline
Fink echoed comments he made earlier in the week at the Economic Club of New York.
The businessman, who has an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, said: ‘Most CEOs I talk to would say we are probably in a recession right now.’
He warned on Monday that the ‘economy is weakening as we speak,’ and that he sees more economic slowdown in the coming months.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Fink pointed out that the current economic climate is ‘something we have created,’ and noted how the position of the US on the world stage has changed.
‘This is not a pandemic, this is not a financial crisis, this is something that we have created.
‘The United States post World War Two was a global stabilizer, now we are the global destabilizer. And that’s a very hard thing to say because I pride ourselves of bringing the leadership and bringing the conversations.’
But he added that the ‘power of US capitalism’ is still alive, and the company’s clients worldwide are still asking for its vision and views.
‘Long term I’m less worried about some of these issues but in the short run I’m petrified about some of these issues,’ Fink said.
Fears of an economic slowdown have soared since President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries last week, sending markets nosediving
But despite his concerns, Fink said that he did not think the US was in a financial crisis, and that the ‘megatrends’, such as artificial intelligence, would persist.
‘I think the mega-force trends are not going to change by what is happening now.
‘But maybe the execution of some of these trends may be delayed or pushed out longer,’ he said.
The billionaire said he remains optimistic over the long run.
‘Yes we have to recalibrate, yes I do believe we are probably starting, if not, we’re in a recession.
‘I think the market is still underestimating how high inflation can get. If you factor in all the tariffs, if you factor in all these other issues it’s going to be quite additive.’
