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Could COVID-19 lead to another recession?

The stock market rebounded a bit Tuesday, but uncertainty remains.

CLEVELAND — With waves of uncertainty in the stock market, President Trump says we may be headed toward a recession but that “the market will take care of itself.”

The general definition of recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, according to Case Western Reserve University Professor of Business Law, Juscelino Colares.

“If we flatten the curve of [COVID-19 cases] enough we might have a smoother return and a quick rebound which might keep us from technically having a bad third quarter,” he says.  “Would you say the odds are we might have a recession, more likely than not at this point, but facts may change our assessment.”

With the government working to get money into the hands of Americans and working to ease burdens for businesses, if there were to be a recession it wouldn’t be as bad as the 2009 downturn, says Colares.

“We have a resilient economy, we are energy self-sufficient, our economy is extremely sound and these, what we call, market failures are issues that are being addressed,” he explains. 

Colares believes it’s important to start thinking about uncertainty always being a component in our lives. He says you should use good judgment when spending right now and  ideally work to have a savings that will cover six months of living expenses.

 “People need to live within their means so that you have those reserves, this is an important moment for people to kind of remember how everything was about a month and a half ago, so easy and so calm and how things can turn so fast,” he says.  

Colares says no matter what happens things are going to calm down.

“This is a message of hope, it also teaches us how to value our lives and maybe the time we spend with each other and our families, it should be cherished.”

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