ATLANTA — Georgia’s state economist worries the U.S. economy is headed toward stagflation, but said the state remains strong economically.
Dr. Robert Buschman stood before a room Tuesday packed with lawmakers and told them how he thinks the state’s economy is doing and what could be coming in the months ahead.
“We have a slowdown. No recession yet,” Buschman said.
It’s not all good news, especially with looming stagflation. But it isn’t all bad either.
Banks, he said, remain strong, as is our individual consumer financial health.
But Buschman also said there are worries: High mortgage and auto loan rates, slowing job growth, and low consumer confidence based on things like uncertainty over tariffs and artificial intelligence’s impact on jobs.
Afterwards, Buschman told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that incomes are not keeping up with inflation in effect squeezing middle- and low-income families.
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“The K-shaped economy where consumption spending by high-income households continues to go gangbusters, but middle- and low-income houses are cutting back, that’s a worry,” Buschman said.
Elliot also asked Gov. Brian Kemp about the mixed forecast. He insists Georgia is in good financial shape to weather any economic storm.
“We have been cautiously budgeting since we came out of the pandemic because nobody really knew what this was going to look like. So, we’re prepared to deal with what’s going on in the world right now,” Kemp said.
Stone Mountain Democratic State Sen. Kim Jackson disagrees and said now is the time to protect low-income families.
“What we need to ensure is that our safety nets, whether that’s SNAP or unemployment benefits. We need to ensure those safety nets work and can catch Georgians in this season,” Jackson said.
Bottom line, the economy isn’t great, but we aren’t in recession, and Georgia is in good financial shape with deep reserves, but some families may not be.
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