Biden’s Senior Economic Adviser Gene Sperling Did Resign After Stocks Tumbled. But That Wasn’t Why He Quit

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Biden’s Senior Economic Adviser Gene Sperling Did Resign After Stocks Tumbled. But That Wasn’t Why He Quit

Claim:

U.S. President

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

’s senior economic adviser, Gene Sperling, resigned after stocks tumbled around the world in early August 2024.

Rating:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Rating: True

Context:

Sperling left the White House on Aug. 5, 2024, two days after a weak U.S. jobs report sent stocks in the U.S. and the world tumbling on fears of a recession. But the implication that Sperling left because of the market rout was only speculation. In reality, he left to join the presidential election campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris as an economic policy adviser. Sperling served under former U.S. presidents

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and Barack Obama, and also worked with Harris in her position as California attorney general, when she was elected to the U.S. Senate and during her vice presidency.

 

Gene Sperling, senior economic adviser to the White House, left his post on Aug. 5, 2024, two days after a weak U.S. jobs report sent stock prices plunging. This prompted some internet users to suggest that the sell-off had caused his departure (

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

):

https://x.com/LeadingReport/status/1820491955257934016

This post had been viewed 744,300 times and liked 22,000 times as of this writing. Replies show several X users believed there was a connection between the two events. “There’s a great example of officials running from any accountability,”

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. “We need to know everything that guy advised on… can’t let them off the ***** that easy.” “Like a rat fleeing the sinking ship,”

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Two ************* news outlets,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, made a similar suggestion in their headlines, pointing to the timing of Sperling’s departure.

It is correct that the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

after the market rout began on Aug. 2, 2024. For this reason, we rated the claim “True.” But the suggestion that one had caused the other was mere speculation.

In reality, as The Associated Press and other sources reported,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to help shape her economic policy proposals as she stood to run against former President Donald Trump. Sperling, a veteran to the White House, served as economic adviser under former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as the current president, Joe Biden. He also worked with Harris during her tenures as California attorney general and as U.S. senator from California. The two also joined forces during her vice presidency to develop and promote various economic policies designed in part to help the country recover from the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harris, whose bid to the White House started when Biden announced he would not run for reelection, had now

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

(

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

) of the Democratic Party’s delegates, becoming the official Democratic nominee. As she prepared to announce her running mate,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, it was clear that the timing of Sperling’s hiring was tied to the developments in Harris’ campaign rather than economic news and market volatility.

What Caused the Market Rout

The global stock sell-off began on the first Friday of August 2024, as soon as investors and analysts got hold of the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said U.S. employers had added 114,000 new jobs in July, fewer than the 175,000 jobs

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

had expected, and far below the 200,000 the economy needed to keep up with population growth. This was also well under the 215,000 monthly average of the previous 12 months. Further, the BLS revised down the job number for May by 2,000 and the number for June by 27,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

This came two days after the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

decided to maintain its key interest rate at 5.33%, choosing instead to delay a possible cut until September 2024. “The economy is moving closer to the point where it will be appropriate to reduce our policy rate,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that accompanied the decision. “That time is drawing near. That time could be in September if the data support that.”

But investors worried that the Fed was taking too long to cut its historically high rate. Initially set above 5% to help cool inflation, they feared keeping it there would now contribute to a so-called

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, when a booming economy slows abruptly.

Meanwhile, earning results from the technology sector disappointed investors, who also expressed skepticism that artificial intelligence could result in revenue. On Aug. 5, 2024, the “Magnificent Seven” (Alphabet,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, Apple, Meta Platforms,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, Nvidia, and Tesla) lost a collective $653 billion in market capitalization, following news that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and that investor Warren Buffett, of Berkshire Hathaway, had

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in the second quarter of the year. In addition,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

had illegally exploited its dominance over internet search, causing its parent company’s stock to fall 4.4%. The seven companies had a disproportionate weight on stock market returns,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, so any headwind they might face would impact investors in outsized measure.

This ***** spread from the U.S. to other parts of the world. As investors abroad focused on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, contagion triggered a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

index, the largest since 1987. The prospect of a cut in U.S. interest rates would make ********* goods more expensive and its currency, the yen, stronger against the dollar, all of which would hurt its exports.

But on Aug. 6, 2024, after San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said the economic indicators were on track and that the central bank was very focused on maintaining job growth,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, rising nearly 10.23%. Some also said that the market plunge of early August 2024 had been a bit of an overreaction, as the job market in summer tends to slow down.

Sources:

Brianna Herlihy, Matthew Kazin. ‘White House Economic Adviser Heads to Harris Campaign as Stock Market Plunges’. FOXBusiness, 5 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Cooper, Amanda, et al. ‘Stocks Drop as Early Sense of Relief Falters’. Reuters, 6 Aug. 2024. www.reuters.com,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Effective Federal Funds Rate – FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

‘Employment Situation Summary – 2024 M07 Results’. Bureau of Labor Statistics,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

‘

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Illegally Maintains Monopoly over Internet Search, Judge Rules’. AP News, 5 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Harper, Casey. Top Biden Economic Advisor Leaves amid Stock Market Plummet and Recession, Joins Harris Campaign. 5 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

House, The White. ‘Statement from President Joe Biden on Gene Sperling’. The White House, 5 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Ilich, Robert. ‘Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Stake in Apple by Nearly 50% | CNN Business’. CNN, 3 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Mutikani, Lucia. ‘Sharp Slowdown in US Job Growth Boosts Unemployment Rate to 4.3%’. Reuters, 2 Aug. 2024. www.reuters.com,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Nehamas, Nicholas. ‘Harris Officially Secures Democratic Party’s Nomination for President’. The New York Times, 6 Aug. 2024. NYTimes.com,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

‘Nvidia’s AI Chip Demand to Face Limited Impact from Potential Production Delay, Analysts Say’. Reuters, 5 Aug. 2024. www.reuters.com,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Staff, Snopes. ‘Biden Dropped Out of Presidential Race, Endorsed Kamala Harris?’ Snopes, 21 July 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The Magnificent Seven: A Study in Market Cyclicality.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

‘The Top 10 Largest Economies In The World In 2024’. Forbes India,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

Thompson, Laura He, Marc Stewart, Mark. ‘********* Stocks ****** in Biggest One-Day Drop since 1987 as Global Market Rout Intensifies | CNN Business’. CNN, 5 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Unemployment Rate. 2 Aug. 2024,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

‘What Is a Hard Landing?’ Investopedia,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Accessed 6 Aug. 2024.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Bidens #Senior #Economic #Adviser #Gene #Sperling #Resign #Stocks #Tumbled #Wasnt #Quit

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up