Global Recession Could Last Until the Middle of 2024, Says Elon Musk

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO suggested via a Tweet on Friday that the global recession could last until 2024. But he’s not the only billionaire mogul who's sounding the alarm. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said he is also preparing for a recession in the next six to nine months.

In 2021, the global gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6% and is expected to decelerate to 3.2% this year and will plummet to 2.7% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund. The GDP’s dropping growth rate hasn’t been this bad since the 2001 recession or the 2008 financial crisis.

“Just guessing, but probably until spring of ’24,” Musk wrote on Twitter when asked how long he thought a recession could last.

During an analyst call, Musk said the United States is “in pretty good health,” adding that “[a] little bit of that is raising interest rates more than they should, but I think they’ll eventually realize that and bring it back down, I think," referencing the Federal Reserve which has hiked interest rates about half a dozen times this year alone.

Musk then said that China is experiencing a “burst of a recession of sorts” caused by their real estate market, while Europe’s recession is caused by energy.

On Wednesday, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder, shared similar sentiments and said it was time to “batten down the hatches” in response to a CNBC interview with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

“Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches,” said Bezos.

Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches. https://t.co/SwldRdms5v

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 18, 2022

The billionaire’s warnings come at a time when Americans are struggling to afford inflated prices for gas, groceries, and utilities, despite the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, which many economists say “isn’t working.”

“Raising interest rates isn’t working, and the Fed’s overly aggressive actions are shoving our economy to the brink of a devastating recession,” said Rakeen Mabud, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive thinktank. “Supply chain bottlenecks, a volatile global energy market and rampant corporate profiteering can’t be solved by additional rate hikes.”

The White House continues to claim that a recession isn’t certain, while on Sunday Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said a recession is “possible, but not inevitable.”