Speaking to Fox Business, Bob Nardelli, a top American CEO who has served as the chief executive of both Home Depot and Chrysler, warned that there are fault lines in the American economy that are “about ready to crack” and could create significant economic problems for the country. Nardelli previously warned, correctly, about the “apocalypse” for retail.
Speaking to Fox Business, Nardelli argued that the years of the Biden Administration have been full of terrible decisions that have put pressure on the weak points in our economy and could soon make it “crack.” He said, “What I’ve seen over the past three-and-a-half years is that a series of debacles and missteps have created a tremendous pressure on the fault lines of our economy, and they’re about ready to crack.”
Continuing, he explained that things might get worse even if someone more competent replaces Biden in the White House, as correcting the problems, particularly the overspending, will likely cause yet more issues. He said, “Whoever gets the next stint in the White House is going to be hit with a wrecking ball in trying to correct the missteps and the overspending of this current administration, so we’re in for a rough time, I would say.”
Nardelli also spoke about the cumulative problem posed by inflation and how it can create huge, impossible-to-solve problems for the middle class, particularly for high-cost expenses like housing. He used a recent story from Atlanta as an example, describing the huge cost of living there for even modest accommodations like a two-bedroom apartment.
Beginning the story, he said, “The inflation pipeline has a long tail, and I’ve seen it across many areas, both on raw materials, of course, we see it on labor, and, I did just a quick inquiry over the weekend on apartment rents in downtown Atlanta,”
Continuing, he explained how inflation has created a terrible housing situation, saying, “For example, a two-bedroom apartment now goes for like $3,500 a month, and that’s up a couple of thousand dollars from the post-pandemic period, so it’s really depressing to see the impact on family net worth and income level, even though we’ve seen 40% wage increases in some cases, it’s being totally, totally absorbed with inflation and the cost of living.”
Watch Nardelli here:
Nardelli has a proven track record with calling out economic issues. In the spring of 2023, for example, he warned, “I think we’re going to see a lot of bankruptcies like Bed, Bath and Beyond.” He continued, “We got Walmart not only laying people off, but closing stores. We got Accenture laying people off. We got Amazon closing distribution centers. So I think there’s a tremendous mixed message.” That was proven correct, as over five thousand shops shuttered in 2023 and over 2600 closed in just the first four months of 2024.
At the time, he also warned that the debt problem is a severe one for the country, saying, “I think we’re in a very complex environment. And, of course, this debt issue only adds to that. It adds to the certainty of uncertainty, what’s going to happen.”
Featured image credit: By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison – This image was released by the United States Air Force with the ID 080516-F-6655M-017
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