Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, says that inflation has reached its peak but that a recession is on the horizon. “We’re in a very uncertain time for investors,” the executive cautioned, adding that the Federal Reserve “is grappling with a level of inflation we haven’t seen in a long time.”
Citadel’s Ken Griffin on U.S. Economy, Inflation, Recession, and Cryptocurrency
Kenneth Griffin is the founder and chief executive officer of Citadel Global Investments. He spoke at Wednesday’s CNBC Delivering Alpha conference.
“It’s a very uncertain time,” he began. “We are grappling with the threat of nuclear war in Ukraine. We’re grappling with unprecedented central bank interventions. We’re grappling with record-high inflation in the United States in our lifetimes. We’re in a very uncertain time for investors,” Griffin stressed.
Noting that the U.S. equity market is showing “a level of resiliency” and the U.S. economy “is still strong,” he asserted:
We’re probably looking at peak inflation having just occurred or just about to occur. Assuming nothing else goes terribly wrong abroad, the domestic trajectory looks a bit better.
Regarding whether the U.S. economy will slide into a recession, he opined: “Everybody likes to forecast recessions, and there will be one, it’s just a question of when and, frankly, how hard.”
The Citadel boss continued: “And is it possible that end of ’23 we have a hard landing? Absolutely.” He further shared that his investment firm is “very focused on the possibility of a recession” as part of risk management.
“The Fed is grappling with a level of inflation we haven’t seen in a long time. They have a very limited toolkit,” Griffin stressed, warning that the Federal Reserve can raise interest rates but it “has very adverse consequences,” such as to home builders and auto manufacturers. However, the executive believes that “right now, the American consumer is feeling pretty good about where things stand on an absolute basis.”
The Citadel founder then spoke about Europe. “There’s a war in Europe. There is record inflation,” he said, adding:
Europe could be in recession already due to high energy costs and shortages.
Nonetheless, he pointed out that while the market is down, “it’s not down as much as you probably would have thought if you looked at the news headlines.”
Griffin was also asked to discuss cryptocurrency. “There’s a bit of an intergenerational fight here,” he began. “I see my younger colleagues much more crypto-centric than my older colleagues, and for good reasons, including, ironically, sort of a libertarian view of the world.” The Citadel CEO described:
As our government gets bigger and bigger, a certain number of people sort of feel like, you know what, I want the privacy … want to pull away from government.
“So what’s interesting is we see people pulling away from big governments when they look at assets like cryptocurrency, which is a real irony given how people view government can solve so many other problems,” he concluded.
How do you feel about Ken Griffin’s comments? Comment below to let us know your thoughts about Ken Griffin’s comments.
Images CreditsShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons
DisclaimerThis information is provided for educational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to sell or buy any product, service, or company. Bitcoin.com doesn’t offer investment, tax or legal advice. This article does not contain any information, products, or advice that can be used to cause or alleged result in any kind of damage.