Those who criticize policy changes carried out by the current Trump administration are "overreacting a bit," former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday, adding that he does not see signs of an imminent slowdown for the U.S. economy.
Mnuchin, who served in President Donald Trump's Cabinet during his first term in office, said that "I don’t think we’re going to have a recession. I don’t think the outlook looks like we’re going to have a recession. And Larry Summers saying there’s a 50% probability, I just don’t agree with that," Mnuchin said, referring to a recent remark from another former Treasury head.
There have been recent declines in confidence surveys of consumers and small business owners, apparently due to escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and its major trading partners of Canada, Mexico and China, as well as a massive cut in government jobs since Trump entered the White House.
Mnuchin, who since leaving office has been running the investment firm Liberty Strategic Capita, also commented on the recent downturn in the stock market, pointing out to CNBC that the decreases have come only after the indexes reached high levels.
"I don’t think anybody should look at what’s a natural, healthy correction of these indexes as indicating that the economy’s in trouble," he said.
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, said that he did not focus his attention on the ups and downs of the stock market on a daily basis when he was heading the Treasury Department. Instead, he said he saw them as a good "barometer" long term.