Will The US Economy Recover Soon? Billionaire Weighs In On Coronavirus Outlook, Slams Trump's Response

Economists, entrepreneurs and financial analysts have spent weeks weighing a crucial question for many Americans: How long will it take the U.S. economy to sufficiently rebound from the coronavirus pandemic?

Billionaire businessman Barry Diller believes that it won’t be anytime soon. Diller, the chairman of IAC and ExpediaGroup, also had some harsh words for President Trump’s handling of the situation, describing him as "a witch doctor."

“To anyone who thinks that this economy is going to bounce, I mean you'd have to have the idea of a rubber ball not in existence to think it's going to bounce high,” Diller said during an interview Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

“It can't. The damage that's being done is catastrophic.”

Diller believes that there is “no chance” that the country’s economy will recover by the summer. While some states have started to ease lockdown protocols, others have continued to exercise caution and extended them through May and it is unclear at this stage when they might be lifted.

The Trump administration, particularly Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has often pushed the hopeful idea that the economy will recover by July. Diller has pushed back against this, stating the things might return to a level of normalcy by September at the earliest, but not before the country experiences a period in the summer which he predicted would be a "big mess" with a lot of "experimenting going on."

Despite the U.S. government providing aid to small businesses, helping them continue to pay furloughed employees and bills, Diller believes that the damage to these businesses will be extensive. He predicted “widespread bankruptcies” in the near future as non-essential businesses remain shuttered.

“You're going to have a massive amount of businesses that can't return, businesses that go bankrupt. It's inevitable,” Diller said. “And hopefully, the government will, so to speak, pick up the tab, because this is an existential crisis and we shouldn't worry so much about doing it in a neat way. It ought to be sloppy to get that money out to everybody who needs it.”

Diller dismissed the notion that social distancing rules could be implemented in reopened movie theaters and restaurants. He also said that it would be up to the federal government to make the call about the country being safe to open, but was critical of Trump’s ability to do so safely and correctly.

“We're going to have to be told,” Diller said. “Now, unfortunately, we have a witch doctor as a president and he ain't going to tell us. But the science part of it, I think that has to be translated into more practical solutions.”

Diller, 78, is known for running media companies and interactive commerce. He served in executive roles at Paramount, 20th Century Fox and USA Broadcasting, among others. Diller has also been a longtime board member for Coca-Cola.