Stephen Moore: ‘People should not be freaked out and panicked’ over stock market amid coronavirus outbreak

Economist Stephen Moore urged people not to panic over stock market losses amid the coronavirus outbreak, saying the economy would reboot after a cure for the illness is found. 

“People should not be freaked out and panicked” over the stock market amid the coronavirus outbreak, Moore, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said on John Catsimatidis’s radio show Sunday morning.

“People oftentimes make the mistake of … following the herd, and sometimes they follow the herd right over the cliff,” he added.

“As soon as these viruses hit, the stock market falls by 5 or 10 or 12 percent, just as has happened now,” he added. “Once we have [a cure] … then the market goes right back up on its merry way.” 

The remarks from Moore, a close White House ally, come as the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc on the stock market this past week. 

Fears over the virus caused the stock market to close out its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 357 points on Friday, a loss of 1.4 percent, while the S&P 500 was down 25 points, or 0.8 percent. 

Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said Friday that the central bank will likely take action to boost the U.S. economy amid the steep stock market sell-off.

“The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook. We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy,” Powell said in a Friday statement. 

Washington state announced the first U.S. fatality from the coronavirus Saturday, with four other cases across the country emerging with unknown origins, raising fears of a further spread.

John Catsimatidis is an investor in The Hill.