Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon sees V-shaped recovery into 2021 before comeback slows

• The US economy is still on track for a V-shaped recovery at least through 2020, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said Wednesday.
• The nation is "somewhere in the middle" of its rebound and reopenings are slated to sharply boost economic activity, he said during the Bloomberg Invest Global virtual conference.
• Yet as the V-shaped bounce ends sometime next year, "it's very open-ended as to what kind of economic friction we're going to see as we get through the end of the year and into 2021," the chief executive added.
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Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon still sees a V-shaped recovery ahead even as coronavirus cases are increasing throughout the US.

It just might not bring the economy back to its pre-pandemic levels as quickly as hoped.

Appearing in the Bloomberg Invest Global virtual conference, Solomon said the US is "somewhere in the middle" of its turnaround. Just as economic activity nosedived in the second quarter, the CEO sees reopenings driving a similar turn higher through the end of the year.

"This crisis has had a profound impact on the economic environment that we're operating in," he said on Wednesday. "My guess is when you look at the shape of the recovery, the initial shape is going to look quite like a V."

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Solomon added that uncertainty still clouds such forecasts and second shocks could endanger the nation's long-term trajectory. The healthcare industry represents a major variable, as an effective coronavirus vaccine is largely viewed as the best bet for boosting consumer confidence. Human behavior can also deviate from expectations and either accelerate or halt reopening measures.

These factors will likely slow the US economic bounce-back after 2020 and push a full rebound further down the road, Solomon said.

"I do think we're going to see a sharp V to start with, but it's very open-ended as to what kind of economic friction we're going to see as we get through the end of the year and into 2021," the CEO said.

"I think it's going to take quite a while for us to get back to where we were before this started"

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