George Soros, Billionaire Investor, Says U.S. Already In Recession

For months, people have been speculating about whether the U.S. economy will enter a double-dip recession. At least one billionaire says the debate is over.

George Soros, famed investor, told CNBC Wednesday that rather than the U.S. slipping into recession sometime in the future, "I think we are in it already."

That level of pessimism isn't especially unique, especially among the rich. A recent poll found the wealthy are more pessimistic about the economy than the average American.

Soros, who was on Wednesday named the seventh-richest man in the world, said a main question right now is "whether the rich ought to pay taxes to create jobs or not," lamenting America's failure to enact legislation that "would have balanced the budget over the long term, but would have allowed short-term fiscal stimulus," he told CNBC.

Soros is only the latest public figure to weigh in on the possibility of a double dip. Micheal Spence and Paul Krugman said there was a 50 percent chance of another recession, while World Bank president Robert Zoellick remained optimistic that despite slow growth, an all-out recession would be avoided.

To almost everyone in America, though, a recession is possible, if not inevitable. Indeed, only 9 percent say they are confident a recession will be avoided, according to a recent poll by Bloomberg. Eight in 10 Americans say the country is in a recession already.

Economists, on the other hand, appear slightly more optimistic. Polls from both UBS Wealth Management and Reuters peg the chances of another recession at one in three.