Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was asked whether he would say a “soft landing” was his base case for the U.S. economy at a press conference after the central bank’s September meeting. “No. I would not do that,” he bluntly told reporters. The soft landing scenario, where inflation is tamed without the need for a job-killing recession, is the most likely outcome for the U.S. economy in the minds of the Fed’s staff of economists, but not Powell’s.
The Fed chair even isolated a number of economic shocks that may cause significant headwinds in the coming months. “There is a long list,” he warned.
