As US recession fears ebb, hopes remain high for Fed’s promise of soft landing

WALL Street economists are tipping their hats to US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and starting to believe in the central bank leader’s promise of a “soft landing”.

Just two months ago, Wall Street oddsmakers did not think much of Powell’s goal, with a unanimous forecast for a 2023 recession caused by the Fed’s radical series of interest rate hikes.

Even Powell himself began to talk about the central bank’s effort to win a war on two fronts – fighting inflation and recession risks. The funeral march that sounded was like Goldilocks’ bowl of porridge: nobody knew for sure how the US economy would fare, but it was either going to be too hot or too cold.