The Godot Recession

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: We’re raising the subjective odds we assign to the no-landing economic scenario through year-end 2024 (by 10% to 85%) and lowering our odds of a hard landing (by 10% to 15%). But we’re keeping close tabs on hard-landers’ latest arguments. Today, we summarize the main ones and give our rebuttals. … The biggest issue dividing the two camps is the outlook for consumer spending, representing over two-thirds of nominal GDP. If consumers don’t pull back on spending once their pandemic-related savings run out, an economy-wide recession would be a stretch. We say they won’t retrench, having other sources of purchasing power. ... And: Dr. Ed reviews “Barbie” (+).