UA economist sees ‘soft landing’ for economy as a strong possibility

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Mervin Jebaraj, economist with the University of Arkansas Walton College of Business, offers a gymnastics analogy for the Federal Reserve Bank’s handling of the tumultuous economy.

Observers have wondered if the aggressive hike in interest rates could pull inflation under control without crashing the economy and causing a recession. Jebaraj said, so far, it’s been a pretty well-done routine.

“As far as a ‘soft landing’ goes, I think you can safely say that the Federal Reserve has stuck a ‘soft landing’ in 2023. Now if you ever watch those gymnastics, you can get like one to two extra steps before you steady yourself, so that’s where we are and heading into 2024,” he said.

UA economist sees ‘soft landing’ for economy as a strong possibility