shades fills you in

the new yorker: the 2023 economy is *weird*. there’s disagreement among economists over how much inflation is falling, and the labor market is still tight despite high-interest rates

a fortune op is optimisic: in early 2023, job openings fell, the unemployment rate fell, and inflation eased. the fed may be capable of a “soft landing” -- reining in inflation without a recession

a barrons op was also encouraged: 2023’s higher unemployment rate and slight hiring slowdown could signal that the fed’s interest rates are having their desired effect

but princeton economist alan blinder -- who used to be optimistic for a soft landing -- now says it won’t be easy to pull off. inflation just didn’t slow as much as we thought in 2022

national review agrees. strong jobs numbers are a bad sign. before past recessions, the job market actually grew. we could see an inflationary recession

a bloomberg op: if the fed wants a soft landing, it’s going to have to ditch its 2% inflation target. it’s just not going to be possible to avoid a recession if they want to slow things down that much

a diff bloomberg op: how about no soft landing?? a soft landing would drag inflation on. that’s bad for households, businesses, and the fed’s credibility. let’s rip off that bandaid!

the wsj interviewed an economist who sort of agreed: thanks to a strong labor market and wage growth, we’ll probably still be struggling with inflation for a while. listen to the interview here

fortune wrote that the collapse of silicon valley bank and its aftermath have raised the probability of a recession: the fed will have to consider how higher interest rates could affect bank instability

national review wrote off a soft landing entirely: the fed took too long to raise rates. banks are collapsing and interest rates are still high

then on march 22, the fed raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point, and signaled rate hikes may be coming to an end

by the way, and as a little background, “the fed” means the federal reserve. it’s the u.s. central bank, and it tries to manage inflation and growth by setting interest rates -- wapo