AT+

US recession alarm bells ringing far and wide

US corporate titans highly pessimistic on economy’s 2023 outlook but it’s not clear the inflation-fighting Fed is listening

by William Pesek January 6, 2023January 11, 2023

All signs point to a US recession in 2023. The question is how deep and long and how the US Federal Reserve will react. Image: Screengrab / CNN

TOKYO – For a central bank with such a fabled research apparatus, the US Federal Reserve sure is missing some big clues that the US economy is stalling.

Minutes of the December Fed policy meeting show officials warned in unusually blunt terms that markets should not doubt their determination to curb inflation with even higher interest rates.

Fair enough. Investors sometimes misread Fed thinking. It works both ways, though, with US central bankers occasionally missing or misdiagnosing cracks in financial markets that lead to deeper economic dislocations.