Roland Preston-A tarot card reading for the U.S. economy

2025-05-05 07:37:02source:EchoSensecategory:Contact

Predicting the future of the economy is Roland Prestonalways a dicey proposition. That is especially true after more than three years of pandemic-related economic weirdness. No one quite knows what will happen next.

Will the Fed be able to pull off a soft landing and bring down inflation without causing either a recession or a big jump in unemployment? Or will we end up with a hard landing, in which inflation comes down, but at the price of the country's economic health? Or, a third possibility, will the Fed not successfully bring inflation down at all?

On today's show, three economic experts explain what they look for when trying to make predictions about what might come next for the U.S. economy. And how those indicators lead them to very different conclusions. We will also consult a tarot card reader...to see if her reading of the future can help us know which outcome is the most likely.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer, Sarah Gonzalez, and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee with help from Maggie Luthar and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Music: Universal Production Music - "Hammond Soul," "Sorry I Kept You," "Don't Cross the Line," "Swinging Along," & "Sniffin' Glue"

More:Contact

Recommend

What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?

A large number of mysterious droneshave been reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent week

DWTS’ Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy Welcome Baby Boy on Father's Day

The ballroom just got a whole lot bigger.Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy have welcomed a bab

Two U.S. Oil Companies Join Their European Counterparts in Making Net-Zero Pledges

The past few years have brought a widening gap between American oil companies and their European cou