Commentary
Markets have remained relatively stable since the Federal Reserve announced a 25-basis-point hike in March, with no negative surprises jumping out of the U.S. banking sector.
But the U.S. economy remains on the verge of trouble. There are landmines on several fronts that could hurt businesses and consumers. And all of this makes the Federal Reserve’s job harder as it tries to steer clear of a “hard landing.” We’ll examine a few here.
During his remarks in March, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that the Fed anticipates tightening credit conditions to weigh on the U.S. economy for the rest of the year. And this impact could, in effect, “substitute for some additional rate hikes,” according to a March 23 Deutsche Bank note to clients….