Soft landing (economics)

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A soft landing in the business cycle is the process of an economy shifting from growth to slow-growth to potentially flat, as it approaches but avoids a recession. It is usually caused by government attempts to slow down inflation. [1] The criteria for distinguishing between a hard and soft landing are numerous and subjective.

The term was adapted to economics from its origins in the early days of flight, when it historically was the method of the landing of hot air balloons, by gradually reducing their buoyancy. It later also applied to aviation, gliders and spacecraft, as in the Lunar lander.

In the United States, modern recessions and hard and soft landings follow from Federal Reserve tightening cycles, in which the Federal funds rate is increased over several consecutive moves. In modern times, the most notable, and possibly the only true soft landing in the most recent 16 business cycles occurred in the soft landing of 1994, engineered by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan through fine tuning of interest rates and the money supply. [2] A soft landing by a central bank is when "the central bank tightens monetary policy to fight inflation but does not cause a recession." [3] If it causes a recession, then it is a hard landing. [3]

In addition to being a certain type of business cycle, a soft landing may also refer to a market segment or industry sector that is expected to slow down, but to not crash, while the wider economy may not experience such a slow down at that time. For example, a contemporary newspaper headline read: "Soft landing forecast for house prices as rate hikes stem growth". [4]

As it stands, these forecasts have very little scientific value and there is not one single verifiable instance of a soft landing following an economic bubble. This is enforced by definition, as any potential bubble followed by a soft landing would, in retrospect, not be deemed a bubble.[ citation needed ]

See also

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In the business cycle or economic cycle, a hard landing is an economy rapidly shifting from growth to slow-growth to flat as it approaches a recession, usually caused by government attempts to slow down inflation. It is distinguished from a soft landing, in which an economy's growth rate slows enough to control inflation, but remains high enough to avoid recession. The criteria for distinguishing between a hard and soft landing are numerous and subjective.

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See Business Cycle.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early 1990s recession in the United States</span> Economic recession in the United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021–2023 inflation surge</span> Ongoing global inflation above target

A worldwide increase in inflation began in mid-2021, with many countries seeing their highest inflation rates in decades. It has been attributed to various causes, including pandemic-related economic dislocation, supply chain problems, the fiscal and monetary stimuli provided in 2020 and 2021 by governments and central banks around the world in response to the pandemic, and price gouging. Recovery in demand through 2021 ultimately led to historic and broad supply shortages amid increasing consumer demand. Worldwide construction sectors were also hit.

References

  1. Soft Landing, investopedia.com
  2. Whither Goldilocks?, The Big Picture, September 22, 2006 | Sources: Business Outlook Survey, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia September 2006, http://www.phil.frb.org/files/bos/bos0906.html | U.S. LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS, The Conference Board U.S. Business Cycle Indicators, AUGUST 2006, http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2006/09/can_it_be_that.html
  3. 1 2 Blinder, Alan S. (2023). "Landings, Soft and Hard: The Federal Reserve, 1965–2022". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 37 (1): 101–120. doi: 10.1257/jep.37.1.101 . ISSN   0895-3309.
  4. Business Report, South Africa 1 Feb 2007
Proposed economic waves
Cycle/wave namePeriod (years)
Kitchin cycle (inventory, e.g. pork cycle)3–5
Juglar cycle (fixed investment)7–11
Kuznets swing (infrastructural investment)15–25
Kondratiev wave (technological basis)45–60