The United States will fall into a recession, but it did not have to, according to the former chief economist of the IMF

New York ( Business) — It is “almost impossible” for the Federal Reserve to curb inflation without sending the US economy into recession, says former International Monetary Fund chief economist Ken Rogoff.

“[La Fed] you’d have to be very lucky,” Rogoff told ‘s Christine Romans on Early Start. “You have to decide: Do you have to bring inflation down quickly, or are you going to throw us into a recession? I think they are saying they will lower inflation. I think they will blink.”

Rogoff said he thinks the Fed will “blink” and rein in aggressive rate hikes.

The professor of economics at Harvard University was “angry” at what is happening to the economy.

“I don’t think this had to happen. We hit the gas for too long and it was too late a stimulus. I sympathize with all the targets, but the stimulus, it went on too long and it didn’t go away.
calibrated,” Rogoff said.

Rogoff also notes that supply shocks and the war in Ukraine have added to the inflation crisis, which he says is more of a challenge than the Fed thought.

“Personally, I think they should take it easy and let inflation run high for a few years and go slow,” rather than trigger a recession. “There is no easy way out.”