Bill Dudley, Columnist

Jerome Powell’s Pivot Is a Pretty Big Gamble

The US Federal Reserve has bet its reputation on a soft landing. Here’s hoping it works out.

December 18, 2023 at 11:00 AM UTC

Bill Dudley is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he is a member of Coinbase Global's advisory council.

The gambler.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

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The US Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, are betting that they can have the best of both worlds — that they’ll be able to defeat excessive inflation without forcing the economy into recession.

I hope it goes well. Unfortunately, there’s still a significant chance it won’t.