13th Annual Inland Empire Economic Forecast Conference

The Changing Economic Outlook: Worrying About the Wrong Recession

The U.S. and Inland Empire economies have recovered from the pandemic-driven recession, but the excessive fiscal stimulus that was hosed out across the nation during the crisis has left us with overheated, overstimulated conditions. With aggregate demand at a white-hot level, and the nation running at capacity, inflation is soaring and interest rates rising even as the trade deficit has grown to its second highest level ever.

These clear symptoms of overheating are being widely interpreted as signs of a near-term recession. According to the Center for Economic Forecasting’s renowned economists, the true risks lay further down the road. But as the collective focus remains on the immediate threat of recession, the unaddressed imbalances within the U.S. economy continue to grow, raising the risk of a very real recession in the future. And while the Inland Empire economy has been booming along most measures, the broader fortunes of the region will hang in the balance when that day of reckoning occurs.

Join some of the nation’s leading economists and get answers to today’s most pressing questions:

• What’s next for the economy? Is a recession inevitable? If so, when?
• Is inflation nearing its peak in the U.S.? How much higher will it go? 
• What do rising interest rates mean for the overall economy?
• Will California’s still red-hot housing markets be safe havens in the next few years?
• How will the Inland Empire’s key job sectors be affected by a slowdown?
• Is local IE wage growth expected to continue?