Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said that a soft landing for the U.S. economy is a "primary objective" for the central bank. Some still have their doubts, but not F/m Investments CIO and President Alex Morris. Morris tells Yahoo Finance Live the Fed is facing a different set of problems than it did in the 2007-2008 financial crisis and that, as a result, officials are in a "better position" to deliver a "soft enough landing."
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Video Transcript
RACHELLE AKUFFO: Well, investors are still dreaming of a soft landing scenario, but how likely is it? JP Morgan's Marko Kolanovic said in a note that hopes for an economic soft landing are similar to sentiment in 2007 ahead of the global financial crisis. Now, investors then discussed a Fed pause, resilient consumers, soft landing, and strong jobs, just like we do today.
Still, our next guest says a soft landing is not just probable but likely. Joining me now is Alex Morris, FM Investments chief investment officer and president. Good to have you on the show here, Alex. So-- so walk us through your scenario here for a soft landing because there's a lot of mixed messaging that we're getting from analysts about whether or not the Fed can actually stick a soft landing here.
ALEX MORRIS: Rachelle, thanks for having me. You know, from being in DC, the politicians' first trick is to not define something fully. And so the first question is, what does a soft landing really mean? One of the problems that analysts and everyone else looking at the markets is, what-- will we know when we see it even?
And I think the answer is the Fed has done a good job. They're facing a different answer set and a different problem than 2007, 2008. And it's-- sure, we're talking about some of the most major items that hit the economy-- consumer sentiment, resiliency of the job market. But we've spent the last decade between-- decade and then some between 2008 and now very differently than the decade prior to 2008. And as a result, I think the Fed is in a better position to control inflation and to deliver a soft enough landing in the near future.