Lael Brainard, director of President Biden’s National Economic Council, recently brought glad tidings for the U.S. economy and something more to think about.

Reflecting on recent data on GDP growth, employment and on the Federal Reserve’s ongoing effort to bring down inflation — all while it attempted to avoid a 2023 recession — Brainard said the “width of a runway for a soft landing has gotten much bigger.” She indicated, optimistically, that the economy is “going to maintain strength going into next year.”

Until recently a Fed vice-chair, Brainard also praised the job done by Chair Jerome Powell, offering an important insight that deserves more attention. Immigration, a factor that receives more curses than praise in Washington, had “helped the U.S. labor force rebound.”

Turning the analytical spotlight on the economy’s supply side for a change — those who produce things behind the scenes rather than the consumption that takes place in plain sight — Brainard reminded us that it is not necessary to have a recession........

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