Coming off its fastest growth spurt in 37 years, the U.S. economy heads into the second half of 2022 caught between sputtering and slamming into reverse. There’s no doubt that conditions are slowing. The question is whether the current period ends up being a necessary downshift to control inflation, or an outright recession that could wreak even more damage. For now, most economists and policymakers are in the former camp. But there’s a growing sense of unease that the latter scenario easily could take hold. “You just don’t have the fault lines in the economy that you typically do before recessions,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. “With a little bit of luck, I think we make our way through. But it’s going to be uncomfortable for sure.” Economic pros The optimistic case for the economy largely rests on two pillars: A resilient, cash-flush consumer and a tight jobs market with an unemployment rate just off its…
