"Back in July I ran a post titled "No boom, no bust." Things haven't changed much since then: inflation has come back down to earth, and the economy continues to grow, albeit slowly. Stocks are up a bit, the Fed tightened once, credit spreads have tightened a bit, and the market continues to worry that another Fed tightening might be the kiss of death for the economy.
...Bloomberg's Financial Conditions Index, a reliable measure of the underlying health of the financial markets and thus a forward-looking indicator of the health of the economy. Conditions are about average these days, so it's reasonable to expect the economy will continue to grow, albeit slowly (~2%).
...It's important to note (again) that Fed tightening this time around is fundamentally different from tightening cycles in the past. The main difference this time is that the Fed is not draining reserves from the banking system. Reserves are still plentiful at over $3 trillion. That's a huge deal. [Making] the point another way: there is no shortage of liquidity in the financial markets, unlike during periods leading up to recessions in the past. The only thing that is "disturbing" the economy this time around is that short-term interest rates are relatively high. That doesn't necessarily pose a threat to the economy. It simply makes it more attractive for people to hold money—that is, higher rates increase the public's demand for money, and that in turn neutralizes the amount of "excess" M2 that is still circulating."
(Still no boom, no bust dated 09/15/2023 by Scott Grannis, Chief Economist with Western Asset Management from 1979-2007)
Full article can be found here: https://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2023/09/still-no-boom-no-bust.html