Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Moody's chief saying the U.S. is on the precipice of recession, and why he's saying that.

Mark Zandi is the chief economist of Moody's. If you're not familiar with Moody's, they're kind of a big deal.

Zandi said in no uncertain terms that not only is the U.S. on the verge of recession, but that the Fed may not be

able to stop it because of rising inflation. It's a warning stemming from the recent economic numbers.

We got a couple of messages asking what I thought of his warning.

Huge vote of confidence to be asked to check the math of the chief economist of Moody's.

Okay, so what did he say?

Not behind closed doors, not at some investor meeting, not in a seldom read note to investors, but on his social media, he said, quote,

the economy is on the precipice of recession. That's the clear takeaway from last week's economic data dump.

Consumer spending has flatlined. Construction and manufacturing are contracting. And employment is set to fall.

And with inflation on the rise, it is tough for the Fed to come to the rescue.

Unemployment remains low, but that's only because labor force growth has gone sideways.

The foreign-born workforce is shrinking, and labor force participation is declining.

Telling is the economy-wide hiring freeze, particularly for recent

graduates, and the decline in hours worked. Taken as a whole? Yes, these are bad signs. And yes,

they absolutely can signal recession.

I'm not sure that the Fed can't save the economy.

But it's not like it's a ridiculous idea that we're already past the point where they can effectively mitigate the damage.

As we've talked about before, there will come a point where the reserve's hands are tied.

We very well might be past that point.

And if we're not, we may be soon.

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