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Planet Money · December 25, 2024 · 27m

Indicators of Years Past and Future

Planet Money and The Indicator's annual crossover: looking back at the indicators that defined 2024 (soft landing, AI investment, election uncertainty) and looking forward to 2025 (tariff impacts, AI adoption rates, housing market).

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Canon

Planet Money argues that the soft landing went unappreciated because people adapted to low unemployment and moderate growth — those conditions became the invisible baseline rather than the notable achievement.

Highlights

The 'soft landing' of 2024 was the economic event that didn't happen — and non-events don't get enough credit
Planet Money argues that the most important economic story of 2024 was the recession that didn't happen. The Fed raised rates from 0% to 5.5%, and economists predicted a recession. Instead, unemployment stayed below 4%, GDP grew 2.5%, and inflation fell. The soft landing was a genuine achievement that received almost no credit.
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