About this episode:
In this episode, Kara O’Halloran, Director, Investment Research and Lara Rhame, Chief U.S. Economist, sit down to talk through Lara’s top 10 macroeconomic calls for 2022, such as where she sees inflation, Fed policy and interest rates heading in the new year.
Transcript excerpt:
Kara O’Halloran (00:06):
Welcome back to FireSide a podcast from FS Investments. My name’s Kara O’Halloran, I’m a Director on our Investment Research team here, and it is the most wonderful time of the year, and I’m not talking about the holiday season, November and December may mean Thanksgiving and then the start of the holidays to most people, but for anyone working in financial markets, it is year ahead outlook time. Here at FS, we have plenty of content coming your way to keep you all busy for the rest of the year and get you prepped for 2022. And I am so excited to kick things off with what is always one of my favorite pieces of the year and our clients’ favorite pieces as well, our chief economist, Lara Rhame’s 10 for ’22. So, her top 10 calls for next year. Lara is here with me today to walk through what she is closely watching for 2022. Lara, welcome.
Lara Rhame (00:53):
Thank you. Is it already that time of year? It’s just snuck up on me.
Kara O’Halloran (00:57):
I know we say it every year, “I can’t believe it’s the end of the year,” but really this year I can’t believe it’s the end of the year.
Lara Rhame (01:05):
I know.
Kara O’Halloran (01:05):
It’s crazy. I think about 2021, we started in lockdowns, we had the vaccines, we had this vaccine euphoria and the reopening, and then Delta came and Omicron, and maybe we’ll learn how to say that in 2022.
Lara Rhame (01:17):
Right. Supply chain disruptions.
Kara O’Halloran (01:18):
Yeah, exactly. We still have strong economic growth and markets are still making all-time highs. They’re trading near all-time highs today.
Lara Rhame (01:26):
But interest rates haven’t gone anywhere.
Kara O’Halloran (01:28):
Exactly.
Lara Rhame (01:28):
They’re pretty much back where they were at the beginning of the year.
Kara O’Halloran (01:30):
Yep. But big topic of conversations still and commodities had a big run for a while. There was no shortage of things to talk about last year. It was a good time to watch a podcast.
Lara Rhame (01:41):
That must be why it seems like we’re just right here again, thinking about that, the coming year.
Kara O’Halloran (01:44):
Exactly. But I think we can all agree that there was one topic that dominated everything. You can guess it, inflation.
