US Economy Has ‘Decent Chance’ of Avoiding Recession but Things ‘Could Go Bad’: Bernanke

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke answers questions at a conference with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Sept. 12, 2018. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Federal Reserve officials have a “decent chance” of avoiding a recession in the United States with a “soft landing,” former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke said on Sunday.

“The U.S. economy today is a mixed bag,” Bernanke said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” while noting inflation levels that have reached 40-year highs.