(New York)

“We think U.S. growth may have just peaked”, says the chief US economist for Barclays Capital. The US is coming off a strong GDP report, but the reality is that growth fell from 4.2% in the third quarter to 3.5% in third quarter. Most economists say that will slow to 2.5% in the first quarter of 2019, and 2.3% one year from now. In other words, the economy has already seen “as good as it gets” and we are past-peak. Most expect consumer spending and business investment to stall as the benefits of the tax cuts wane, weighing on the economy.

FINSUM: It is hard to imagine the economy getting better than it has been this year. Furthermore, we have a hard time believing it is going to slow down as gradually as the forecasts. We think a more abrupt recession is probably more likely.