The Federal Reserve, financial markets, the upcoming election and artificial intelligence took center stage on Tuesday as roughly 1,300 members of Chicago’s business community crowded into a packed ballroom for the Executives’ Club of Chicago’s . 

Drought and other effects of climate change promise a brewing “perfect storm,” he added. He projected that within four years, half the world’s population will be facing restricted water access. 

And despite the real estate market collapse in China, Froehlich remained bullish on the world’s second most populous country. He said China’s burgeoning workforce outweighs its burst housing bubble.

“Where the jobs are usually ends up being where the economic growth is,” he said. 

Back in America, whether the Fed cuts three times this year (Rogers’ prediction) or eight times (Froehlich’s), the panelists agreed there will be no broader recession, although Swonk said that some sectors, like the freight industry, are already facing recession.

“A soft landing is not the same as no landing,” she said.