Quick Thoughts: Quiet shifts in corporate debt may explain this year’s big economic surprise

The resilience of US growth, earnings and markets has been the big surprise of 2023. Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute, opines on the factors at play—and whether they will last. The resilience of US growth, earnings and markets has been the big surprise of 2023. Following more than a year of aggressive Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes, few would have believed at the beginning of this year that the United States would avoid a recession, see an upswing in US corporate earnings expectations, and enjoy a strong rebound of major equity indexes.