Boulder 2023 forecast: Recession or ultra-slow growth? Does it matter?

BOULDER — In the early days of 2023, one economic question looms large: Will this be the year that the United States economy dips into a recession?

Some prognosticators in Boulder are asking a related question: Does it matter? Is there a huge difference between an ultra-slow growth economic environment and a slightly contracting one?

“It doesn’t really matter if it’s a light recession or really slow growth,” Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, said Thursday at the Boulder Chamber’s annual economic forecast event. “It’s painful either way.”

In CU’s 2023…