Each rate hike means higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. And each time would-be borrowers find loan rates prohibitively expensive, the resulting drop in spending weakens confidence, job growth and overall economic vigor.

“There’s a path for us to get there,“ Powell said Wednesday, referring to a soft landing. „It’s not getting easier. It’s getting more challenging”

It was always going to tough: The Fed hasn’t managed to engineer a soft landing since the mid-1990s.