Soft landing
The scenario in which tighter monetary policy brings inflation down without wrecking employment and output.
How to read the number
It is achieved rarely because rates work with a lag: by the time the effect is visible, the dose already turns out to have been too large or too small.
When the metric lies
The label is attached to the future and can only be checked against the past — it appears in headlines long before the outcome is settled.
Also known as: gentle slowdown