Jim Rickards, an economist and author of several best-selling books, including “Currency Wars,” has given his take on the current status of the U.S. economy and how the recent Federal Reserve interest rate cut is an indicator of what might be coming.

In Steve Banner’s War Room, Rickards explained that while the narrative promoted by the Federal Reserve indicates that the economy is stable and the numbers are strong, the reality is that the interest rate cut of 50 basis points (0.5%) was a lot higher than what some economists expected. For him, this indicates that the Federal Reserve has fallen behind the economy’s curve and is in a “little bit” of a panic mode with no possible soft-landing in this situation.

Rickards assessed that the U.S. economy has already started to show signs of an accelerated slowdown, according to several indicators. One of these is the decline in oil prices, which have gone from approximately $90 to $68 a barrel, due to a lack of demand linked to the economy’s weakness.

In addition, the recent continued gold rally, registering all-time high price numbers shortly after the cut announcement, is also a bearish indicator of the dollar’s strength and by extension the U.S. economy’s.

When asked about his forecast for the near future, Rickards declared:

Recession with disinflation and possible deflation. In the long run? Yeah, we are going to have inflation, but in the short run, we are seeing inflation come down a lot. It’s going to catch a lot of people by surprise.