‘The economy is braking hard’ and CEO confidence is miserable, says billionaire Barry Sternlicht ‘The economy is braking hard’ and CEO confidence is miserable, says billionaire Barry Sternlicht

The U.S. economy is teetering on the brink of a serious downturn if the Federal Reserve doesn’t pump the brakes on its rate hikes, billionaire CEO Barry Sternlicht said.

The central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year and is widely expected to hike them by 75 basis points next week in an effort to tame inflation. Earlier this week, consumer prices rose 0.1% instead of the 0.1% decline economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting.

However, Sternlicht believes the Fed was late to the game and is now being too aggressive.

“The economy is braking hard,” the chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.