There have been many predictions about the timing of the next recession, with the majority of forecasters settling around a point next year. Perhaps the most aggressive of these predictions has come from former Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey, who told CNBC this week that the Fed is "nowhere close" to being able to control inflation. 

"I do think we're going to have a recession, probably in the next quarter," Lindsey said in remarks reported by MarketWatch.  "Inflation is eating into consumer spending power, they're going to have to cut back."

Lindsey said inflation could also move even higher, with consumer inflation possibly rising 1% or more on a monthly basis—a move that hasn't been observed since summer 1980.