A fresh inflation reading for April had economists on Wednesday hopeful that a soft landing scenario is still possiblefor the American economy. With consumer prices 3.4% higher than in April 2023, there’s widespread expectation among pundits for the Fed to drop interest rates by at least 0.5% by the end of the year. The S&P 500 Index, followed by ETFs such as SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO), is pricing in these hopes, climbing up about 1.5% since the markets closed on Tuesday. How Bad Was Inflation In The Past Decade?The most recent inflationary cycle …