Economics Odds Across Every Prediction Market

Fed decisions, inflation and jobs prints, recession calls and market levels, priced side by side from every platform quoting them.

Understanding Economics Odds on Prediction Markets

An economics prediction market is a contract on a stated question that pays $1.00 if the answer turns out to be yes and nothing if it does not, quoted in cents in between. That makes the price and the probability the same number: a contract on a quarter-point cut at 70¢ is the market saying 70%. Nobody publishes the line. The number is whatever two traders last agreed on, and it updates the second a data print or a central-bank statement lands.

This page covers every matched economics market we track: Fed and other central-bank decisions meeting by meeting, inflation and jobs prints, recession and GDP contracts, debt-ceiling and default deadlines, index and commodity levels, and corporate events with a macro angle such as IPO timing and executive successions. Each card shows every platform currently quoting that question side by side, cheapest highlighted.

The two venues carrying most of the volume are built differently. Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated US exchange trading in dollars and runs the deepest Fed, CPI and payrolls ladders anywhere. Polymarket settles in USDC, draws a global pool and lists a wider set of international central-bank and one-off macro questions. Where both quote the same outcome, a gap of a few cents is routine, but a contract that settles on core rather than headline inflation, or at a different release time, is a different contract, so read the rules before treating a spread as free money.

Prediction Markets vs. Fed Funds Futures

The Fed odds most people know come from the futures market, read through the CME's FedWatch tool: the price of a fed funds future implies an expected rate, and a model turns that into meeting probabilities. A prediction market skips the model. Each outcome at each meeting is its own contract, and its price is the probability directly. The two usually sit close together. When they diverge, the futures side is carrying hedging demand and term premium that has nothing to do with the meeting itself, while the contract side is a cleaner read of what traders think will happen. Neither is right by default; the gap between them is the useful number.

Data-release contracts deserve one specific piece of care. CPI, payrolls and GDP thresholds settle on the official print within minutes of release and the thresholds are strict, so a contract sitting at 50¢ the night before is the most volatile instrument on this site for about ten seconds the next morning. That is structure, not mispricing: the probability has to collapse to 0 or 100 on a known second. Read the threshold and the named release before trading one.

How to Read the Odds Cards Above

Each card is one question, often one meeting or one release. The platform cells carry the live price at every venue quoting each outcome, and the cheapest quote is highlighted: for an identical $1.00 payoff, that is the best available buy. Prices link out to the market on the platform itself, and the card opens the full cross-platform table with price history. The odds converter turns any price into American or decimal odds, and the arbitrage scanner flags pairs whose prices have drifted far enough apart to lock in both sides.

Economics Markets Covered on This Page

Every family below is priced across all quoting platforms in the grid above.

Fed & Central Bank Decisions

The size of the move at each scheduled meeting for the Federal Reserve and, increasingly, the Bank of Japan, the ECB, the Bank of England and Banxico. Listed as a ladder of outcomes per meeting, which is what makes them directly comparable to the futures-implied path.

Inflation & Jobs Prints

Monthly CPI, core CPI, PCE, payrolls and unemployment thresholds, settled on the official release minutes after it lands. The shortest-dated economics contracts and the ones that reprice hardest on a surprise.

Recession & Growth

Whether a recession is declared or begins by a date, quarterly GDP growth thresholds, and scenario markets on where the economy sits at year end. Long-dated, definition-sensitive contracts where the settlement source matters more than usual.

Fiscal & Sovereign Events

Debt-ceiling deadlines, defaults, credit-rating actions and tariff decisions. Political in cause and economic in effect, so they often appear on the Politics board as well.

Markets & Commodities

Index, oil, gold and currency levels at a date, and all-time-high milestones. Threshold contracts that behave like their crypto counterparts: volatile near the strike and settled against a named reference price.

Corporate & Deal Events

IPO timing and lead banks, CEO successions at major firms, earnings thresholds and headline price changes at well-known companies. Settled on filings and announcements rather than on a data release.

Tools & Resources

Economics Prediction Markets - Frequently Asked Questions

How do economics prediction markets work?+
Every question trades as a contract that pays $1.00 if it resolves yes and nothing if it resolves no, priced in cents in between. The price is the probability: a contract on a 25 basis point cut at 70¢ is the market saying 70%. You are buying a fixed payoff on a stated outcome from another trader, with your loss capped at what you paid, and you can sell before the release.
How do prediction market Fed odds compare with CME FedWatch?+
FedWatch infers meeting probabilities from fed funds futures prices, which are a hedging market for institutions. A prediction market quotes each outcome as its own contract that retail and professional traders buy directly. They usually agree closely; when they diverge, the futures side reflects positioning and term-premium effects while the contract side reflects a straight probability, so the gap itself is information. Both are shown per meeting here where platforms list the ladder.
Can I compare Kalshi and Polymarket economics odds side by side?+
Yes, that is what this page is. Each card shows the live price at every platform quoting that contract, cheapest highlighted. Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated US exchange with the deepest Fed, CPI and jobs ladders; Polymarket settles in USDC and lists a wider set of international central-bank and one-off macro questions. Where both quote the same outcome, a gap of a few cents is common.
How are recession odds priced and settled?+
As a dated contract on whether a recession begins, or is declared, before a stated date. The definition is the whole contract: some markets settle on two consecutive quarters of negative GDP, others on the NBER dating committee, others on a named statistic. Two recession contracts with different definitions can trade far apart and both be correctly priced, so read the rules before comparing them.
How do CPI and jobs contracts settle?+
On the official release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the relevant agency, at the published time, usually within minutes. Thresholds are strict: a print that lands one tenth on the wrong side settles no. Because the answer arrives on a known second, these are the fastest-resolving contracts on the board and the most sensitive to consensus shifts in the final days.
Why do economics contract prices differ between platforms?+
Different trader pools, collateral and fee schedules, and small differences in how a question is worded. A US-regulated venue with dollar collateral and a global crypto-collateralised one attract different money, and a contract that settles on core rather than headline inflation, or on a different release time, is a different contract. Read both rule sets before treating a wide spread as free money.
Are economics prediction markets legal in the US?+
Kalshi lists its economics contracts as a CFTC-regulated designated contract market; Polymarket settles in USDC, draws global participation and its US availability has changed over time. Eligibility varies by platform and by state, so check the venue itself. This page is informational and is not investment, trading or betting advice.

How This Page Works

Prices come from each platform's own API and refresh at least once a minute. Contracts are quoted in cents and shown as implied probabilities, so a 30¢ price reads as 30%. Data-release contracts settle on the official statistical release and central-bank contracts on the published decision, at the time and from the source each platform names in its market rules. Only markets matched across platforms appear here, and a market drops off the page when no platform is quoting it, so an empty topic means no live market rather than an error. Availability, eligibility and legality vary by platform and by state. This page is informational and is not investment, trading or betting advice.