What happens when record stock prices meet record government debt — and nobody really knows what’s under the hood?
This week on The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics, for a wide-ranging conversation on bubbles, private credit, shadow banking, AI exuberance, and the growing tension inside the Treasury market.
Zandi explains:
- Why today’s equity valuations are historically stretched
- Whether AI enthusiasm is becoming institutionalized speculation
- How serious the private credit and shadow banking risks really are
- Why commercial real estate and crypto may be deflating “gracefully”
- The real fragility inside the U.S. bond market
- Whether government debt is manageable — or quietly destabilizing
Is the economy stronger than it looks? Or more fragile than we think?
A thoughtful, honest debate about systemic risk, fiscal reality, and what could derail 2026.