Mark Zandi of Moody's

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.