Alberto Musalem

So things look reasonably okay.

That's exactly what's happening.

So we estimate that the real consumption growth...

of the high-income folks and of the low-income folks hasn't been about the same.

But, as you said, the higher-income households are consuming from the wealth effects they have in the stock market and home prices, by the way.

Lower-income folks are taking on more debt.

They're taking on more credit card debt.

And that's how the economy has been thus far.

By and large, when I look at consumer finances, if you look at consumer balance sheets, by and large, for the economy, they're okay.

The consumer is not over-indebted here.

Now, over the past year, we saw an increase in subprime loan defaults.

We saw an increase in credit card defaults.

Now, over the past year, those have started to stabilize and actually come down some.

But at the lower end of the income spectrum, you always have to worry that those consumers who live

you know, hand to mouth, need to wait until the end of the month to make it, you know, could be always, could be strained, yeah.

Two questions, two answers.

Companies tell me that uncertainty has plateaued and that they can understand how to operate with this new higher level of uncertainty.

So some of that is going on.

In terms of pass-through of higher costs, companies are experiencing higher costs.

Some are related to tariffs.