Christoph Schumacher

Unemployment goes up when the economy slows down and the economy slows down if interest rates are up.

If money becomes expensive, companies are the first to withdraw funds and they're far stricter and quicker than private households.

So if interest rates go up and they know it will cost us more, they simply stop expanding or investing or replacing.

And that hits the economy hard because then

it either leads to wage reductions, which people feel again, but it's also an unemployment or less growth in the slowing economy, again, will hit the back pocket.

So interest rates ripple through not only your house, but on all other spending, on business activity.

We know if business confidence goes down, that hurts the economy.

More people end up unemployed.

And that...

creates pressure not just financial pressure but psychological pressure um as well um in an economy and as katie said that leads and instantly to sort of a shock state where we don't do anything and that hits the economy again and economies work with a multiplier effect a dollar lost at one end is multiplied several times throughout the economy if it doesn't circulate

So the ripple effect of interest rate increases is quite strong.

First of all, absolutely, because unfortunately, in a way, business is often a zero-sum game.

What somebody wins, somebody else loses, which also means if somebody loses something, there's money on the table to be grabbed.

So that's the opportunities you're talking about.

And if there is chaos, somebody who can predict maybe a little bit better what is to come can use this in terms of, yeah,

name it, investment, business opportunities, property prices, and so on.

When people freeze, those who take action normally can take advantage of this.

So yeah, I absolutely believe, and that stretches not just into one area, whether we

talk about investment or housing or businesses, that isn't life, I guess, in general, in all aspects of what you do.

And picking up on what Katie said, but these chances are only there for people who are somehow prepared because you still need the resources or the funds to make these new investments or buy that house at a lower price.