Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Talks Economy, Deals to Accelerate
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome. This is The Michelle Hussein Show. I'm Michelle Hussein. I speak with people like Elon Musk. I think I've done enough. And Shonda Rhimes. That's so cute. This will be a place where every weekend you can count on one essential conversation to help make sense of the world. So please join me, listen and subscribe to The Michelle Hussein Show from Bloomberg Weekend, wherever you get your podcasts.
You certainly ask interesting questions.
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news.
We can cross over now to Turin where, of course, our Tom McKenzie speaking to David Solomon, the interview of the day. Here it is.
Given the geopolitical strains, given now as well the shutdown in the U.S., David, does the U.S. economy weather the current political standoff in Washington? And does that resilience that we've seen this year continue into 2026?
Well, first, thank you for having me here. Delighted to be here. The U.S. economy is in pretty good shape, and there are some very, very strong tailwinds that have really had a profound effect, and there are also some things going on that are creating headwinds and are probably leading the economy to underperform its expectations at this time, but I'm optimistic that we're probably going to see an acceleration as we continue to add into 2026. The big structural issue that's kept the US economy going so well is the US, and by the way, other developed economies around the world, are running very aggressive fiscal stimulus plays. Governments are spending enormously into economies in the developed world, and that keeps the economy going even when you have other headwinds.
Second big macro phenomenon that's affecting the US economy is all of the AI infrastructure build, all the capital spending, all that's going into the ground to support the deployment, the development, the continued growth of AI infrastructure into the enterprise, and that's a big tailwind too. That's balanced on the other side by the implementation of the trade policies, which are still getting absorbed. I think we're seeing some of the effects from trade, but there's still more to go in terms of really understanding how the trade policy is fully implemented and how it balances growth. And then obviously the world's a little bit more geopolitically fragile and that has an impact on growth and confidence.
But when you balance it all, And you saw the third quarter reading was quite strong. But year over year, from last December to this December, the overall growth trajectory will probably be a little bit less than 2%. And so that's slightly below trend, but still in pretty good shape.
and an acceleration into 2026?
I think that as the trade policies are absorbed and you have the continued stimulus and the continued kind of tech spend, you've got a pretty good tailwind. You know, I hear as I talk to CEOs that would kind of have their finger on the pulse, certainly the upper end of the economy is still spending quite strongly, a little bit more constraint on the downside, on the lower part of the economy. But I think the things you have to watch, you have to watch labor. There's no question labor is a little bit softer. The Fed's watching labor carefully. And I think you've also got to watch inflation and whether or not the impact of trade is just a one-time price movement or there's something more significant that comes through.
And it's too early to know.
And you touched on labor. How would you characterize the health of the U.S. job market right now?
It's a little bit softer. And I think you can step back and you can understand why when you think about big enterprises and what's going on with technology, people are pausing hiring to really kind of evaluate how as they bring this technology into the enterprise, they can automate, create efficiencies, reinvest. And so, you know, I think at the moment that's slowed hiring. And as a result, you know, the labor number is a little bit softer.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time this year in September, last month.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:00
2
What are David Solomon's thoughts on the current state of the U.S. economy?
4:00–7:15
3
How is government spending impacting economic growth?
7:15–8:41
4
What role does AI infrastructure play in the economy?
8:41–10:53
5
How are trade policies affecting the economy's performance?
10:53–17:24
6
What is the current health of the U.S. job market?
17:24–18:41
7
How is the Federal Reserve responding to economic conditions?
18:41–19:26
Speakers
8 identifiedMore from Bloomberg Talks
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