CNBC "Squawk Box" co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin has issued a stark warning that a stock market crash is inevitable, while asserting that American corporate leaders are currently too intimidated to publicly voice criticism of President Donald Trump.
Appearing on CBS’s "60 Minutes" to discuss his book, "1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – and How It Shattered a Nation," Sorkin told correspondent Lesley Stahl that corporate leaders are operating under a cloud of intense political anxiety.
"My own view is that most CEOs in America today are very scared to speak out publicly about anything. They are so worried that they are going to be potentially attacked by the administration, or regulated," Sorkin said. "They're going to have a merger in front of some agency that's not going to be allowed to go through. They are so nervous about criticizing anything that's going on with this administration."
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Expressing his fears of a looming financial crisis, Sorkin's broader warnings centered on what he describes as an artificial intelligence-driven "bubble" and a rollback of post-crisis financial regulations that eerily echo the speculation-heavy environment preceding the Great Depression.
During the interview, Stahl pressed Sorkin on the role business leaders should be playing in today's economy. She noted that some economists suggest investors should feel secure because Trump explicitly ties his political success to the performance of the stock market, meaning he would take every measure to prevent a repeat of the 1929 Wall Street collapse.
Sorkin, however, remained highly skeptical about the long-term sustainability of the current market highs, noting how quickly economic panics can materialize.
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"I think it’s hard to know how things get out of control," the financial journalist said. "When confidence disappears, it happens like this," he added, snapping his fingers.
When asked directly by Stahl whether a devastating collapse on the scale of 1929 could truly happen again, Sorkin didn't mince words.
"The answer is, we will have a crash," Sorkin insisted. "I just can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you how deep. But I can assure you, unfortunately—I wish I wasn’t saying this—we will have the crash."
