Is Private Credit the Next Systemic Crisis? Steve Liesman Weighs In | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 53

Steve Eisman (0:00)

Hi, Steve Eisman here. On my weekly wrap, I try to both teach and convey information as objectively as possible. I try to make clear what are the facts and what are my opinions. But in today's media, it's increasingly hard to figure out what are the facts and where the facts are being shaded by opinion. That's why when I look into news events, I first go to ground news. Ground news is my solution for getting to the facts of important stories, but also to see how left, right, and center are seeking to convey the same exact story. Take, for example, the recent headline, Trump tells allies facing high fuel prices to buy US oil or get your own oil from straight off a moose. That's a pretty provocative headline, ripe for reporters and commentators to shade the truth. I went to groundnews.com and clicked on that story headline. There, I immediately saw four tabs, left, center, right, and bias comparison. When I clicked on left, a series of headlines appeared, all from left-leaning media sources. One headline said, Trump warns UK, US won't be there to help you anymore in tirade over Iran war. When I clicked on the right tab, I saw headlines with a different tone. One such headline said, Trump reproached his allies for lack of support in the war. The bias comparison tab showed groundnews' own analysis of how all three political leanings, left, right, and center, conveyed the same exact story. I find the groundnews system enormously helpful because it allows me to easily separate the facts from opinions. I use groundnews and I recommend you try it out. Go to groundnews.com/real for a better way to stay informed. Subscribe through my link for 40 percent off their unlimited access to worldwide coverage. That's groundnews.com/real, groundnews.com/real.

SPEAKER_2 (1:56)

Protein is now at Starbucks and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.

Steve Eisman (2:16)

Hey, it's Steve Eisman, and I want to give the date because so much is happening in the markets. This interview is being recorded after 4 p.m., March 31st, after the markets had a tumultuous upside on some news about the war. My guest today is Steve Liesman, recurring guest, senior economics reporter at CNBC. We're gonna talk about oil prices, the war and the impacts on the market, tariffs, the Fed, private credit. There's just so much going on. I'm really looking forward to touching on all these topics with Steve. And then after the interview, I'll come back and we'll talk about some takeaway thoughts. See you soon.

Hi, it's Steve Eisman, and this is another episode of The Real Eisman Playbook. Because the news is moving so fast, I just want to let you know when we're recording this. It's Tuesday, March 31st, right after the close, right after 4 p.m., and the market has had an enormous rally. In the morning, the Wall Street Journal had a report that said that President Trump was willing to end the war without opening the Straits of Hormuz, and then later in the day, there were news reports from Iran that there are talks. What's true, what's not true, who knows? But here to help me explore that, the economy, the markets is a recurring guest, Steve Liesman, Senior Economics Reporter at CNBC. Welcome back, Steve.

Steve Liesman (3:49)

Good to be here, Steve. Thanks for having me again.

Steve Eisman (3:50)

So, I don't even know where to begin because it's so frenetic, but you're reporting the news every single day. Let's start. Give me some preliminary thoughts that just come into your head.

Steve Liesman (4:03)

If all I had to do was figure out the lingering effects of tariffs on the economy, that would be enough. If all I had to do was figure out the effects of AI on job losses, that would be enough. If all I had to do was figure out what's going on in private credit, that would be enough. And I left the last, the most important for last, which I wanted to do is figure out the effects of a surge in oil prices on the economy, that would be enough. So, there's at least four major stories that we're trying to figure out, all of which are potentially very consequential for the outcomes.

You know, we could have a chat here for the next hour, if you like, on AI. And that would be a lot. That would be a lot to figure out, and I'm spending a lot of time on that. When it comes to this oil story, my brain is a bit of a void, because what are we doing with scenario analysis? Okay? It could go on for a long time, it could go on for a medium time, it could go on for a short period of time. And nobody really knows. And all of those outcomes are dramatically different. Obviously, there's a political overlay on each one of those scenarios, where you have this Republican side trying to say, oh, oil price spike, it's not as bad as it was in 2022 And it's not going to be-