Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon on the global business environment, AI, and the rise of private credit
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The global economy has shown impressive resilience over the past year, but questions about economic policy and technological innovation are becoming increasingly urgent. So where are the risks and the opportunities in this environment? I'm Alison Nathan, and this is Goldman Sachs Exchanges. Today, I'm again sitting down with a very special guest, David Solomon, the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. We'll talk about his views on economic growth and markets, the firm's strategic priorities, and what he's most focused on in the year ahead. David, welcome back to the program. Thank
you. Glad to be here with you.
So, David, we have had this annual conversation for several years running now, but I must say this seems like a particularly interesting time to be the CEO of Goldman Sachs. There are what looks to be a lot of tailwinds to the economy and markets and substantial optimism, of course, with the new Trump administration coming in. And there seems to be a lot of optimism that he's going to usher in a friendlier environment for businesses. But the unknowns also seem unusually large. So let me first ask how you would characterize this business environment. Well,
I think you did a pretty good job characterizing this business environment. It's going to be more constructive than it has been the last few years, particularly on the regulatory front. But there are a range of significant policy areas where this administration is ushering in change. And whenever you have change, that creates uncertainty. And so until we have a clear view of the policy trajectory, I think that it's a moment to take stock of where we are. It's great that there are clearly some tailwinds. There's obviously a lot of optimism. But at the same point, the ultimate implementation of
me just follow-up on some of those comments you made about the macro environment because as you said, some of these policies may create inflation. There are concerns about that when it comes to tariffs, when it comes to the immigration policy you mentioned. We've obviously already seen a lot of volatility in the bond markets year to date. I think volatility that no one really expected, at least the extent of which I mean, they're down today, but generally have been quite volatile. What are you thinking in terms of the of inflation and interest rates from here? And are you concerned at all that
Well, significant changes in rates, and more importantly, a change in the expectation on rates can have an impact on markets. I've been cautious around this topic, particularly around inflation. There's no question that durable goods have been soft in terms of the inflation rate around durable goods, but services and now food, you know, big headwinds. And those things ultimately matter and filter through into the economy. I think that we will see the Fed take no action at this meeting. As you look out through 2025, I think the range of outcomes is a pretty narrow position on policy. Unless we
a lot of enthusiasm though about capital markets activity. What are you seeing from your seat?
Well, capital markets activity has run really below trend for the last few years. We had an extraordinary period, obviously, in 2020 and 2021. A lot of things got pulled forward, and then we had a rebalancing in 2022. And that brought capital markets activity and M and A activity for that matter meaningfully below 10 year averages. With the change in the regulatory environment and the business environment, confidence has improved and that confidence generally opens up the capital markets a little bit more. I think there are
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