When a pair of overleveraged Bear Stearns hedge funds imploded in 2007 when American stocks were at all-time highs many shrugged the episode off. Later, it became apparent that those bankruptcies were among the first shoes to drop in an epic meltdown that would impact virtually all Americans.

Take, for example, the fact that after months of dismal jobs numbers and recession predictions, a recent White House press release touted the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ revision of second quarter GDP numbers as “explosive growth” for the economy — along with positive reactions from various financial experts.

Barnaby Lyons, Partner at Bain Capital, warns that the two-speed economy in the US exposes risks to private credit investments. He also talks about the capital gaps in China, especially looking at cross-border investments and liquidity issues.

Air travel, taxpayer services and national parks are among the first government functions to feel the strain of a prolonged impasse.

U.S. economic activity was little changed and employment was largely stable in recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, but there were emerging signs of weakness including more layoffs and middle- and lower-income households pulling back on spending.

Profit rose 23% to $8.47 billion. That amounted to $1.06 per share, beating estimates of 95 cents per share. Net revenue was up 11% to $28.09 billion, compared with forecasts of $27.52 billion. The bank also posted record-high net interest income, the profits it makes from lending, which came in at $15.2 billion.

The wave of investment into the U.S. economy is sustainable and is only getting started, but the federal government shutdown is increasingly an impediment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.

The potential overvaluation of U.S. equities, largely driven by AI-bullish tech firms, has sparked fears of a dot-com-style crash.