A segment on CBS’ "60 Minutes" Sunday night suggested record-high stock market levels under President Donald Trump could be a precursor to another crash similar to 1929.
Host Lesley Stahl spoke with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about his upcoming book "1929," which explores the economic and social buildup to the 1929 stock market crash. Sorkin claimed the United States today was in another "roaring ’20s" period, with the market climbing for months before the historic downturn.
"The crazy part about this is, from 1928 to September of 1929, the stock market was up 90%," Sorkin said.
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The stock market reached record-level highs under President Donald Trump. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"When you say the stock market was way up, immediately I think of now. Are you scared?" Stahl asked.
"I’m anxious. I’m anxious that we are at prices that may not feel sustainable. And what I don’t know is we are either living through some kind of remarkable boom and part of that’s artificial intelligence and technology and all of that, or everything’s overpriced," Sorkin answered.
Stahl interjected, "Or we’re reliving–"
"1929," Sorkin answered.
The stock market fell on Friday after news about a potential tariff hike on China. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sorkin also told Stahl that he believes a crash will happen but that he’s unsure when and how big it will be. He added that business leaders are also "very scared" of criticizing the Trump administration publicly.
"They are so worried that they are going to be potentially attacked by the administration, or regulated," Sorkin said. "They're gonna have a merger in front of some agency that's not gonna be allowed to go through. They are so nervous about criticizing anything that's going on with this administration."
The stock market under President Donald Trump has seen steep declines because of his tariff policies. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The stock market has repeatedly hit record highs since Trump’s second term began. However, Trump’s second term has also been marked with sharp declines tied to Trump’s tariff threats and uncertainty over trade policy.
Most recently, stock markets tumbled on Friday after President Donald Trump threatened another tariff hike on China.