June 2026 Market Pulse Q&A: Addressing Debt, AI, and Regulation

Both before and during each Market Pulse webinar, our audience submits their burning questions to our expert panelists. 

For our June Market Pulse webinar, our panel included Dr. Amy Crews Cutts, President and Chief Economist of AC Cutts and Associates, and Ian Wright, Chief Strategy Officer, IXI, at Equifax. Below are their answers on questions around national debt, potential regulatory changes, and the possible impact of AI on jobs.

Q: [Former Federal Reserve Chair] Jerome Powell stated that the [current] level of borrowing and debt is not sustainable. At what point will this adversely affect the economy?

Dr. Amy Crews Cutts, AC Cutts & Associates: It is related not to consumer credit, although we often see consumer debt as being at the highest all-time levels. Well, so is the number of consumers, right? So, the consumer debt is actually rising slower than the rate of inflation. 

What Jerome Powell was talking about was borrowing by the United States government, and we are at approximately 125% of GDP, which is the income of the country, in terms of our total debt. And that is not sustainable. And, nobody knows what the number is. Is 130% the magic number? Or 200%? 

You know, if I was advising you about buying a house, I would say that you shouldn’t get a house more expensive than three times your income.

So, is 300% the right number? I don't know, but we're not the only country facing that. Though, at some point, you have to ask the question: Who can sustain this level of debt, and how would it be there? It may be part of what's driving up the long end of the Treasury yield curve, but it’s hard to tell.

Q: How do you think the blockchain and crypto will change the financial landscape? I know that the [Digital Asset Market] Clarity Act is currently being considered in Congress, which would provide a structured framework for how these would go mainstream.

Ian Wright, Equifax: Blockchain and digital assets, which include cryptocurrencies, will fundamentally change the financial services landscape. The big question is when these changes will occur. Given the breadth of these technologies and financial instruments, adoption will vary across markets and use cases. 

For instance, we're already seeing payment stablecoins adoption due to the attraction of reducing time and cost for inter-country payment flows. Retail adoption of digital assets is still progressing at a measured pace, but already wealth management services are opening up digital asset services for their institutional clients. 

One of the major hurdles slowing adoption is implementing a regulatory framework governing how brokerages must custodian digital assets. That hasn't hampered interest, though, as crypto ETPs (exchange-traded products) are becoming more widely available. Longer term, tokenization of real world assets provides the promise of direct trading, reducing costs and potentially disintermediating players who are involved in trading stocks through markets. So, some changes might be just around the corner, but other impacts will take longer to develop.

Q: Are you considering the loss of jobs due to AI [in your analysis]?

Cutts: To the extent that forecasters are considering that, then yes. There are large disagreements among economists as to how big and when the AI related jobs impact will happen along with who will be affected. There is a view that it will add employment over the long term.