>>> BLACKROCK OUT WITH, OF COURSE, GREAT QUARTERLY RESULTS THIS MORNING EARNINGS BEATING WALL STREET'S ESTIMATES CONSENSUS, ALL JUST -- I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GO INTO THAT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A GREAT QUARTER AND A GREAT TIME, WHY? BECAUSE OF THE MAN WE'RE SITTING WITH LARRY FINK JOINS US EXCLUSIVELY AT POST NINE IT'S SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU. >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. HAPPY SUMMER >> YOU ARE A MAN OF THE WORLD. PEOPLE KNOW YOU, OF COURSE, AS RUNNING BLACKROCK, BUT YOU'RE AROUND THE WORLD CONSTANTLY. I WANT TO POSIT SOMETHING. IS THE UNITED STATES IN THE STRONGEST POSITION YOU'VE EVER SEEN IT VERSUS ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES YOU GO TO? >> RELATIVE TO THE WORLD, WE ARE IN AN INCREDIBLE POSITION. OUR INNOVATION, OUR TECHNOLOGY, OUR ENTREPRENEURIALISM HAS REALLY FUELED AN INCREDIBLE GROWTH PERIOD FOR THE UNITED STATES, AND I THINK IT'S SHOWING UP NOW IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A.I. WE ARE THE ONES. IT SHOWED UP IN MRNA, SHOWS UP IN MANY OTHER TECHNOLOGIES, AND I THINK WE'RE JUST MORE RESILIENT. WE'RE A VERY EMOTIONAL COUNTRY, AND WHEN WE HAVE PROBLEMS, WE'RE MORE CATHARTIC WE ACTUALLY ARE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF THE DEMOCRACY AND THE CONVERSATIONS WE HAVE IN OUR COUNTRY, WE'RE MORE RESILIENT IN TERMS OF IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AS A COUNTRY, AND AS A COUNTRY, WE CAUTERIZE OUR PROBLEMS FASTER THAN OTHER ONES. IN MANY, WE SAW AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, HOW LONG IT TOOK EUROPE TO ADMIT THEIR STRUCTURAL ISSUES. SO I THINK THAT RESILIENCY AND THAT OPENNESS. WE ALL KNOW THAT DEMOCRACIES ARE MESSY, BUT THROUGH THAT DEBATE, WE SOLVE PROBLEMS FASTER THAN MOST PLACES. THERE ARE TIMES WE'RE ALL FRUSTRATED AND ALL CONCERNED, BUT THE REALITY, THE RESILIENCY OF OUR ECONOMY I KNOW CHANGE IS HARD FOR SOME, BUT OUR ECONOMY IS BASED ON CHANGE AND EVOLUTION AND RE-CREATION, AND I THINK ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME, AND YOU KNOW, WE POSITION BLACKROCK FOR THAT TYPE OF STRUCTURE, THAT WE'RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO EVOLVE AND STAY IN FRONT OF OUR CLIENTS, AND WE BELIEVE THE COMPANIES, THE INDUSTRIES THAT ARE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING AND CHANGING, ADAPTING, AND HELPING THEIR CLIENTS AS THEY EVOLVE ARE THE NET WINNERS AND IF YOU LOOK AT ALMOST EVERY INDUSTRY, WE HAVE MORE LEADERS AND MORE INDUSTRIES THAN ANY OTHER PLACE IN THE WORLD NOW, IF YOU ALSO ADD THE FISCAL STIMULUS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE ACT, WE HAVE REALLY BAD INFRASTRUCTURE, SO WE NEEDED TO DO THAT. CHIPS ACT, THE I.R.A., THAT'S ALL STARTING TO COME INTO THE ECONOMY, SO ACTUALLY, I THINK OUR ECONOMY IS GOING TO -- IS GOING TO ACCELERATE. >> IS IT GOING TO ACCELERATE FAST ENOUGH TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE? OUR INTEREST PAYMENTS ARE SOON GOING TO BE THE LARGEST SINGLE COMPONENT OF THE BUDGET, SO IT'S GREAT TO BE POSITIVE ON THE COUNTRY, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF ISSUES, INCLUDING THAT ONE >> DAVID, I TOTALLY AGREE. OUR DEFICITS ARE OUT OF CONTROL. AND NOW WITH HIGHER INTEREST RATES, YES, INTEREST PAYMENTS ARE GOING TO BE A MAJOR COMPONENT, AND THAT'S GOING TO PUT A LOT MORE PRESSURE ON OUR PROGRAMS, OUR DEFENSE BUDGETS. ALL THESE PROGRAMS ARE GOING TO BE REALLY AT RISK. THE ONLY ANSWER TO THAT IS GROWTH >> RIGHT, RIGHT. >> IF WE HAVE 3% GROWTH, WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE SOME OF THAT. IF WE HAVE UNDER 3% GROWTH FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, THE INTEREST PAYMENTS, AS A PART OF OUR BUDGET, IS GOING TO OVERWHELM US BUT THAT BEING SAID, THE DYNAMICISM OF THIS ECONOMY IS STRONGER THAN ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. >> WHEN WE LOOK THE A WHAT WE DO, AND WE TALK ABOUT BUSINESS EVERY DAY, WE DON'T CELEBRATE THE GREATNESS. I LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU DEAL WITH I LOOK AT THE BUSINESS PEOPLE YOU DEAL WITH. THEY HAVE A LEVEL OF OPTIMISM THAT TRANSCENDS AND TRUMPS BOTH THE POLITICIANS OF OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, BUT EVEN OUR PEOPLE NOW, I LOOK AT HOW MUCH MONEY YOU'RE TAKING IN, AND IT MAKES ME FEEL THERE IS MORE OPTIMISM AND BELIEF OUT THERE THAN ANYBODY DOES REALLY FEEL THAT'S IN THE MEDIA >> I THINK THE OPTIMISM IS MUTED, THOUGH. IF YOU USE OUR FLOWS IF YOU LOOK AT OUR FLOWS, THE FLOWS ARE HEAVILY FIXED INCOME ORIENTED THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVEN'T SEEN A COUPLE OF STATISTICS THAT I'M REALLY -- I FIND REALLY INTERESTING. ON DECEMBER 2020, ABOUT $18 TRILLION OF BONDS HAD NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES IN THE WORLD. TODAY, 80% OF THE MARKET HAS A 4% INTEREST RATE OR HIGHER WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT IN SO LONG, AND THAT'S WHAT'S STIMULATING VERY LARGE FLOWS WE'RE SEEING THAT AT BLACKROCK, BOTH IN INDEX AND ACTIVE FIXED INCOME WE HAVE NOW $7 TRILLION IN MONEY MARKET FUNDS I MEAN, RECORD LEVEL NOW, IF THAT MONEY IS PUT TO WORK, THAT WILL BE AN EXTRAORDINARY BENEFIT. I MEAN, WHEN MONEY IS BEING SAVED IN THE SHORT END, THAT ACTUALLY IS A SIGN OF FEAR, OKAY, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT PUTTING IT AS ACTIVELY IN THE ECONOMY. YOU'RE CONSUMING LESS. AND SO, THE THING THAT I'M GOING TO BE WATCHING FOR, ULTIMATELY, ARE WE GOING TO SEE SOME OF THAT MONEY IN MONEY MARKET FUNDS MOVE BACK INTO EQUITIES OR MOVE MORE INTO FIXED INCOME? >> TREASURY IS GOING TO NEED IT, LARRY, BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF ISSUANCE, BACK TO WHAT I JUST ASKED YOU ABOUT >> THAT IS ONE OF THE CONCERNS I HAVE THE TREASURY'S GOING TO BE ISSUING MUCH MORE IN THE SHORT END. >> RIGHT >> AND BECAUSE OF HIGHER INTEREST RATES, WE'RE GOING TO SEE MORE DEFEASMENTS OF PENSION FUNDS AND SO THE DEMAND FOR THE LONG END IS GOING TO BE LARGE. TO NORMALIZE OUR YIELD CURVE, IT'S GOING TO BE HARD FOR ME TO
