Stocks have been scaling dizzying heights for months, but a chorus of financial experts is now warning that the market’s record run may be built on sand. On October 12, 2025, Andrew Ross Sorkin, one of America’s most influential financial journalists, sounded the alarm on 60 Minutes, expressing deep anxiety that the U.S. economy is caught in an unsustainable bubble—one propelled by a technology boom and, in particular, artificial intelligence (AI).
“I’m anxious that we are at prices that may not feel sustainable,” Sorkin told Lesley Stahl during the interview, as reported by both 60 Minutes and the Daily Mail. “And what I don’t know is, we are either living through some kind of remarkable boom—and part of that is artificial intelligence and technology and all of that—or everything is overpriced.”
Sorkin’s perspective is shaped by a deep dive into financial history. His new book, 1929, examines the lead-up to the infamous Wall Street crash that triggered the Great Depression. Drawing parallels, he noted that from 1928 to September 1929, the stock market soared by 90%. Fast-forward to today, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have recently hit all-time highs, stoking fears that history could be repeating itself.
“The crazy part about this is, from 1928 to September of 1929, the stock market was up 90%!” Sorkin emphasized. “Are we reliving 1929?” he wondered aloud, pointing to the similarities between the roaring 2020s and the Roaring Twenties of a century ago.
Much of the current market euphoria, Sorkin argued, is being “propped up, almost artificially, by the artificial intelligence boom.” According to 60 Minutes, hundreds of billions of dollars are pouring into AI ventures, with companies like OpenAI—now valued at $500 billion—announcing global infrastructure deals at a dizzying pace.
But is this a “gold rush” or a “sugar rush”? Sorkin is not alone in his uncertainty. “I think it’s hard to say we’re not in a bubble of some sort. The question is always when is the bubble going to pop?” he said. The concern is that if the underlying economy softens while markets keep climbing, the stage could be set for a painful reckoning.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan and another heavyweight in the financial world, echoed these fears in a recent interview with the BBC. “I am far more worried about that than others,” Dimon confessed, suggesting a serious correction could arrive as soon as six months from now or within two years. He cited a “lot of things” creating uncertainty, from geopolitical volatility to fiscal strains and even a remilitarization drive worldwide.
Dimon compared the present moment to the Dotcom bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s, warning that “some of the money being invested in AI would probably be lost.” He added, “The way I look at it is AI is real, AI in total will pay off. Just like cars in total paid off, and TVs in total paid off, but most people involved in them didn’t do well.”
These warnings are not limited to individual experts. Both the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have flagged concerns about inflated valuations and the risk of a sudden shift in sentiment that could hammer global growth.
Adding fuel to the fire, Sorkin described how financial guardrails put in place after 1929 have been steadily eroded. Regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have loosened, and the Consumer Protection Bureau “practically doesn’t exist anymore,” he lamented. These changes have opened the door for ordinary investors to take on more risk, including in private companies—especially AI startups—that face fewer disclosure requirements than public firms.
“Over the last 20 or 30 years, folks who had access to, who could invest in private equity, in venture capital, clearly outperformed folks who didn’t,” Sorkin explained on 60 Minutes. “But you have to remember that these kinds of assets are gambles.”
The push to “democratize” investing has even reached retirement savings. Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with $12.5 trillion under management, has advocated for allowing 401(k) accounts to invest in private markets, including AI startups and cryptocurrencies. “There are many great opportunities to be investing in startup companies, to invest in AI or data centers. Right now, we’re precluded to put those type of assets in many retirement products,” Fink said. He acknowledged the risks, but insisted, “Everything is risky other than keeping your money in a bank account overnight.”
Still, Sorkin cautioned that the lack of transparency in private markets can leave ordinary investors exposed. “Public companies, after the SEC was created, were required to have all sorts of disclosure rules so that the public could understand what’s going on inside them. Private companies don’t have that,” he pointed out. “But in this flag of democratizing finance, there’s a lot of people who want access to that.”
The rise of cryptocurrencies adds another layer of complexity. Fink has reversed his earlier skepticism and now views crypto as a legitimate, if small, part of a diversified portfolio. Yet Sorkin warned that some digital assets—particularly “meme coins”—can be manipulated by insiders. He recounted a surreal episode: after joking on TV about creating a “Sorkin coin,” someone actually launched one, and its trading volume briefly soared to $170 million in a single day before collapsing to mere dollars. “There are a number of examples where it felt like there was an inside group of people who were colluding to pump up some of these cryptocurrencies,” Sorkin said.
For all the talk of democratization, Sorkin and others argue that removing guardrails can leave average Americans vulnerable. The protections put in place after 1929, he noted, “have protected a lot of people, but some people would say they protected people from getting rich.” Larry Fink went further, suggesting that many Americans have lost faith in capitalism because they were excluded from the economy’s growth. “Many people don’t believe in capitalism anymore. And I think a lot of it is because they were not a part of the growth of the economy,” Fink said.
Yet the risks are real, and the lessons of history loom large. Sorkin, whose reporting is trusted by business leaders and policymakers alike, concluded with a sobering prediction: “The answer is we will have a crash; I just can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you how deep. But I can assure you, unfortunately, I wish I wasn’t saying this, we will have a crash.”
As Wall Street continues its record run, the tension between opportunity and risk has never felt more acute. Whether the current boom is a prelude to another historic bust or the dawn of a new economic era, only time will tell.
