In this episode, Rebecca Patterson, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Chief Investment Strategist at Bridgewater Associates, and Former Chief Investment Officer at Bessemer Trust, joins Jim Worden and Talley Leger to break down one of the most complicated macro environments of our careers. Rebecca explains why the U.S. economy resembles a “Jenga tower”, still standing, still rising, but increasingly unstable. She discusses the widening divide between large and small businesses, the uneven health of U.S. consumers, the risk implications of delayed tariffs, and why global policy uncertainty could matter even more than Fed cuts in 2025.
She also dives into the dollar, gold, the future of immigration and demographics, and what AI-driven productivity might mean for long-term growth.
What you’ll learn
Chapters
02:00 — How Rebecca went from aspiring astronaut to journalist to global macro strategist
07:30 — The “Jenga tower economy”: strong on top, fragile underneath
12:00 — AI CapEx, wealthy consumer resilience, and what surprised markets in 2024
17:30 — What could cause the tower to wobble: labor trends, confidence, and policy volatility
23:00 — Tariffs, USMCA, and how global supply chains really work
28:00 — Dollar dynamics, the “Fragile Four,” and central bank gold buying
34:00 — Bitcoin, tech, and whether crypto selloffs can trigger equity contagion
41:00 — How macro frameworks evolve—and what doesn’t change
46:00 — Long-term themes: tech, demographics, geopolitics, and climate
51:00 — What investors should do now: diversify and avoid the panic trade
Guest: Rebecca Patterson - Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Hosts: Talley Leger, Chief Market Strategist, WCG and Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer, WCG
Follow us
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-wealth-consulting-group
X (Twitter): @WealthCG
YouTube: @thewealthconsultinggroup
Making Life Better at The Wealth Consulting Group
If you’re ready to see how WCG helps advisors grow, subscribe for insights, updates, and resources that make your practice, and your life better.
Subscribe: bit.ly/wealthcg
View all episodes
By The Bull of Wall StreetIn this episode, Rebecca Patterson, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Chief Investment Strategist at Bridgewater Associates, and Former Chief Investment Officer at Bessemer Trust, joins Jim Worden and Talley Leger to break down one of the most complicated macro environments of our careers. Rebecca explains why the U.S. economy resembles a “Jenga tower”, still standing, still rising, but increasingly unstable. She discusses the widening divide between large and small businesses, the uneven health of U.S. consumers, the risk implications of delayed tariffs, and why global policy uncertainty could matter even more than Fed cuts in 2025.
She also dives into the dollar, gold, the future of immigration and demographics, and what AI-driven productivity might mean for long-term growth.
What you’ll learn
Chapters
02:00 — How Rebecca went from aspiring astronaut to journalist to global macro strategist
07:30 — The “Jenga tower economy”: strong on top, fragile underneath
12:00 — AI CapEx, wealthy consumer resilience, and what surprised markets in 2024
17:30 — What could cause the tower to wobble: labor trends, confidence, and policy volatility
23:00 — Tariffs, USMCA, and how global supply chains really work
28:00 — Dollar dynamics, the “Fragile Four,” and central bank gold buying
34:00 — Bitcoin, tech, and whether crypto selloffs can trigger equity contagion
41:00 — How macro frameworks evolve—and what doesn’t change
46:00 — Long-term themes: tech, demographics, geopolitics, and climate
51:00 — What investors should do now: diversify and avoid the panic trade
Guest: Rebecca Patterson - Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Hosts: Talley Leger, Chief Market Strategist, WCG and Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer, WCG
Follow us
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-wealth-consulting-group
X (Twitter): @WealthCG
YouTube: @thewealthconsultinggroup
Making Life Better at The Wealth Consulting Group
If you’re ready to see how WCG helps advisors grow, subscribe for insights, updates, and resources that make your practice, and your life better.
Subscribe: bit.ly/wealthcg