Wells Fargo CEO Says US Economy ‘Still Extremely Strong’ Despite Iran War – But There’s a Catch

Wells Fargo chairman and CEO Charles Scharf is maintaining a positive outlook on the US amid the Iran war.

In a new Fox Business interview, Scharf says various indicators at the household and business levels all point to a robust US economy.

“…separating out the pure economy from markets, what people are nervous about in terms of what the future holds, the economy is still extremely strong. When we look at consumers, they are still spending even with increases in oil prices – they are spending 20%, 30% more on oil. But they have not stopped spending on everything else.

Delinquencies are still strong, employment is still strong, wages are still growing, businesses are in good shape. It’s still very early on, but when you just look at the health of the consumer and the health of businesses that we serve, which is pretty broad across the country, things are in really good shape.”

Scharf, however, says the state of the economy could change depending on the length and outcome of the Iran war.

“We’ve got markets that, on one hand, drop in value. You see some nervousness. You also have this debate about – are people factoring in the risks of war enough? And markets have debates. That will continue.

But it does feel like there is a fragility or nervousness in markets, which you don’t yet see in the economy. Which, depending on how long the war goes on, will either turn out to be okay. Or there could be a trigger which could make things a little bit worse.”

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