BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has said: "“The biggest issue for me—and I say this to every governmental leader I see worldwide—what the world is missing today is hope. I see more fear than any time in my business career."

“[BlackRock] is the largest retirement manager in the world,” Fink explained. “Why on earth would anybody ever put their savings into something that may have a 30-year outcome? That is optimism.

“If you’re not optimistic that 30 years hence is a better outcome, you’re going to keep all your money in a bank.”

Before the COVID pandemic, consumers were saving 35% of their disposable income—since then that has increased to 50%.

“Now they do that because there’s no safety nets of health care, no safety nets of retirement, one-child families, all these dynamic issues,” he said. “That’s fear…They’re frightened.”

“The biggest issue is that if we as business leaders, if we as political leaders, don’t provide more certainty and more hope, this is what causes recessions, this is what causes pullback,” Fink added.