The Real Eisman Playbook U.S. Consumers Are Collapsing: Cars, Credit, & the Chaos Ahead | The Weekly Wrap
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Oct 3, 2025 Lakshmi Ganapathi, a research analyst at Unicus Research specializing in consumer credit and the auto sector, dives into the financial struggles of U.S. consumers. She reveals how pandemic-era stimulus masked underlying weaknesses, leading to rising auto loan delinquencies and surging credit card debt. Lakshmi discusses the shift toward cheaper cars, the pitfalls of Opendoor's business model, and how AI is reshaping credit access. Their conversation connects consumer stress to speculative behaviors in meme stocks, highlighting a precarious economic landscape.
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AI Masks Broader GDP Weakness
- Outside of AI spending, U.S. GDP growth is effectively near zero, concentrating weakness into specific pockets.
- This implies sectors like consumer credit and autos carry disproportionate macro risk.
Hidden Pandemic-Era Credit Illusion
- Pandemic stimulus and paused student-loan reporting hid true consumer credit weakness.
- Resuming reporting and removing stimulus revealed a large drop in credit quality across borrowers.
Fake 'Prime' Loans In ABS Pools
- Stimulus-driven score bumps made many subprime borrowers appear prime when they took loans.
- Those loans sit in ABS pools but carry underlying credit risk that resurfaced as stimulus faded.