Companies can't pass through as much of the price increase as they want, says Mohamed El-Erian

Economic Outlook & Consumer Behavior - Companies are struggling to pass price increases to consumers, especially those selling to lower-income demographics [2] - Consumers have absorbed price increases for the past five years since COVID, but are now resistant due to diminished cash reserves [3][4] - Lower-income consumers are depleting their cash balances and increasing debt, excluding mortgage debt [8][9][10] - There's concern that economic weakness among lower-income consumers could spread to other segments [11] Monetary Policy & Market Dynamics - The market is currently in a "bad news is good news" situation, but there's a risk of "bad news is bad news" scenario [6] - Risk-on assets (equities, credit spreads) and risk-off assets (gold, government bonds) are both performing well [6] - The employment side is much weaker than expected, while the latest inflation print is much better than expected [5] - A potential 50 basis point cut by the Federal Reserve should be considered, given the data [12] Productivity & Future Growth - Deregulation is needed to improve supply-side response [13] - Optimism exists regarding productivity gains in the coming years due to AI, life sciences, and robotics [13]