Yet, even if the risk of financial system disruption does not seem high, it well remain true that if the economy weakens, some businesses may default on this debt, potentially leading to a contraction in investment, a slow-down in hiring, and possibly to an unusual tightening in financial conditions.
They include high industrial-capacity utilization; a record-high labour force participation rate; a record-high employment-to-population ratio; corporate profits at their highest level since early 2001; and trend inflation that is running above target.