Everybody's Business

Small businesses struck back this week–A handful of companies plus a dozen states sued to block the Trump administration’s Liberation Day tariffs. The Court of International Trade ruled that the tariffs marked a presidential overreach. The Trump administration swiftly appealed the decision and the appeals court allowed the tariffs to stay. For now.

In the third episode of Everybody’s Business from Bloomberg Businessweek, hosts Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin dive into the impact tariffs are having on small businesses, Trump’s crypto strategy, and Tinder’s new plan to arrange double dates. 

The initial court ruling on tariffs this week marks a notable pushback from states and small businesses, which have been hammered by Trump’s litany of tariffs, and typically have far less flexibility than large corporations, which can stockpile supplies, shift costs, and, in some cases,fly to Mar-a-Lago to negotiate deals in person.

Also, this week a big Bitcoin conference is going on in Las Vegas. Vice President JD Vance gave a speech to the cheering crowd, assuring them that they had a friend in the White House. Bloomberg’s stacy-marie ishmael joins the show to talk about President Trump’s crypto strategy as well as what the President’s enthusiasm and support could mean for the industry. 

Then, Max and Stacey bid farewell to the penny. The Treasury announced it will stop minting pennies–helping save the government millions. But the penny’s departure could cause prices to rise, as businesses begin rounding up to the nearest nickel. 

Finally, the underrated story of the week is Tinder’s new CEO, whose plan to save the struggling online dating company involves an increase in the use of AI and introducing a “double-date” feature, where four people all chat to arrange a date. Personally, I would swipe left on that idea. 

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All the economy is a stage this week, as the “big beautiful” tax bill passed the House in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and millions of college graduates got their diplomas and set off into the  the job market, competing with an ever growing army of robot workers.  

In the second episode of Everybody’s Business from Bloomberg Businessweek, hosts Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin dive into the tax bill, the AI job threat, and the turning of (actual) lead into (actual) gold. 

The tax cut extension still has to pass the Senate, but the House version would add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and would be, by far, the most expensive policy the Trump administration has enacted. In spite of this, the tax bill has not gotten nearly the attention of other policies, including the Department of Government Efficiency (its cuts have not amounted to even 1% of the federal budget). But all the sound and fury signifying a rounding error is by design according to author and economic journalist Kyla Scanlon. Scanlon says you can learn a lot about the Trump Administration’s economic policies by watching Wrestlemania.

Then Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier joins to talk about AI and jobs. Fears are growing in the US workforce that jobs are being lost to artificial intelligence, and a new study estimates up to ⅓ of jobs in developed countries will be “transformed” by AI.  Frier looks at what jobs might be under threat and how real the worries are.

Finally, Stacey and Max talk about a major development in commodities markets. Scientists were able to turn lead into gold! Stacey thinks this could be a turning point for the gold market and all mankind. Max has doubts…after all, all that glitters is not gold.

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Where’s the inflation? With this week’s Consumer Price Index coming in softer than predicted (inflation at its lowest level since 2021, according to government data), a lot of people are wondering why tariffs haven’t pushed prices up. In the debut episode of Everybody’s Business from Bloomberg Businessweek, hosts Stacey Vanek Smith and Max Chafkin tackle President Donald Trump’s trade war, inflation and when the rubber will (if ever) hit the road.

Consumer spending columnist Amanda Mull takes Stacey on a tariff tour through Target, explaining why import taxes have yet to show up in inflation data and how you’re likely to see them in the future. It turns out flatscreen TVs, pineapples and mascara will all manifest tariffs in different ways. Mull concludes tariffs could very well ruin Christmas.

Then sports reporter Randall WIlliams joins to talk about why private equity has started buying up sports teams. It turns out teams are becoming more valuable as games dominate live television, attracting bigger audiences (and commanding higher ad rates). That’s got private equity sneaking into the game, pumping up prices and injecting billions of dollars into teams. Randall concludes that private equity won’t ruin sports (but Max and Stacey are skeptical). Finally, for the underrated story for the week, we look at the rising trend of rising sneaker soles. Shoe brands are creating ever puffier soles even as racing authorities try to put restrictions in place. Ultramarathoner Max realizes his beloved sport is in the crosshairs of controversy. 

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A smart and fizzy chat show about all things business tailored for a new generation of finance pros and the financially curious. Hosted by award-winning business and economics journalists Max Chafkin (author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power) and Stacey Vanek Smith (former co-host of NPR’s Planet Money and reporter for Marketplace), Everybody's Business is powered by the unparalleled sources and reporters who bring you Businessweek magazine’s headlines and the stories behind them. The show gives listeners a window into the discussions happening in boardrooms, Zooms and text threads in power centers around the world. From interpreting Fed meetings to the business of wolf cloning, each week Max, Stacey and their friends at Bloomberg Businessweek guide listeners through what really went on during the last week from Wall Street and Main Street. Because what’s happening with money and markets is everybody’s business.

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