Wall Street Journal Trade and Economic Policy Reporter Gavin Bade joins Democratic Strategist Kobi Tirey and Banker Bill to talk about pasta tariffs, insider trading, vibe checking the 1%, and China's "cobbler elves."

Read More From Gavin: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/gavin-bade

Inflation, rising... Unemployment, growing...

But this economy? She just won’t quit.

Just as long as you’re employed.

If you’re not? Hope you’re good with paperwork, because thanks to the shutdown and Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, applying for SNAP just became a full-time job.

In the second part of our episode from 10/2, Banker Bill tells Democratic Media Consultant Kobi Tirey that there might be a perfectly good reason gold and stocks are up at the same time, assuming the world's central bankers know something we don't.

And when Kobi asks whether the AI bubble is real, Banker Bill says, relax — if it is a bubble, and that's still a big if, it's an industrial bubble, not a financial one. Then he explains why that's not quite as bad.

Hey folks, Kobi Tirey here. I was too sick to get the full episode out on time this week, but here are the first few minutes, in which we talk about why China's playing hardball now.

Our full episode, about gold and stocks rising at the same time, and Banker Bill's take that even if AI is a bubble, it's an industrial bubble, and that's a lot better than the financial bubble of 08.

Somebody's crying, but it ain't Argentina. They're getting a bailout. So are soybean farmers, but they'll be back next year. Federal furloughed employees? Forget about it.

It's another episode of Democratic Media Consultant Kobi Tirey getting out of Banker Bill's way as he shreds the Trump administration for letting unemployment slip, food prices rise, and justifying a losing trade war by dual-wielding bailouts.

Now finish your tofu. There are starving children in Africa who'd love to eat it, but we're not allowed to share ever since Trump DOGEd USAID.

Remember those criminal allegations that Trump's FHFA made against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook? They weren't just frivolous, they didn't exist!Disney Blows The Kimmel Moment While The Fed Uno Reverses Mortgage Fraud — Is It Bad For The Economy Episode 14 Out Now

The Fed's on stagflation watch, the White House's mortgage fraud allegations have backfired spectacularly, and Stephen Miran is trying to tell us that inflation is at zero to 1% with a straight face.

There's a lot to cover this week, but Banker Bill saved his harshest words for Disney CEO Bob Iger over ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Forget about freedom of speech, think of the shareholders!

Meanwhile, Democratic Media Consultant Kobi Tirey is worried that Democrats aren't fully prepared for a drawn-out government shutdown.

Unemployment's up. Inflation isn't coming down.

The cracks are starting to show, and Banker Bill might be even more critical of Trump's economy than Democratic Media Consultant Kobi Tirey.

But Trump isn't burying the economic numbers in distractions and deflections. He's doubling down with new tariffs and more debt. And he won't stop making the headlines with new attacks on the Fed.

Why?

Because if Trump can get the interest rates down low enough, he might just get away with it.

If he could control interest rates, Trump would be able to run our economy hotter, prop up the tariffs, and "manage" our debt by selling bonds to ourselves. Right now, the only thing standing in the way is Jerome Powell and an independent Fed, and who knows how long that will last.

Look, if we want more Little League baseball, less load management, and a chance of finally producing 32 starting-caliber quarterbacks, we're going to have to get these fertility rates up. Like way up.

The future of college football, and the NFL, just might depend on it.

Banker Bill (Father) and Democratic Media Consultant Kobi Tirey (Childless Heathen) talk about how the only way to incentivize Americans to have more kids is to make America worth raising kids in again, and why that's so important in the first place.

Is It Bad For The Economy Podcast

Episode 12 

Wednesday 8/27