The economy’s growing at 2.7%. Unemployment’s still under 5%. Is the economy about to improve just enough to keep Trump out of trouble in the midterms?

The anonymous Banker Bill breaks down another set of rosy economic numbers, while Democratic strategist Kobi Tirey thinks the only economic number that matters to voters is inflation. And even Banker Bill has to admit that inflation isn’t getting better anytime soon. Then: is the AI boom a bubble waiting to pop, or the next Uber-and-DoorDash-style industry finding its footing? Plus — Lisa Cook’s Fed fight, the DSA primary upsets in New York and Denver, and why “the economy is us” might be the only rule that actually matters this election cycle.

Is It Bad for the Economy? New episode every other Wednesday.

The American healthcare system spends $5.3 trillion a year — 18% of GDP — and somehow everyone still feels squeezed. In this deep-dive episode of Is It Bad for the Economy?, Democratic Strategist Kobi Tirey is joined by Sy Mukherjee (veteran healthcare reporter, senior life sciences communications strategist) and Banker Bill to untangle the real dysfunction: not "socialism vs. capitalism," but vertically integrated monopolies that own your insurer, your pharmacy benefits manager, and your doctor — all at once. They cover the Warren-Hawley Act, why breaking up UnitedHealth Group may need to come before Medicare for All, the 30-year chart that shows hospital costs outpacing inflation every single year except during COVID, what Democrats must get right before 2028, and what the Trump administration is accidentally doing correctly. This is the honest, unfiltered healthcare policy conversation most podcasts are too scared to have.

The entire financial world revolved around one question yesterday: Which version of Trump’s new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, was going to show up at his first Fed meeting?

OG Inflation Hawk Kevin Warsh?OrThe guy who was willing to say whatever Trump wanted to hear to give him the job?

To Democratic strategist Kobi Tirey’s shock, it was the latter. Kobi actually had some nice things to say about Trump’s new Fed Chair for once. But even if Kobi liked what he heard, Banker Bill wasn’t impressed. Warsh’s “no forward guidance” policy means his presentation was also light in substance, and inflation is still too damn high.

We invited Wall Street Journal trade reporter Gavin Bade back to do a postmortem on the trade war. His answer: it’s not over. New tariffs are coming in late July — more legally durable than before, covering almost every US trading partner, and framed around forced labor and Chinese industrial overcapacity. The kind of thing that’s hard to argue against without sounding like you support slavery.

Gavin breaks down why Jamieson Greer has quietly become the most powerful person in US trade policy, why Lutnick has been pushed to the side, and why the administration’s biggest reversal — on China — tells you everything about how they operate when they can’t coerce someone.

Plus: Is the AI bubble about to pop and are all these IPOs the insiders cashing out before people notice? Credit card delinquencies, car repos, and why the stock market’s gains are masking a deteriorating picture for the middle 80%. And the data center question Democrats are fumbling — with a closing argument from Kobi on the window that’s rapidly closing.

Is It Bad for the Economy? is the podcast where a Democratic strategist, an anonymous Wall Street banker, and occasionally a very good journalist try to figure out who’s actually winning and losing in this economy.

Your 401k is about to become exit liquidity for SpaceX insiders — and your electric bill is already 19% higher since ChatGPT launched. Democratic strategist Kobi Tirey and anonymous Wall Street banker Bill break down the SpaceX IPO, what Tesla’s valuation actually means, and the inflation data nobody’s framing correctly: strip out energy and prices are fine. Put energy back in and you can see exactly who’s responsible.

Also: why is Jeff Bezos suddenly so friendly with Trump? We have a theory.

Plus a look at the electricity price chart that should be front-page news — 30% up in five years from a boring utility, and it’s only going higher.

Is It Bad for the Economy? is the podcast where a Democratic strategist and an anonymous Wall Street insider agree on more than you’d expect.

The bond market has done what the media, the courts, and Congress couldn't — slow Trump down. Kobi and Banker Bill break down why 5% on the 30-year treasury is the magic number, what the Iran conflict means for gas prices, and whether new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will listen to Wall Street or the White House. Plus: Trump's 60 trades a day, the DoorDash pump-and-dump, and why Howard Lutnick apparently got a very good return on his $5 million.

One of my firmest held believes is that TSA Pre-Check is a scam perpetrated by Big Hudson News to sell more overpriced health snacks. If you think I feel validated by Trump’s disastrous economic performance, it’s nothing compared to the pure joy I felt when they announced you could keep your shoes on in regular security. I have an album in my phone of every time the normal TSA line was shorter than the precheck line. The only politician who has ever agreed with this take is Utah Senator Orin Hatch.

So does that frugality extend to Spirit Airlines? Absolutely not. Our FULL episode is out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack.

Is It Bad For The Economy Super Fans,

We’re very sorry for the upload error this morning. Some of you could have used an Elizabeth Warren trigger warning, I’m sure. Our FULL episode is out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Substack.

Kevin Warsh sat before the Senate Banking Committee for his Fed Chair confirmation hearing — and we watched the whole thing. Democratic strategist Kobi Tirey and independent banker "Banker Bill" break down why Warsh refused to say Biden won in 2020, what his incomplete financial disclosures actually mean, his connections to the Epstein social circle, his radical plan to redefine how the Fed measures inflation, why eliminating the dot plot is dangerous, and whether his AI + balance sheet theory of low inflation is credible or cover for doing Trump's bidding. Is Kobi a partisan hack — or does he have a point? Banker Bill weighs in.Neil Dutta, Renaissance Macro, Kevin Warsh Critique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9cUyNGDFqw

Topics: Kevin Warsh confirmation, Fed Chair nominee, Federal Reserve independence, dot plot, inflation measurement, PCE, CPI, tariffs and inflation, Lisa Cook, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Trump Fed, Tillis, Polymarket, financial disclosure.

Is Trump's economy actually working — or is the data telling a different story? In this episode of Is It Bad For The Economy?, Democratic Strategist Kobi Tirey and anonymous Wall Street insider Banker Bill dig into the latest economic data: CPI inflation stubbornly range-bound at 2.6–3.3%, mortgage rates spiking back toward 6.4%, a protein basket that's as mixed as ever, and a labor force participation rate at its lowest since 1977. They cover tariff risk, demand destruction, the federal deficit, gold repatriation, Iran sanctions, Trump's stablecoin controversy, and whether a recession is already baked in. If you want the charts, the context, and the unfiltered take — this is it.

🎙️ Hosted by Kobi Tirey | Featuring Banker Bill

📅 Recorded April 14th, 2025