Happy 4th of July! The U.S. turns 249 this year and there are plenty of economic fireworks to ring in the birthday. After a long and winding road through Capitol Hill, the “Big Beautiful Bill” is poised to be signed by President Trump. The bill is largely an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, and it will have big — and not entirely beautiful — implications for U.S. businesses. 

In this week’s episode of Everybody’s Business from Bloomberg Businessweek, hosts Stacey Vanek Smith and Businessweek Editor Brad Stone (filling in for Max Chafkin) break down the bill, which will add an estimated $3.4 trillion to US deficits over the next decade. It’s a mixed bag for businesses: It will save them billions in taxes, but it is also likely to make borrowing money and expanding a lot tougher. Cuts to entitlements included in the bill could also mean US companies have to step in and provide more services for their workers. 

After 249 years, the economy is due for a check-up. Dr. Allison Schrager, an economist with the Manhattan Institute and Bloomberg Opinion columnist, joins the podcast to discuss the new and very positive unemployment numbers. In June, the US added 147,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% — a very clean bill of health. Schrager says the US economy is in its middle-aged man era: generally healthy and strong, but perhaps in need of some lifestyle tweaks (get that ballooning deficit under control). 

Finally, it’s time for the underrated story of the week: Media is looking a little less independent this Independence Day. Paramount has settled a lawsuit with President Trump, who accused CBS (which is owned by Paramount) of bias and deceptively editing the 2024 presidential debate. In spite of the fact the suit was almost universally deemed frivolous, Paramount paid out $16 million to make it go away. 

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