Are Trump's tariffs starting to impact prices?
Make Me Smart
Marketplace
4.6 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
According to the latest consumer price index, the reported prices of several items, including apparel and household furnishings, increased in June, suggesting some preliminary effects of the Trump administration’s tariff policies. We discuss President Donald Trump’s response calling for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and why it’s so crucial to preserve an independent central bank. Then, we take a look at Missouri, where the state’s legislature and the governor overturned the outcome of a ballot initiative. What does that say about the state of public participation in the democratic process? And, we celebrate some wins from listeners about a rekindled drive to write poetry and what it means to be a good friend.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- "Missouri governor repeals paid sick leave law approved last year by voters" from The Associated Press
- "Missouri Rolls Back Paid Sick Leave Entitlement; $15 Minimum Wage Remains" from National Law Review
- “Missouri’s voters restored abortion rights. Their leaders are trying to overrule them” from the newsletter The 19th News
- "D.C. budget update: Tipped minimum wage compromise fails, ranked choice voting funded as budget advances" from WAMU
- "Inflation picks up again in June, rising at 2.7% annual rate" from CNBC
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's this sound that provides so much awe and wonder if you've never listened to Lunds before. |
| 0:10.8 | Here you go. |
| 0:13.5 | I'm Megna Chakrabardi. |
| 0:15.4 | Join me on point for a week of wonder to explore what captivates our minds, |
| 0:20.9 | illuminates our humanity, and both delights and confounds us. |
| 0:25.3 | Five episodes, one each day. |
| 0:27.5 | Listen and follow On Point wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:42.3 | Hey, everyone. Rima Grace. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where we make today makes sense. |
| 0:46.3 | And I'm Kimberly Adams. Thank you everyone for joining us. It's Wednesday, July the 16th. |
| 0:51.3 | Today we're going to get into some news, then wrap things up by celebrating some wins. |
| 0:56.0 | Kimberly, you want to start? What caught your attention today? |
| 0:59.0 | So it's more something that's caught my attention percolating over the last few months. |
| 1:05.0 | So we were talking yesterday about how because all these Medicaid cuts are coming down the pipeline, |
| 1:10.0 | it's really, and snap as well, |
| 1:12.2 | it's really going to matter what state you're in and how your state decides to absorb, |
| 1:18.5 | you know, kind of deflect or whatever with these cuts. |
| 1:22.5 | And that really means it matters a lot. |
| 1:25.6 | Who's in your state legislature, who your governor is, |
| 1:28.3 | who's sitting on various boards and commissions, |
| 1:31.1 | and your state and local government matter a lot anyway. |
| 1:34.5 | They're going to particularly matter when it comes to these services. |
| 1:37.3 | But at the same time, I feel like I'm seeing more and more efforts |
... |
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