Giving up beer to pay for gas?
Marketplace
Marketplace
4.6 • 8.5K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New consumer data shows alcohol sales were down over 5% in April. And, as you’ve probably noticed, gas prices were up. Is there any correlation? In this episode, why high fuel prices may exacerbate existing consumer trends — like cutting back on beer. Plus: Cerebras’ successful IPO signals hunger for AI stocks, Hollywood is buying more short stories, and we discuss the week’s economic headlines.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Item number one, inflation. Need I say more? Item number two, Kevin, buddy, how's the new job? |
| 0:12.4 | Item three, you too can write a Hollywood story from American public media. This is Marketplace. |
| 0:31.6 | In Los Angeles, I'm Kai Rizzdahl. |
| 0:32.7 | It is Friday. |
| 0:35.1 | Today, this one is the 15th of May. Good as it always is to have you along, everybody. |
| 0:37.5 | Lots to talk about not a whole lot of time. So here it always is to have you along, everybody. |
| 0:42.5 | Lots to talk about not a whole lot of time. So here we go. Stacey Vanek-Smith is at Bloomberg. |
| 0:45.9 | Catherine Rampel is at MS now, also at the bulwark. Hey, you two. |
| 0:47.6 | Hey, Kai-Kai-Kai. |
| 0:55.3 | Catherine Rampel, test my premise here. Need we say more about inflation, the CPI and PPIpi this week way higher than anybody wanted uh yeah definitely higher than anybody wanted higher than the fed wanted higher than consumers |
| 1:02.5 | wanted higher than businesses wanted and my fear is that it very well may get higher as the higher energy costs leach into basically everything |
| 1:16.2 | else that we buy because energy goes into lots and lots of stuff out there and is used, |
| 1:21.5 | of course, to transport goods around the world. Stacey Vanek-Smith, new beyond the program |
| 1:26.4 | in this role. Welcome. It's always good to have you. |
| 1:29.2 | Thanks, Guy. |
| 1:30.8 | Absolutely. How worried ought we be? |
| 1:34.4 | I think we should be pretty worried. I mean, obviously, the big kind of headline for this inflation report was oil fuel, the Strait of Hormuz fuels up 28%. |
| 1:43.3 | But there was a lot of other stuff in there. |
| 1:46.0 | It wasn't just oil pushing everything up. I mean, food prices are up, shelter prices are up. |
| 1:51.2 | And for the first time, inflation is rising faster than wages, the first time this has happened in |
| 1:56.3 | years. So that is, I think, a really troubling sign that it's not just oil causing the causing prices to rise. |
| 2:04.1 | Catherine, you and I spoke a number of weeks ago, I guess, about the bond market and how so far the bond market has been giving the Trump administration especially, but also just sort of the general economy at large, |
... |
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