Have you ever felt like escaping to your own desert island?

Jane Gaskin did exactly that, trading in the family home to begin a new life in the

tropics.

But she soon discovers that Paradise has its secrets.

I'm Alice Levine, and this is the price of Paradise,

the island dream that ends in kidnap, corruption, and murder. Wish you were here. Follow the price of Paradise Now wherever

you listen to podcasts. This is John Batcheler, a conversation excerpt with Elizabeth Peek of the Hill and Fox News about the economy, the American economy,

and Liz speaks of the NFIB, the National Federation of Independent Businessmen, 300,000 small businesses.

My experience is they see the weather far, far ahead.

And this is Liz's report of some some obvious inconsistencies

between gloom and competition, especially about finding new employees.

Liz Peek, on the NFIB giving not mixed signals clearly sensitive to the economy, but the economy is

acting unusual, full employment, demand for employment, and yet inflation is moderating but not fast and the Federal Reserve is holding back.

It's all a puzzle. Here's Liz Peek. More of this later.

One of the things I kind of checked mentally yesterday was that the NFIB, you know, the small business

organization which does this usual survey found their

members optimism level at a 12 at the lowest since 2012. I thought that was

pretty surprising really and part of it was the that was they don't think that business is accelerating. They think prices are still a problem,

hiring is still a problem, but the very fact that they mentioned a good number of them that hiring is is

difficult still suggests that we still have a pretty tight jobs market.

So barring any kind of sudden reversal in that, I don't see the Fed cutting rates anytime soon.

Have you ever felt like escaping to your own desert island. Jane Gaskin did exactly that, trading in the family

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