The 2025 consumer sentiment rollercoaster

Marketplace

American Public Media

News, Business

4.6 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Consumer sentiment really ran the gamut this year. But right now, Americans are feeling almost as bad about the economy as they were when inflation was at its peak summer of 2022. In this episode, we chronicle 2025’s consumer vibes rollercoaster. Plus: Kansas City’s housing market preps for the 2026 World Cup, a college professor offers an AI-driven macroeconomic theory course, and we go over the week’s headlines.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Five days in this economy, what do we know now that we did not know a week ago?
0:07.7	Also, some songs about monetary policy.
0:12.3	Seriously.
0:13.7	From American public media, this is Marketplace.
0:29.1	In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Rizzol.
0:30.3	It is Friday.
0:35.2	Today, this one is the 19th of December good, as it always is, to have you along, everybody.
0:38.4	Well, everything's good now, right?
0:39.2	We're getting data.
0:40.3	The Fed's got a plan.
0:42.2	What is not to like?
0:45.8	Maybe some things, I think.
0:47.1	Amara Moquay's at Bloomberg.
0:49.0	Heather Long is at Navy Federal Credit Union.
0:49.6	Hey, you two.
0:50.8	Hi, Kai.
0:53.4	Heather, let me begin with you. We got some data this week, as I said, CPI and the jobs report.
0:58.3	Did you have a moment of clarity where you said, okay, now I know what's going on in this economy?
1:04.3	Yeah, it almost feels foggier than it did a week ago.
1:07.4	I've been sort of comparing it to that fairy tale.
1:10.8	The emperor has no clothes. It's like,
1:13.0	you know, the data walked out in the undergarments and we're all trying to extrapolate what it
	...

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