The future of economic data under Trump

Marketplace All-in-One

Marketplace

News, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Following a weaker than expected jobs report today, President Trump said he’ll fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, claiming the data was rigged. It’s an unprecedented move with potentially enormous consequences for our understanding of the U.S. economy. We’ll explain. And, we’ll get into how Trump’s tariffs are destabilizing economies across globe. Plus, we’ll weigh in on tariff “rebates” and pricier desserts during a round of Half Full/Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

"The full list of Trump’s tariffs – from India to Taiwan" from The Guardian
"‘There’s no work now, just debt’: Cambodian garment workers face precarious future as US tariffs loom" from The Guardian
"Tariffs Bring Disaster In Lesotho, the Country That Trump Says Nobody’s Heard Of" from The Wall Street Journal
"85 percent of parents worry about tariffs affecting back-to-school cost: Survey" from The Hill
"Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets" from CNBC
"Big Downward Jobs Revisions Could Be a Warning Sign for the Economy" The New York Times
"Private equity tees up to invest in youth sports" from Marketplace
"NYC’s Luxury Dessert Scene Is Booming and Higher Priced Than Ever" from Eater
"Subscription-based children's magazines are revitalizing the genre" from Marketplace
"GOP senators reject Trump’s pitch to use tariff revenue for ‘rebates’" from The Washington Post

We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email [email protected].

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello everyone, I'm Kimberly Adams.
0:09.0	Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where we make today make sense.
0:12.0	And I'm Rima Grace.
0:14.0	Thanks everyone for listening or watching on the YouTube live stream.
0:18.0	It is Friday, August 1st, and this is Economics on Tap. And I am joined
0:23.2	right now. Yeah, we have some special guests. If for, I don't know, I guess folks on YouTube
0:30.0	can see this. My cat has decided this is the perfect time to sit on my laptop. Nap on your
0:36.3	microphone. Right.
0:38.4	That's Sim Sim, everyone.
0:40.1	Everybody say hi to SimCim.
0:41.7	Hi. Sim, do you know?
0:44.2	She's been making so many appearances today in our meetings.
0:47.8	Oh, my gosh.
0:50.9	And I think I hear Artax having the Zoomies behind me, so I'm sure we will hear from him soon.
0:57.0	But anyway, we are going to do some news today. We're going to play a game.
1:01.0	We are, of course, going to talk drinks. What you got, Rima?
1:05.0	So I have a simple syrup that I made earlier this week that was in my fridge.
1:10.0	Made it from some
1:11.2	things in my garden, a lemon balm and basil. Added with some sugar, put some, you know, put it in my
1:17.3	little seltzer thing and put in my water bottle. Yeah, it's a nice little refreshing drink. What are you
1:23.2	drinking? That sounds like a nice little spritzer. I, so as you know, I was in Aspen earlier this week, and of course I have to always try the local hooch, as I say.
1:34.3	But anyway, I went to a cocktail bar, a whiskey bar called Stranahan's, and they had their own limited edition,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marketplace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Marketplace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.