The Gustonomics Podcast

In this final episode before an indefinite hiatus, Liz and Caleb revisit some of the topics from past episodes.

Tax credits are a popular tool of policymakers to influence the behavior of people and businesses. But they don’t come without tradeoffs or cumbersome rules to follow. Caleb and Liz discuss. Shownotes Are Today’s Tax Credits the Best Way to Get Americans to Buy E.V.s? [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/business/economy/electric-vehicle-tax-credits-study.html] [NYT]

In the midst of a surge of antitrust lawsuits from the last several years, Caleb and Liz break down monopolies, anti-competitive behavior, and what it means for small businesses. Shownotes Google, Visa, JetBlue: A Guide to a New Era of U.S. Antitrust Cases [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/business/antitrust-case-tracker.html] [NYT] ‘Google Is a Monopolist,’ Judge Rules in Landmark Antitrust Case [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.html] [NYT] After Google Antitrust Ruling, Here’s Where Other Big Tech Cases Stand [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/technology/antitrust-google-amazon-apple-meta.html] [NYT] U.S. Prepares to Challenge Google’s Online Ad Dominance [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/technology/google-ads-antitrust-trial.html] [NYT]

Who or what caused the jump in inflation from the past few years? There is no shortage of alleged culprits, and one popular theory is that it’s been driven by exploitative prices at the grocery store (aka, price gouging). Caleb and Liz discuss the role of price gouging, and how much blame (or not) it deserves. Shownotes Corporate Profits Contributed a Lot to Inflation in 2021 but Little in 2022—A Pattern Seen in Past Economic Recoveries [https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-bulletin/corporate-profits-contributed-a-lot-to-inflation-in-2021-but-little-in-2022/] [KC Fed] Tight Labor Markets Have Been a Key Contributor to High Food Inflation [https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/economic-bulletin/tight-labor-markets-have-been-a-key-contributor-to-high-food-inflation/] [KC Fed] Are Markups Driving the Ups and Downs of Inflation? [https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2024/05/are-markups-driving-ups-and-downs-of-inflation/] [SF Fed] Are greedy companies to blame for grocery inflation? We looked at the data [https://www.npr.org/2024/09/09/nx-s1-5103935/grocery-prices-inflation-corporate-greedflation] [NPR] What is ‘price gouging’ and why is VP Harris proposing to ban it? [https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-price-gouging-ban-inflation-65dc8844bb41159d76886f752b6cab28] [AP] Harris Plans to Ban Grocery ‘Price Gouging.’ What Does the Evidence Say? [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/business/economy/kamala-harris-inflation-price-gouging.html] [NYT]

For decades, free trade had been touted by business leaders, economists, and policy makers as the best way for countries to exchange goods and services. But that’s all changed in the last several years, as tariffs have re-entered the conversation as an effective tool to protect American businesses. Caleb and Liz discuss the trend, what it means for small businesses, and where things go from here. Shownotes Jobs Report Revisions, Explained [https://gusto.com/resources/podcast/jobs-report-revisions] [Gustonomics Podcast] Current Employment Statistics - CES (National) [https://www.bls.gov/ces/] [BLS] Recession? What Recession? [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gustonomics-podcast/id1700748603?i=1000625365792] [Gustonomics Podcast] Harris and Trump Embrace Tariffs, Though Their Approaches Differ [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/us/politics/trump-harris-tariffs.html] [NYT]