Retail sales were up 0.9% in May, which is a generally positive economic sign. But it doesn’t square with our reality, in which price inflation outpaces wage growth. That is, until you look at that pesky personal savings rate. In this episode, YOLO consumers in a grim economy. Plus: Fed Chair Warsh holds rates steady, the rate of new households is falling, and what would happen if the U.S. lost its global reserve currency status.<br><br>Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.<br><br>Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

When the going gets tough, just keep spending

Marketplace

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Marketplace

## Transcript

[SPEAKER_A] There's a lot going on right now: mounting economic inequality, threats to democracy, environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos in the air. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC's On the Media. Want to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives that led us here, and maybe how to head them off at the pass? That's On the Media's specialty. Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[SPEAKER_B] This podcast is supported by Even Realities. Even G2 productivity smart glasses, designed to keep real-time support right in view with teleprompting, conversation support, real-time translation, AI assistance, and more, help you stay on top of work and daily life. And unlike most smart glasses, they're designed to look and feel like premium eyewear. With no camera and a lightweight 36-gram design, you can wear all day. The more context you give them, the smarter they get, adapting to how you work and what you need. To learn more about Even G2, go to evenrealities.com and see how everyday smart glasses keep helpful information in sight so you can stay productive and hands-free throughout the day. And for our listeners, use promo code MARKETPLACE at evenrealities.com to get 10% off Even Ring 1 and/or Even Clip when you add them to your Even G2 order. That's evenrealities.com, promo code MARKETPLACE. That's evenrealities.com, promo code MARKETPLACE. Code Marketplace.

[SPEAKER_C] What happened at the Federal Reserve meeting today, you ask? Well, here's what happened. You get a task force and you get a task force and you get a task force. From American Public Media, this is Marketplace. In Los Angeles, I'm Kyler Rizdal. It is Wednesday today. This one is the June, good as it always is to have you along, everybody. We began today with the Federal Reserve's new chairman, Kevin Warsh, and his first press conference. And as he promised, changes are coming.

[SPEAKER_D] We've got a task force for that.

[SPEAKER_C] This was a more bureaucratic than usual press conference. The economics of it in a minute, of course, but the main takeaway was that Warsh, as he said during his confirmation hearings, is bound and determined to change the way the Fed does business. Telltale sign number 1: 5, count them, 5 new task forces on, should you be curious, communications, the Fed's balance sheet, economic data, productivity and jobs, and inflation frameworks. So that. Also, though, and more immediately—

[SPEAKER_D] At this moment in time, it doesn't feel as though providing forward guidance is right.

[SPEAKER_C] Forward guidance, that thing the Fed's been doing for the past, I don't know, 15 years or so, letting everybody, which mostly meant markets, letting them know which way the Fed was thinking monetary policy, interest rates, were going to go well in advance of actually voting on them. This is a big deal. So I think it's important to hear Chairman Warsh's rationale.

[SPEAKER_D] I ...

When the going gets tough, just keep spending

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

When the going gets tough, just keep spending

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.