In this edition of Marketplace, Kai Ryssdal covers a range of economic stories. The U.S. continues to have the highest inflation among G7 nations, with tariffs and AI industry spending both playing a role. Kai explains how the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book offers valuable real-time economic insight. Also: IBM’s lackluster earnings reflect the struggles of legacy tech firms adapting to AI, farmers face rising fertilizer costs amid the Iran conflict, and student loan borrowers cope with ongoing policy uncertainty. A final segment highlights the importance of sweating the small details in business.
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Highlights
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U.S. Inflation Outpaces G7 Peers
U.S. inflation remains higher than other developed nations like the U.K., Canada, France, and Japan, driven in part by tariffs and massive AI infrastructure spending.
Kai Ryssdal explains how the Federal Reserve's Beige Book — a collection of anecdotal economic reports — provides insights that hard data often misses.