Simone Del Rosario: You know how much former President Trump rails on China…Do you know what he thinks is a bigger problem than China? The U.S. Federal Reserve. His words.

Now an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal says Trump allies are drawing up plans to blunt the Federal Reserve’s independence if Trump wins another term. 

What would that look like? These allies reportedly think the president should be consulted on interest-rate decisions and have the power to oust Jerome Powell before his term as Fed chair expires in May 2026. 

The central bank is designed to be politically independent, removed from the influence of presidents so the monetary decisions of the country are not based on what’ll win votes. 

Republican lawmakers are speaking out against these supposed plans.

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said the Fed’s independence is critical to making decisions in an unbiased, nonpolitical way. 

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis also said independence is important, saying, “I have to think about the Fed for the next 50 years, not the next four.” 

On the record, Trump senior advisers did not deny this report from the Journal. They just said that unless a message is coming directly from Trump or an authorized member of his campaign, it should not be deemed official. 

It’s widely understood in the legal community that the president does not have the authority to remove the head of this federal agency without cause, and “cause” does not mean disagreements on policy. 

Trump had many of those policy disagreements back when he was president and Powell served as Fed Chair. 

Former President Donald Trump: I think the Fed is out of control. I think what they’re doing is wrong.

Simone Del Rosario: Just before this latest Journal report came out, I had asked a former Federal Reserve adviser about the possibility of presidents pressuring Powell to make certain interest rate decisions, especially given the election year. Danielle DiMartino Booth tells me Powell is one of the least political Fed chairs to serve and is not likely to be influenced by either party. 

Danielle DiMartino Booth: Remember. He’s Jerome Hayden Powell, Esquire. He’s a lawyer by training and he knows his Supreme Court precedent. He knows that prior presidents who have attempted without cause to oust the head of a federal agency, which of course he is, have failed in the Supreme Court, and he will lean back on that. And that’s exactly what he did when Trump was in office.

Former President Donald Trump: I put a very good man in the Fed, I don’t necessarily agree with it, because he’s raising interest rates.

Simone Del Rosario: Trump was first to appoint Powell, a Republican, to Fed Chair. But their relationship quickly soured as Trump’s term went on and the Fed raised interest rates, causing the stock market to stumble. 

Former President Donald Trump: I think the Fed has gone crazy. 

Former President Donald Trump: Well I personally think the Fed should drop rates, I really think they slowed us down…I think they should drop rates and they should get rid of quantitative tightening, you would see a rocket ship.

Simone Del Rosario: Trump loves low interest rates…when he’s president. Before he won the election, he was critical of the Fed for not raising rates more when Obama was in office. 

Former President Donald Trump: I think the Fed is being totally controlled politically. They’re not raising rates and they’re being controlled politically. 

Simone Del Rosario: But now, it’s Trump’s advisers reportedly seeking carve-outs to give Trump more political control.

Simone Del Rosario: India already knocked off China as the most populous country in the world. Now, it’s going after China’s title of global growth engine. It’s a crown economists believe India could claim by 2028.

Samir Kapadia: I think everyone would be making a mistake if they didn’t bet on India over the next 10 years.

Simone Del Rosario: The world’s fifth largest economy is expected to soon climb over Japan and Germany to the No. 3 spot. But, 

Alexandra Hermann: India overtaking China in terms of size of its economy is a long way out.

Simone Del Rosario: While China’s gross domestic product dwarfs its neighbor, India is in a prime position to pull away business from Asia’s powerhouse. 

Samir Kapadia: America is in a state of panic right now as it relates to how they can get outside of China or conduct what they call China+1. So India is not just getting a second look, in many cases they are getting a first look.

Simone Del Rosario: So what can India do to make sure companies like what they see? 

China is not going away quietly. The worldwide leader in economic growth over multiple decades just beat all estimates for the first quarter of 2024, growing at a 5.3% annual pace. 

But the IMF predicts China’s growth for all of 2024 will still come in at 4.6%, dropping even more in 2025. 

Meanwhile, the IMF raised India’s growth forecast to 6.8% for 2024, and another 6.5% in 2025. 

Krishnamurthy Subramanian, IMF Executive Director: That makes India easily the fastest-growing economy in the world.

Alexandra Hermann: We have to keep in mind that India is also coming from a relatively lower base, right?

Simone Del Rosario: Alexandra Hermann covers India as a lead economist at Oxford Economics. 

Alexandra Hermann: The Chinese economy is still considerably larger, manifold larger than the Indian one. So it’s not really surprising that India can pull off much, much stronger growth rates than China as sort of a more emerging-market peer, let alone any advanced economies. 

Simone Del Rosario: According to Bloomberg Economics, China accounted for nearly a third of global growth in 2023, while India drove 17.5%. But if India keeps growing while China keeps slowing, they see that balance shift in 2028. 

Samir Kapadia is founder and CEO of India Index, a marketplace connecting Indian suppliers with American buyers.

What have you seen as far as interest in the Indian market? 

Samir Kapadia: It couldn’t be higher right now, Simone, and it’s mainly predicated on the notion that American companies can’t afford to work with China anymore.

Fox Business Host Maria Bartiromo: Now The Washington Post is saying you’re talking about 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. Is that in the cards?

Donald Trump: No, I would say maybe it’s going to be more than that. 

Simone Del Rosario: A ramped-up trade war with China will only expedite moves corporations are already making to diversify away from China. 

Samir Kapadia: It’s not just the national security implications, the intellectual property issues, the ongoing concerns around forced labor, environmental standards, the list continues to grow.

Simone Del Rosario: And India, the world’s largest democracy, is making a good case to pull in business. 

Take Apple. CEO Tim Cook called India a “huge opportunity” after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023. The same year, Apple opened its first physical store in the country and made one in every seven iPhones in India, double the amount produced there a year before. 

This comes as U.S.-China relations continue to sour. Apple is getting bruised in China as officials there promote competitors instead. They’ve taken such a hit in sales that Apple is no longer the world’s largest cell phone seller. They lost the spot to Samsung the first quarter of 2024. 

Which brings up another point to India’s appeal: 1.4 billion people. When it comes to having money to spend, India’s middle class as a share of total population is relatively small, but it’s expected to double by 2047. 

Samir Kapadia: It’s a wonderful base for customers. So doesn’t matter if you’re Tesla or you’re Lego, you’re going to look at India not as just a place to do business and get supply, you’re going to look at it as a place to sell products. And I think that’s what’s really driving a lot of attention.

Simone Del Rosario: Investors polled by Bloomberg resoundingly chose India as the most compelling investment case over the next 12 months when compared with Japan and China. 

India may have more people than China, but its labor force has yet to catch up. On the one hand, more than half of India’s population is under 30 years old, while China is dealing with an aging labor force. On the other hand, labor force participation is dramatically uneven. China’s is around 76% compared with India’s 51%. That’s driven largely by the lack of female labor participation in India. 

Alexandra Hermann: They are lower than in some of India’s Muslim neighbors and much less developed neighboring countries.

Simone Del Rosario: According to Hermann’s research, the labor force participation rate for working age females in India is under 25%, lower than Pakistan and Bangladesh. China is at 71%. But Hermann says participation is just one part of the challenge.

Alexandra Hermann: Because of sort of this lack of a bigger manufacturing sector that could provide jobs for lower skilled jobs, India having pursued a very different development story than the neighboring countries, there is just a lack of opportunity also for people to move out of agriculture and into potentially high productivity manufacturing, let alone services sector.

Simone Del Rosario: About half of India’s labor force works in agriculture. To grow into a meaningful alternative to China, Indian workers will need to move from farm to factory. 

Samir Kapadia: I don’t think India will be able to upskill on their own. It’s going to take foreign direct investment. It’s going to take the commitment of large multinational corporations to say, hey, we’re going to come in and we’re going to teach you how we do these things.

Simone Del Rosario: As a six-week election process sweeps through India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely expected to secure a third five-year term when results are announced June 4. 

During Modi’s decade in charge, bilateral trade between the U.S. and India has doubled to around $200 billion a year. The U.S. is now India’s largest trading partner. 

For India to step into an even bigger global role, experts say it will need to ditch its protectionist attitude, where high tariffs meant to restrict imports are blocking foreign interest. 

Alexandra Hermann: What we do hear is that it is very difficult to set up shop in India if you can’t procure everything from within the country, which you just can’t given the relatively small manufacturing sector.

Simone Del Rosario: Land acquisition is another challenge businesses cite, along with labor reforms. 

Parliament passed labor reforms in 2020 that would make hiring and firing easier. But labor union pushback has so far prevented government from implementing those changes. Modi’s party has indicated cementing those will be a priority in a third term. 

Alexandra Hermann: We have seen strong reforms already over the past 10 years and it’s taken a while to start to pick up so the question is, how quickly will you know, the more recent reforms and potentially the future reforms actually bear fruit, but overall, the signs are positive.

Simone Del Rosario: There’s little doubt which direction India is trending. Wells Fargo flagged the country as having potential to outperform its already high growth expectations this year. But the landscape still needs a lot of fertilizer to make conditions ripe for the highest output. And its not the only country vying for status as a China alternative. 

Samir Kapadia: Vietnam has demonstrated its ability to get into electronic machinery, footwear, apparel, all plastics, all kinds of industries that India wants to be a part of, but that India hasn’t really proved itself in. So, you know, if you think about United States with the China plus one strategy, that plus one could just be Vietnam, why would it be India?

Simone Del Rosario: Vietnam may have a running head start, but India’s ambitious growth target is turning heads. 

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND FOR THIS ONE WE’RE TURNING OUR EYES TO THE SKIES FOR WHAT COULD BE A BIG PLAYER FOR THE NAVY. 

MEET THE MQ-25 STINGRAY. IT’S SLEEK, IT CAN CARRY A LOT OF GAS, AND IT’S UNMANNED. THIS IS WHAT THE NAVY HOPES WILL HELP CARRIER AIR WINGS AND CARRIER STRIKE GROUPS MAXIMIZE THEIR AIR POWER.

BUILT BY BOEING, THE MQ-25 IS THE RESULT OF YEARS OF ENGINEERING AND TESTING. THE PROJECT WAS ANNOUNCED IN APRIL OF 2018, WITH BOEING RELEASING A VIDEO ANNOUNCING THE PROJECT. AS YOU CAN TELL, WHAT WAS IMAGINED, AND WHAT WAS EVENTUALLY BUILT, WERE TWO FAIRLY SIMILAR-LOOKING AIRCRAFT. LESS THAN FOUR YEARS LATER, THE REAL VERSION OF THE STINGRAY HEADED TO SEA FOR IT’S FIRST TEST ABOARD AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER.

[Matthew Savage, Boeing UCAD Test Team Lead]

“We’re calling this the unmanned carrier aviation demonstration. To look at how the MQ operates on the flight-deck both from propulsion testing and our human factors evaluation. This is a historic moment for the Navy, and for the Boeing Company, because this is the first evaluation of this vehicle’s ability to operate with the fleet. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THOSE TESTS MUST HAVE GONE REASONABLY WELL BECAUSE IN FEBRUARY BOEING HANDED OVER THE FIRST STINGRAY TO THE NAVY FOR EVALUATION. 

MORE THAN JUST BEING A FLYING GAS STATION FOR THE NAVY’S F-18S AND F-35S, THE MQ-25 IS ALSO EXPECTED TO PLAY A ROLE IN GATHERING INTELLIGENCE, AS WELL AS CONDUCTING SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS.  

FOR THE RIGHT TO BUILD THE STINGRAY BOEING BEAT OUT GENERAL ATOMICS AND LOCKHEED MARTIN FOR AN $805 MILLION CONTRACT.

PROVIDING ALL GOES WELL THE NAVY’S DEAL INCLUDES FOUR MORE STINGRAYS FOR THE FLEET WITH PLANS TO EQUIP ALL NIMITZ-CLASS AND GERALD R. FORD-CLASS CARRIERS WITH THE ABILITY TO OPERATE MQ-25s.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE THING YOU GET AN APPRECIATION FOR WHEN YOU COME TO EVENTS LIKE ‘SEA, AIR, SPACE 2024’ IS THE WIDE CROSS SECTION OF AMERICA THAT IS REPRESENTED BY OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM. PEOPLE WITH TALENTS THAT EXTEND WELL BEYOND THEIR MILITARY TRAINING. LIKE THE SUBJECT OF OUR DEBRIEF THIS WEEK. 

[ROB ROY YT]

“MEATBALL, lineup, AOA. Meatball, lineup, AOA. Ball… BALL! BALL!! I’M NOT SO SURE ABOUT THIS ONE!!! Oh, we’re good, it’s not that scary But there’s a ton that has to happen before we ever get to this point. ” 

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT’S FROM A CLIP CALLED ‘BEST ARRESTED LANDING NARRATION DOT DOT DOT EVER QUESTION MARK,” AND IT’S FROM THE ‘FLY ROB ROY’ YOUTUBE CHANNEL. A PLACE THAT OFFERS VIEWERS AN INSIDE LOOK A LIFE AS A NAVAL AVIATOR. AND IT PROMPTED US TO WANT TO KNOW MORE, SO I RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH THIS CONTENT CREATOR TO LEARN  ABOUT HIS STORY. 

All right, Lieutenant Rob Roy, formerly with the U.S. Navy. Thank you so much for joining us for this conversation on Weapons and Warfare. Really just want to kind of dive right in. I mean, you were a lieutenant in the Navy, you flew propeller planes. How did you how did you get into it? Where did you start?

{ROB ROY} 

Thanks for having me, Ryan. Yeah, I was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. I got out about two years ago. I got commissioned at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland 2011 [SIC] And then I went to flight school shortly thereafter, Pensacola, Corpus Christi, Texas, Meridian, Mississippi back to Corpus, and then ultimately sort of flying the mighty sea to Greyhound at a Norfolk Virginia in the mid 2000 10s. With VRC 40 my squadron.

{RYAN ROBERTSON} 

For folks who don’t know the C-2 Greyhound is one of what two propeller planes that can land on aircraft carriers?

{ROB ROY} 

Yeah, the E-2 Hawkeye, it’s got the big dome on top, so if people see in the recent Top Gun Maverick movie, there’s a two-and-a-half second shot of a Hawke you know, controlling the aircraft. Basically, we are a version of that take away the dome, same propellers same cockpit basically, but a lot fatter of a body of an aircraft and take away all the officers in the back and replace them with 30 souls. So couple aircrew and a lot of passengers or 10,000 pounds of cargo or a combination of the two. So we were the cod for the air wing, the carrier onboard deliveries, we brought all the male cargo, people distinguished visitors supply engine cars for the Navy, we were literally Uber for the Navy and Amazon Prime basically delivers to the Navy, I had an Amazon Prime patch. 30 years ago, I had USPS Postal Service patch so and I would bring on like pizzas and shawarmas. And some people would get tuxedos and suits at the local markets overseas and like they would go there on their liberty call. And three weeks later, we’d like pick up all their orders and bring out huge boxes of custom-made suits and whatnot to the to the air wing. Yeah, it’s good time.

{RYAN ROBERTSON} 

You have a YouTube channel? And it’s you know, you started it, obviously, when you got out of the service, is that right?

{ROB ROY} 

I started it and fall 2020 Because like everyone else, I was kind of bored and COVID. So I upload these videos, in the fall 2020 are a couple of them. I knew that they would pop with like 10,000, maybe 100,000 views, no idea, no idea that would get millions of views, a few weeks and months later, because when I recorded it, it was from my wife and my mom, basically I put on Facebook, like, you know, 1000 views, whatever. And then record it for the whole point of YouTube. I mean, if I could do it over again today, knowing what I know about building a brand and, and even telling the Navy story. It’d be like, Hey, guys, you know, let’s follow me out to the we’re gonna get right. I didn’t know that. Right. I just I just you’re so focused on the mission. It was a lot of during pre-flight, you know, certainly before I did the first couple, it was really testing like, will these work? Are these GoPro grips gonna hold kind of thing. Once all that was dialed in. It was like, you know, because I’m not trying to be a nuisance to my co-pilot to the aircrew to the mission. So like you get it. There’s more important things to play than yeah, quick. And then you’re like, Okay, I’m focusing on the carrier landing on the boat and then working. We’re about 10 mins from laning boop, boop, and you’re done. Like you don’t think about any more than I just am. If you watch the videos, I completely focused on the task at hand. I kind of forget there’s even a GoPro there, maybe one or two, get ready to take a catapult shot to kind of look at it because we’re just literally waiting to launch that point. But yeah, that’s that’s I won’t start it. 

{RYAN ROBERTSON} 

Well, thank you for staying focused on the mission and keeping YouTube secondary. 

{ROB ROY} 

Oh, yeah.

{RYAN ROBERTSON} 

But also, thank you for watching this because you give people an insight into something that, you know, we don’t see on an everyday basis, and you have a good personality and you had some humor to it. So yeah, from from your audience perspective, I understand why it popped. 

{ROB ROY} 

So when the when the idea came to do like, hey, you know, these videos are doing pretty well. I’m going to start leaning into it. Like, obviously, you’ve gained some notoriety within the world of, you know, YouTube streamers and all that kind of thing. What’s kind of been the, the personal impact, like you get recognized when you’re out and about I’ve been recognized

twice, like, actually randomly once was at a restaurant in Washington State and just with during COVID with a mask on and everything. And that was kind of very surprising. I kept hearing like, Rob Roy, maybe I’m like, hearing things. And they were being really nice. And then one of the time was at Oshkosh, we just kind of made sense because I was there at the Big Air Show. But no, nothing too crazy. I think the reason is because a lot of my videos my visor is down, we didn’t wear a mask like a hornet guys can’t even see who they are but their visors down. You can’t hear me talking because again I recorded in 2015 I didn’t really I wanted to record the audio but I just couldn’t get the time between Amazon and you know, BH photo and video like whatever I couldn’t find the adapter for the very specific Navy plugs. So yeah, I think as my channel grows and pivoted some kind of moving towards more of a general aviation direction the next couple weeks and months. I think it will definitely get more exposure with my face and my voice but the time you know a lot of my navy buddies have reached out and just you know, said they liked what I’m doing. then, you know representing the Navy in a good light.

{RYAN ROBERTSON} 

I think that’s just about all the questions that I had for you today. Really appreciate your time, Lieutenant Rob Roy, and we talked about this before we hit recording but your namesake is awesome. And for folks who are not fans of history, you should look up Rob Roy, not just the movie that Liam Neeson was in but also the man from history, right? 

{ROB ROY} 

Yeah, great guy. Yeah, no relation, unfortunately to the McGregor clan, I wish that I was. But I pay a lot of respect to Rob Roy. And I feel like if any McGregors in Scotland listening want to give me a free pass to a clan meeting. I’d love to join up because I have a lot of, you know, a lot of feelings in my heart because my whole life just you know, been associated with with him and whatnot. He’ll be somebody I think it’s a call sign but now it’s my real name.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

A BIG THANK YOU TO ROB, IF YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE FROM HIM, WE’LL BE RELEASING A BONUS PODCAST THAT INCLUDES OUR ENTIRE CONVERSATION ABOUT HIS LIFE IN THE NAVY, AND HIS TAKE ON WHAT CHALLENGES THE NAVY IS FACING TODAY. AND CAN FIND THAT WHEREVER PODCASTS ARE DOWNLOADED.

Simone Del Rosario: Women’s March Madness is must-see sports. More than the men’s, yes, but also more than last year’s NBA Finals, the World Series, and nearly every college football game. The sports world is in the Caitlin Clark business, Iowa’s standout star. And it’s paying off. 

LeBron James: Iowa was a great team but Caitlin Clark is the reason we tuned in.

Simone Del Rosario: Here are five ways people are cashing in on Caitlin Clark. 

First, Caitlin Clark herself. College basketball’s all-time leading scorer has scored about $3.2 million in NIL deals this year, according to On3. Her deals rank fourth behind sports royalty offspring Bronny James and Shedeur Sanders and social media sensation Livvy Dunne. Clark’s lucrative deals include Nike, Gatorade and State Farm.

Gamblers are setting records with Caitlin Clark. FanDuel says the Elite 8 LSU-Iowa game was the biggest betting event of all time for women’s sports. The Angel Reese-Clark rematch drew in 28% more money than their title game last year, where Reese came out victorious. This time, Clark dropped 41 points, drained 9 three-pointers, and moves on to take on another college basketball star in the Final Four, UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

The icon-heavy women’s tournament is setting records for fans in stands. The sellout crowds shattered records for the third consecutive season. Nearly 300,000 fans watched the first- and second-round games alone, a 26% increase over the previous year’s peak. Fans in Iowa City topped all other hosting sites, and the Caitlin effect doesn’t stop in college. The WNBA’s Indiana Fever is seeing a spike in ticket sales, they’ve got the No. 1 overall pick this year, and Caitlin’s headed to the league.

It’s getting pricey to see these female superstars on the court. Their popularity is pushing resale ticket prices through the roof. The average cost to get into the women’s Final Four is $2,323, while the men’s tournament is taking in less than half at $1,001, according to Logitix. Call it Clarkonomics.

Iowa’s Elite 8 victory over LSU shattered TV viewing records. With 12.3 million viewers tuning in, it wasn’t just the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history, but one of the most-viewed games in any sport other than the NFL this past year. The Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark showdown topped the 11.8 million people who tuned in to watch USC great Cheryl Miller take on now-LSU coach Kim Mulkey in the 1983 championship. 

ESPN’s been getting a steal of a deal airing the women’s tournament. They recently signed an 8-year extension worth $65 million a year, 12 times the current rate, and that won’t take effect until next season. Meanwhile, CBS and Turner pay around a billion dollars a year to collectively air the men’s side of things.

[JACK ALYMER]

IT’S BEEN CALLED THE SHOWCASE OF THE IMMORTALS. THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL. A POP CULTURE EXTRAVAGANZA.

BUT FOR MILLIONS OF PRO WRESTLING FANS AROUND THE WORLD – THEY KNOW IT BEST – AS WRESTLEMANIA.

FOR THE 40^TH TIME — WWE’S MARQUEE PREMIUM LIVE EVENT IS UPON US – EMANATING THIS YEAR FROM THE HOME OF THE NFL’S PHILADELPHIA EAGLES – LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD.

BUT WRESTLEMANIA – WHICH HAS EXPANDED TO TWO NIGHTS IN RECENT YEARS – IS NOT THE ONLY EVENT IN TOWN –

PHILLY WILL SEE A WEEKLONG CELEBRATION OF SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT FROM VARIOUS PROMOTIONS PUTTING ON SHOWS FOR THE INFLUX OF TRAVELING WRESTLING DIE-HARDS.

THE PHILADELPHIA VISITORS BUREAU EXPECTING WWE’S FESTIVITIES AROUND PHILLY TO BRING IN OVER 200 THOUSAND WRESTLING FANS TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE.

LARRY NEEDLE – THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU’S SPORTS DIVISION – TOLD THE PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL – THAT EVEN THOUGH PHILLY BID ON WRESTLEMANIA IN THE PAST – THIS WAS THE RIGHT TIME FOR IT TO HAPPEN.

SAYING QUOTE

“The beauty of it for us all as a city is that now we’re going to get WrestleMania in all of its glory. … If we did this even five or 10 years ago we would not have the benefit of the WrestleMania as it exists today.”

[JACK ALYMER]

PHILADELPHIA IS LOOKING TO TOP LOS ANGELES IN TERMS OF BUSINESS FROM THE BIG EVENT – WRESTLEMANIA 39 GENERATED 215 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE LA AREA –ACCORDING TO A STUDY CONDUCTED BY APPLIED ANALYSIS.

THAT TOPPED THE 206 POINT 5 MILLION DOLLARS GENERATED A YEAR PRIOR FOR WRESTLEMANIA 38 IN DALLAS.

THIS TIME AROUND FANS TOOK NO TIME TO SET RECORDS –WWE TOUTING WRESTLEMANIA 40 BROKE THE COMPANY’S ALL-TIME GATE RECORD IN ONE DAY – WITH 90 THOUSAND TICKETS SELLING IN JUST HOURS OF GOING ON SALE IN AUGUST — SURPASSING THE 21 POINT 6 MILLION DOLLAR RECORD SET LAST YEAR.

AND SINCE WE’RE TALKING NUMBERS – WE TALKED WITH BRANDON THURSTON WHO RUNS WRESTLENOMICS – THE SITE THAT LOOKS AT THE ECONOMICS OF THE WRESTLING INDUSTRY.

THURSTON SAYS 50 THOUSAND TICKETS HAVE BEEN SOLD FOR EACH NIGHT OF WRESTLEMANIA — THE SUPER BOWL OF SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“WrestleMania is the biggest wrestling event of the year. This is the 40^th one. It started in 1985. It is the wrestling event that people will know best that is the peak wrestling event…it really started the notion that the entire country and entire world could be watching one wrestling event at one time.”

[JACK ALYMER]

WWE IS CURRENTLY SEEING RECORD FINANCIAL SUCCESS – WITH A RISE IN ATTENDANCE AND TV RATINGS.

JUST THIS WEEK – WWE SPOTLIGHTING A RISE IN THE KEY ADVERTISING DEMO OF 18 TO 49 YEAR OLDS FOR THEIR WEEKLY PROGRAMS

OF RAW AND SMACKDOWN, AVERAGING 733 THOUSAND AND 892 THOUSAND TOTAL VIEWERS IN THE DEMO FOR QUARTER ONE.

THURSTON ATTRIBUTES THAT TO WHAT’S KNOWN IN THE BIZ -AS CREATIVE. THE STORYLINES AND THE CHARACTERS

AND RIGHT NOW THERE’S NO BIGGER STAR IN WRESTLING THAN THE BIGGEST STAR IN HOLLYWOOD – THE ROCK–  AND HIS ON-SCREEN PERSONA NICKNAMED “THE FINAL BOSS” IS NOT SHY ABOUT TAKING ALL THE CREDIT.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“What you’re feeling right now, you’re feeling the energy, you’re feeling the mana because right now professional wrestling is cool. Right now the ratings have skyrocketed because of the Rock.”

“They’re getting more money. They’re becoming a more profitable company. It’s a flip from what the wrestling business used to be decades ago where it was largely a live event business and it’s really become a business where – yeah, we still sell tickets and that’s great to do, but it’s more than ever it’s a  media business, it’s selling some form of  video – whether that’s television programs weekly, whether it’s these big events like WrestleMania that’ll go on Peacock. It’s selling lot of media and they want to do more sponsorships.

[JACK ALYMER]

INDEED WWE HAS BEEN MAKING DEALS OVER THE PAST YEAR – MERGING WITH UFC TO FORM THE 21 POINT FOUR BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY TKO –

STRIKING A 5 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL TO SEND RAW TO NETFLIX IN 2025 –

SWITCHING SMACKDOWN FROM FOX TO THE USA NETWORK IN OCTOBER IN A 1 POINT 4 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL –

AND SOMETHING THAT WWE HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE – SELL ADVERTISING ON ITS RING MAT TO PRIME HYDRATION – A SPORTS DRINK COMPANY FOUNDED BY WWE SUPERSTAR LOGAN PAUL.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTING IT’S THE LARGEST SPONSORSHIP DEAL IN WWE HISTORY.

BUT IT HASN’T BEEN ALL GOOD NEWS OVER THE PAST YEAR FOR THE WWE –

SOT CBS NEWS: “VINCE MCMAHON THE INFAMOUS FOUNDER OF WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT HAS RESIGNED AS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF ITS COMPANY.”

MCMAHON STEPPED DOWN AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY A FORMER EMPLOYEE. HE HAS DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS.

BUT WHILE THE CASE GAVE WWE BAD HEADLINES – THURSTON SAYS IT DIDN’T AFFECT FAN ENGAGEMENT IN THE PRODUCT.

IN FACT HE SAYS – THE WWE HAS BENEFITED FROM MCMAHON BEING REMOVED FROM THE COMPANY.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“The popularity of WWE increasing over the last couple of years has a lot to do with Vince being more removed from creative than ever. There’s definitely a reception with fans that the product has improved and I think Vince was an impediment to WWE’s creative connecting with fans and making them feel like they were excited for the show and wanted to tune in, spending money and time towards WWE events. And Vince being removed from creative has allowed Paul Levesque and others to step in and produce a show that is more satisfying for more people and more people are excited about.”

[JACK ALYMER]

PAUL LEVESQUE – BETTER KNOWN TO FANS AS WRESTLER TURNED EXECUTIVE TRIPLE H – IS IN CHARGE OF WWE’S CREATIVE DIRECTION –

AND WHAT STORIES ARE AHEAD FOR ITS BIGGEST STARS

LIKE CODY RHODES, SETH ROLLINS, ROMAN REIGNS THE ROCK

RHEA RHIPLEY AND BECKY LYNCH – AND WHAT WE’LL SEE AT WRESTLEMANIA.

[PAUL LEVESQUE]

“BUT ON APRIL 6^TH AND APRIL 7^TH IN PHILADEPHIA WE’RE GOING TO TAKE YOU TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. IT IS A NEW TIME. IT IS A NEW ERA AND IT IS AN ALL-NEW WWE. AND I PROMISE YOU THIS, YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET.”

[JACK ALYMER]

THURSTON SAYS WHILE WWE MAY HAVE HAD MORE MAINSTREAM BUZZ DURING THE HULKAMANIA ERA OF THE 1980S

OR THE EDGY ATTITUDE ERA THAT FEATURED STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN OF THE LATE 1990S –

THIS ERA – THE TKO ERA – IS THE COMPANY’S MOST PROFITABLE.

[BRANDON THURSTON]

“You can talk about the Attitude Era, yes, it was definitely  more popular than. Hulkamania era, I would say yes, it was definitely more popular in terms of mainstream awareness and engagement, certainly. But the cable bubble declining and people cutting the cord from cable has caused this demand from TV networks toward their most popular programs which are still what’s keeping the declining cable TV business together. And (two) of the most popular programs on television, if you look at the ratings, (are) WWE Raw and Smackdown.  So that’s what really helping them become more profitable than ever.

[JACK ALYMER]

SO WHO WILL REIGN SUPREME WHEN THE FINAL BELL RINGS AT WRESTLEMANIA 40? CODY RHODES FINISHING HIS STORY? OR ROMAN REIGNS DOMINATING AS THE HEAD OF THE TABLE? THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN.

BUT IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC WINS — ALL THE NUMBERS POINT TO WWE AND PHILLY – A CITY KNOWN FOR ITS STORIED HISTORY —  MAKING SOME MORE DURING WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND.

RoryDouglasOfficial:
“Oh snap! It’s tax season, people are freaking out right now.”

Sashasdailylife:
“I literally dread tax season.”

Simone Del Rosario:
What’s that saying about death and taxes?

Papaiza:
“I swear to god. As soon as March and April rolls around, I feel like I have this constant looming threat in my life.“

Simone Del Rosario:
The IRS expects 146 million individual tax filings this season.

You’d think, with so many people affected, the process might be a bit more streamlined.

PillaTalksTaxes:
“Complexity is out of control. It’s the single biggest problem taxpayers have.”

Donald Trump:
“I understand the tax code better than anybody that’s ever run for President… And It’s extremely complex.”

Papaiza:
“The government knows how much I owe. So why they hell do I have to do this?”

Simone Del Rosario:
There are 14 billion reasons why the tax prep industry has a vested interest in making sure the majority of Americans need a tax pro this time of year.

Anna Massoglia:
“There is an incentive to keep the tax code complicated to keep this industry in operation.”

Simone Del Rosario:
And the industry’s spent millions lobbying against a new government program where you could file your taxes for free directly through the IRS.

Andy Phillips:
“There are a variety of things that the IRS needs to do to enhance taxpayer service and tax administration. This does not seem like the best investment.”

Simone Del Rosario:
More on that, plus, there’s gotta be an easier way…

Erle Kõomets:
“United States tax system is a maze.”

Simone Del Rosario:
…we look to the banks of the Baltic Sea for a simpler tax solution.

Avril Lavigne:
“Tell me… Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated.”

Simone Del Rosario:
I’m pretty sure Avril was singing about the U.S. tax code.

Andy Phillips:
“Our US tax code is quite complex and unique, in that, we of course use it to collect taxes and fund the federal government, a variety of services. But we also use it to administer a variety of social subsidies.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Ok, so the U.S. employs a ton of provisions intended to help American taxpayers, like the Child Tax Credit, Mortgage Interest Deduction, and Earned Income Tax Credit.

Andy Phillips:
“And so that does create complexity, it also creates opportunities for taxpayers to use their tax return to their financial betterment.”

saptravels:
“Can someone explain to me some tax loopholes so I don’t have to give uncle sam all that money back.”

Donald Trump:
“Did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying federal income tax?”
“Of course I do. Of course I do.”

Simone Del Rosario:
The Internal Revenue Code contains nearly 10,000 (9,834) sections and a six-volume set of corresponding regulations. That’s according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report to Congress. They say the average taxpayer spends 13 hours and $240 bucks to file one annual tax return.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
“13 hours, $240.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Meanwhile, IRS customer service reps spent 3.7 million hours answering phones during the 2022 tax season.

This year, the U.S. government is rolling out a pilot program that offers some Americans the opportunity to file directly with the IRS, for free.

The pilot program is limited to just 12 states. They created the “direct file” system with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and it only covers simple, individual federal tax returns.

The 12 states in the program either have no state income tax or have some sort of electronic filing system of their own.

Anna Massoglia:
“So there’s only a small number of taxpayers that are actually able to use the in-house government services at this point.”

Simone Del Rosario:
But government-run websites have a complicated past.

In 2013, when healthcare dot gov launched, millions of Americans typed in that url to put some insurance in their shopping cart. But instead, they got bugs, crashes and other messages preventing them from checking out. The White House said they never expected that much traffic the first day.

With the baby steps the IRS is taking, it appears the government learned at least one lesson from that.

But the IRS pilot program faces far more opposition than folks who think government should stay out of web development.

Anna Massoglia:
“When it runs out on a much wider scale, it could potentially pose a threat to Intuit’s businesses every year.”

Simone Del Rosario:
TurboTax parent company Intuit says the program is, “a solution in search of a problem.”

H&R Block Tax Institute Director Andy Phillips says there are literally dozens of outlets already providing free services.

Andy Phillips:
Just here at H&R Block, we have a free product that offers support for more than 40 forms. That’s more than what’s offered in the direct file program. That’s more than what’s offered by some of our biggest competitors, including TurboTax. And so while yes, that program is free, at H&R Block, we also have a free DIY product and we’re pretty confident that we’re doing free better.

Simone Del Rosario:
Tens of millions of Americans turn to tax prep services like H&R Block and TurboTax every single year. The two companies bring in billions in revenue each tax season. And they account for roughly 42% of electronically-prepared individual tax returns.

Overall, the U.S. tax prep services industry is about a $14 billion market.

TurboTax ad:
“We guarantee 100% accurate taxes.”
“She’s good”

H&R Block Ad:
“I switched to H&R block. Doing my own taxes online.”
“Hmm”
“I was able to file for free and it was so easy to do on my own.”

Simone Del Rosario:
In 2003, the IRS launched the Free File program, a public-private partnership between the IRS and tax prep companies to give lower-income taxpayers access to tax prep software.

Since the launch, the tax prep industry has spent $93 million on federal lobbying efforts, according to analysis from OpenSecrets.

Intuit set a company lobbying record in 2023, spending $3.8 million that year, while H&R Block put up another $3 million lobbying.

Anna Massoglia:
“Much of that is targeted on fighting the IRS development of a competitor to the tax prep industry that would allow people to file for free.”

Simone Del Rosario:
The Direct File pilot program, which cuts out the private sector, is just one reason for the rift between tax prep giants and the government.

TurboTax Ad:
“And free free free and free.”

Simone Del Rosario:
It all started with a 2019 ProPublica investigation that accused TurboTax of using lobbying and “dark pattern” customer tricks to fend off the government’s attempts to make tax filing free and easy.

ProPublica reports Intuit made their version of the government’s free file program harder to find while promoting their own “Free Edition,”

TurboTax Ad:
free free free free

Simone Del Rosario:
which came with traps that could push customers into paying.

TurboTax Ad:
“That’s right, TurboTax Free Edition is free. Free free free free.”

Anna Massoglia:
“In many cases, taxpayers may not know what they’re getting into from the start, they may invest time and energy into preparing their tax filing only at the very end to say, ‘Okay, actually, this is going to cost money.’”

News Report:
“Tonight more than 4 million people who used TurboTax to file their income taxes are getting a refund.”

Simone Del Rosario:
All 50 states sued, forcing a $141 million settlement, and the Federal Trade Commission ruled Intuit is guilty of deceptive advertising.

News Report:
“The popular tax-filing software TurboTax has been banned from advertising its services as free.”

Simone Del Rosario:
This year, the FTC also filed a similar complaint against TurboTax competitor H&R Block.

H&R Block Ad:
“I was able to file for free…”

Simone Del Rosario:
The FTC says H&R Block also deceptively advertises free products, and unfairly deletes customer data when users try to downgrade to cheaper options.

H&R Block is denying the claims and suing the FTC in return. H&R Block’s lawsuit claims the FTC’s use of internal judges to decide these cases violates the Constitution.

The Supreme Court is already considering a similar argument against the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But back to taxes.

When I spoke with H&R Block, I asked them how many of their customers file for free. They told me that’s not a number they can publicly share.

Meanwhile, TurboTax claims they have over 11 million customers who file 100% free each year.

But this is advertising TurboTax’s free edition, not the government’s existing Free File.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
“Secretary Yellen, what percentage of taxpayers actually use Free File right now? I believe that last year about 4%.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen:
“And you know that is not an accident. These companies deliberately sabotaged the Free File program and steered people to products that they could charge for.”

After nearly two decades, Intuit stopped offering the government’s Free File program in 2021, saying the program was too limiting, focusing instead on their Free Edition.

Anna Massoglia:
“We’re seeing the tax prep industry investing into making their services more enhanced. Having integrations with other types of services. I know Intuit recently launched an integration with Credit Karma. And so we’re seeing them make their services more appealing to taxpayers, trying to make them easier and have more available, in addition to also spending to fight against that government program.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Intuit says the government’s newest attempt at free tax prep is, “a thinly veiled scheme where billions of dollars of taxpayer money will be unnecessarily used to pay for something already completely free of charge today.”

Let’s get real: There’s a reason the TurboTaxes of the world even exist.

Anna Massoglia:
“The commercial tax prep tax prep industry has really developed because people struggle to file their taxes, because there really isn’t an easier way.”

Laughter Awaits:
“Hey it’s time to pay your taxes. Oh, ok, how much do I owe you? What’s the total amount? Oh, we’re not going to tell you that.”

Alex Muresianu:
“So many different types of income are taxed differently. So some types of saving are taxed never, some types of saving are taxed once, some types of savings are taxed twice. dividends, interest short term capital gains, long term capital gains.

Alex Muresianu:
“Thinking big here, how do we simplify the tax code? It would be something that looks more like Estonia.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Welcome to Estonia, land of the best tax code in the world, according to the Tax Foundation.

Erle Kõomets:
“97% of people filed taxes electronically. And 92% found the process really easy.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Erle Koomets is the Head of the Tax and Customs Policy Department of the Estonian Ministry of Finance.

Erle Kõomets:
“The system calculates everything for you. So you don’t need to do anything yourself, except input a few numbers that the government may not have.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Estonia has a flat 20% tax on individual income. Every Estonian taxpayer has an account with the Ministry of Finance. Come tax season, you log in and your tax information is pre-filled.

Erle Kõomets:
“You already see what is the salary that you have earned during the year and how much your employer has withheld. And the system automatically already applies allowances if you’re entitled to them.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Even more complicated tax situations are pretty easy to amend. Estonia says most taxpayers are done filing in 3 minutes.

Erle Kõomets:
Nobody in Estonia would even dream about wanting to pay money to file your taxes.

The fact Estonia has a population the size of the state of Maine (1.3 million) doesn’t mean the system wouldn’t work at a larger scale.

Alex Muresianu:
“I don’t think there are as many scaling issues with a tax system in the way that there might be with other policies.”

Erle Kõomets:
I think you need efficient systems. And of course, for a big country, the initial cost of introducing such a system would be horrendous. But again, big countries would also have more funds to use toward that purpose.

Simone Del Rosario:
But Estonia’s flat tax could be considered regressive. It was introduced 30 years ago after the country declared independence from the Soviet Union. At the time, there wasn’t as much wealth disparity. Koomets says she would not be surprised if the country moves toward more progressive taxation years from now.

Erle Kõomets:
“But you can still maintain the easy filing system.”

Simone Del Rosario:
But like the U.S., changes to the tax code can be a heavy lift in Estonia.

Erle Kõomets:
2023 was the first year when we had to increase taxes, mostly because of the additional defense expenditure that we had to fund. And even people recognize that this is for a good cause. And we really need to boost our defense, it was still incredibly hard to make happen.

Simone Del Rosario:
The Tax Policy Center says the last time the U.S. made comprehensive changes to the tax code was in 1986. Signed by President Ronald Reagan, the Tax Reform Act dropped the top income tax rate from 50 to 28% and raised the lowest rate from 11 to 15%.

In 2017, Republicans promised a simple tax return that could fit on a postcard, but the idea got about as much traction as it did when Steve Forbes published “Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS” back in 2005.

Don’t forget pizza executive Herman Cain’s run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Reporter:
“Do you think the Libya comments reinforce the idea that you don’t have a thorough understanding of foreign policy?
Herman Cain:
“Nine, Nine, Nine.”

Simone Del Rosario:
Cain’s proposal would replace the current tax system with a 9% personal income tax, 9% federal sales tax, and 9% corporate tax.

There’s a reason these proposals go nowhere in the U.S. As the late Louisiana Sen. Russell Long famously said, “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that man behind the tree.”

Alex Muresianu:
Which is to say that we promise to not touch your provisions, the provisions that you benefit from, the other special benefits that other people benefit from, we’ll get rid of those.

Simone Del Rosario:
As another tax season winds down, the IRS says nearly 1 in 3 people wait until the final few weeks to file their returns.

So with that in mind, here are some inspirational words from the man behind 9-9-9, which could also relate to filing your tax return.

Herman Cain:
“I believe these words came from the Pokemon Movie.”

“Life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, it’s never easy when there’s so much on the line. But you and I can make a difference.

Simone Del Rosario: The fierce boardroom battle over the Magic Kingdom’s future heads to a vote this week. It’s expected to be the most expensive proxy fight in history, with all sides dropping a collective $70+ million to influence shareholder votes.

Disney’s main foe is activist investor Nelson Peltz, who wants two seats on the board, one for him and one for Jay Rasulo, a former Disney CFO who left after being passed over for a promotion to chief operating officer.

Disney’s doing the bulk of the spending to push for its chosen board of directors (estimated $40 million) while Peltz’s Trian Partners (estimated $25 million) and Blackwells Capital (estimated $6 million) are separately challenging the company line. 

Nelson Peltz is no stranger to forcing expensive fights over board seats. He holds the current record for most expensive proxy fight with Proctor & Gamble in 2017. That fight cost $60 million and is one of the closest proxy battles in corporate history. After a near-tie and multiple recounts, Peltz lost the vote but P&G conceded in giving him a seat on the board anyway.

Now setting his sights on Disney for a second time – he first angled for a board seat a year ago before dropping the fight – Peltz argues the company “has lost its way over the past decade,” losing shareholders tens of billions of dollars in value.

Nelson Peltz: We’re here to make that stock go up for the right reasons. We’re here to get this company back to earning money, generating cash flow, fixing the streaming business. Here’s a company that has disappointed and underperformed the S&P for one year, three years, five years, ten years, forever. That’s how long they’ve been disappointing shareholders.

Simone Del Rosario: One of Peltz’s biggest gripes is continued losses in Disney’s streaming business. In a 133-page white paper, he suggests, among other things, combining Hulu with Disney+. 

Despite the underperforming stock track record the past several years, Disney argues that under returning CEO Bob Iger, the company is in the middle of righting the ship. 

In 2024, Disney’s stock has far outpaced the S&P benchmark, rising 34% compared to S&P’s 10%. And the company is going after Peltz’s track record in a series of attacks meant to sway shareholders. 

Disney: Nelson Peltz has a long history of attacking companies to the ultimate detriment of shareholder value. His quest also seems more about vanity than a belief in Disney.

Simone Del Rosario: Part of what’s making this fight over board seats so expensive, possibly record setting, is that around 40% of Disney’s shareholders are regular people, not big funds. The New York Times says for the average public company, individuals usually own around 15%.  

And it’s costly to reach a large number of small investors. In this proxy fight, it could be average Jane and Joe who tip the scales at Wednesday’s annual shareholders meeting.

At stake are the futures of Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, ABC, movie studios like Marvel, and of course the happiest places on Earth.

[JACK AYLMER]

BENEATH OUR FEET LIES AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF POWER.

ONE humanity has tried to harness for millennia.  

FROM VOLCANOES IN ICELAND.

TO BUBBLING HOT SPRINGS IN THE U.S.

EVEN THE SECRET LAIRS OF EVIL MASTERMINDS. 

THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO UTILIZE ENERGY FROM THE EARTH’S CORE TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY.

AND IT’S NOT A NEW CONCEPT.

EVEN THE ANCIENT ROMANS AND ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS TRIED TAPPING INTO GEOTHERMAL POWER.

EXPERTS BELIEVE JUST POINT-1-PERCENT OF THE PLANET’S HEAT CONTENT COULD SUPPLY HUMANITY’S TOTAL ENERGY NEEDS FOR TWO MILLION YEARS.

BUT, DESPITE THE LONG HISTORY AND POTENTIAL BENEFITS, THIS TYPE OF POWER HAS YET TO BE USED ON A WIDESPREAD SCALE.

[Sabine Hossenfelder]

Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory claimed that every house in the US could be heated from geothermal sources for millennia. This sounds good, but in reality, geothermal energy presently plays a small role in most places on earth. –Sabine Hossenfelder 

[JACK AYLMER]

IN THE U.S., ONLY ABOUT ONE-AND-A-HALF PERCENT OF THE NATION’S ENERGY COMES FROM GEOTHERMAL SOURCES.

THAT’S SOMETHING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS LOOKING TO CHANGE.

[Secretary Granholm]

“Geothermal runs day and night. And so with the right investments and incentives, we can increase the power that we generate from from the heat beneath our feet 47 fold by 2050 47 fold. Now, that is enough to power Texas 12 times over.”

[JACK AYLMER]

THE WHITE HOUSE is INVESTing OVER 200 MILLION DOLLARS IN A VARIETY OF PLANS AIMING TO EXPAND AND ENHANCE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SYSTEMS.

THEIR GOAL: EXPAND THIS TECHNOLOGY ENOUGH TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY TO POWER OVER 40 MILLION AMERICAN HOMES.

THAT’S MORE THAN A QUARTER OF THE NATION.

AND IT’LL COME AT AN AFFORDABLE RATE AS WELL.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IS RELATIVELY CHEAP. 

IT’LL COST PEOPLE ABOUT HALF THE PRICE OF NUCLEAR POWER, WHILE ALSO BEING BOTH CHEAPER AND BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT THAN COAL.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HAS CALLED GEOTHERMAL POWER A CLEAN SOURCE THAT EMITS ONLY EXCESS STEAM AND SMALL AMOUNTS OF GAS.

PRODUCING ONLY ABOUT ONE-SIXTH OF THE CARBON EMISSIONS CREATED BY A NATURAL GAS POWER PLANT AND 99 PERCENT LESS THAN FOSSIL FUELS.

SO, IF IT’S GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND CHEAP FOR PEOPLE TO USE, WHY HAVEN’T WE ALREADY STARTED PRODUCING MORE OF IT?

THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO THE INCREASED USE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS THE UPFRONT COST FOR DEVELOPERS.

A GEOTHERMAL PLANT CAN BE UP TO TEN TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE TO CONSTRUCT THAN A SOLAR OR WIND FARM.

THE MOST COMMON WAY OF EXTRACTING THIS ENERGY IS THROUGH A FLASH STEAM POWER PLANT.

THAT’S WHEN LIQUIDS WITH TEMPERATURES UPWARDS OF 360 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ARE PUMPED UP FROM DEEP UNDERGROUND.

THESE FLUIDS TRAVEL UNDER HIGH PRESSURES UNTIL THEY REACH A LOW PRESSURE TANK ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE.

THE CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENT CAUSES THE FLUID TO QUICKLY TRANSFORM OR “FLASH” INTO STEAM.

THE STEAM IS THEN USED TO DRIVE A TURBINE WHICH POWERS A GENERATOR OUTPUTTING ELECTRICITY.

BUT BUILDING A SYSTEM THAT REQUIRES DRILLING INTO THE EARTH’S CORE AT A DEPTHS LONGER THAN THE LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD CAN TAKE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME.

[Gerald W. Huttrer, Geothermal Geologist and Consultant]

Once the operation is firmly developed, and everybody is everything is running well, it is definitely a cash cow you are making money left and right. But it takes a long time and people are impatient. 

[JACK AYLMER]

IN SOME CASES, DEVELOPERS WILL HAVE TO WAIT AS LONG AS A DECADE BEFORE THE PLANT CAN GET UP AND RUNNING TO PRODUCE REVENUE.

AND THIS SUBTERRANEAN ENERGY ALSO ISN’T ACCESSIBLE EVERYWHERE, MEANING ONLY SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE COUNTRY ARE SUITABLE FOR A GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT, DRIVING UP LAND COSTS. 

THAT HASN’T STOPPED PRESIDENT BIDEN FROM MAKING SOME MAJOR INVESTMENTS IN THIS SECTOR.

LAST YEAR, THE U.S. PRODUCED MORE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY THAN ANY OTHER NATION.

AND IF THE INVESTMENT TRENDS CONTINUE – MORE POWER DWELLING UNDER THE EARTH’S SURFACE COULD SOON BE UNLOCKED.

Simone Del Rosario: Is rising credit card debt a good thing for the economy? Let’s look into this. 

Not adjusted for inflation, U.S. credit card debt right now is at an all-time high. It’s well over a trillion dollars. 

Adjusted for inflation, WalletHub says it’s about 10% below peak credit card debt in 2008. You know, when the recession was so bad they gave it a proper name.

On a personal level, the Dave Ramseys of the world will tell you that all debt is bad debt.

Dave Ramsey: When you have debt, you are susceptible to getting your freaking head taken off. 

Simone Del Rosario: But when it comes to the greater economy, higher household debt can be a boon.

Mean Girls clip: The limit does not exist. 

Simone Del Rosario: Ok, the limit doesn’t not exist. There is a limit. Let’s just dig in.

We measure the health of a country’s economy by calculating its gross domestic product, which is essentially adding up all of the economic activity in the country.

The single most influential part of that equation is consumer spending. It makes up about two-thirds of U.S. GDP.

And though consumers are starting to charge more purchases – credit card debt went up more than 14% in the past year – spending has yet to take a major hit.

Economists point to the strong labor market as one reason why.

If the job market takes a turn, Americans may start to rein in that spending. But for now, they seem willing to take on more debt.

In fact, the Federal Reserve reports household debt is at a record high of $17.5 trillion. Most of that’s mortgages but also includes auto, student, and credit card debt. And credit cards, far and away, experienced the biggest percentage increase.

A study by the Bank of International Settlements analyzing dozens of economies found that rising household debt boosts a country’s GDP growth, at least in the short term. In the longer run, they found that a 1 percentage point increase in the household debt-to-GDP ratio tends to lower growth by 0.1 percentage point. 

So how is the U.S. sitting?

Household debt as a percentage of GDP is pretty close to the bottom of levels we’ve seen since 2001. In fact, looking at this chart, you can see the danger levels where households really overleveraged ahead of the Great Recession. We don’t currently see that trend today.

According to Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, “Debt level growth in recent months appears to be in line with wage growth, so at this point, it doesn’t seem to be raising a red flag.”

He added, “If people are borrowing more money, the question is whether they are in a position to pay it back.”

So let’s take a look at that.

This is looking good: Household debt payments as a percent of disposable income, that’s income after taxes. The only time in recent history this has been lower than now was during the pandemic when people got stimulus checks and there really wasn’t anywhere to spend money. 

Now strip out mortgage debt, and this percentage is sitting a bit higher historically. But it’s still well below the levels we saw that spelled trouble ahead of the Great Recession. 

This doesn’t mean individuals are not struggling with credit card debt. Half of credit card users are carrying a balance month to month, and a third of those believe they’ll be in credit card debt forever. We dig into why more people are charging purchases today and what they’re buying in this story on SAN.com.