Fed Raises Interest Rates Again, Consumer Spending Grows. Are We In The Clear Of A Recession?
The U.S. economy surprisingly accelerated to a 2.4% annual growth rate from April through June, showing continued resilience in the face of steadily higher interest rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s 16-month-long fight to bring down inflation. Thursday’s estimate from the Commerce Department indicated that the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — picked up from the 2% growth rate in the January-March quarter. In fighting inflation, which last year hit a four-decade high, the Fed has raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March 2022, most recently on Wednesday. The resulting higher costs for a broad range of loans — from mortgages and credit cards to auto loans and business borrowing — have taken a toll on growth. Optimism has been growing that a recession isn’t coming after all, that the Fed can engineer a so-called “soft-landing” — slowing the economy enough to bring inflation down to its 2% annual target without wrecking an expansion of surprising durability. Today we discuss what all this might mean for the local economy and housing market with William Lee, chief economist of the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, and Logan Mohtashami, lead analyst for the real estate news site HousingWire.
With files from the Associated Press.
What’s Made E-Bikes Grow In Popularity & What Should You Know Before Buying One?
In areas like Los Angeles, investing into a car is becoming a more difficult situation as folks sometimes are priced out from getting a new pair of wheels or are frustrated with the traffic that can offset its importance. These accessibility terms, along with the greater issue of the climate crisis, has made folks turn to alternatives like electric bikes. Kelly Blue Book in 2022 found that the sale of E-Bikes actually exceeded their car counterparts by some metrics, with there being more than 1 million EBs imported compared to more than 800,000 EVs sold. Sales are also being helped by California, with a recent voucher program providing up to $1,000 in relief for those looking to buy new EBs.
As popularity grows, however, what policies are out there to regulate those riding E-bikes on roads? There is the recent AB 530, which would prohibit those younger than 12 to ride EBs and also create a state licensing process for drivers. Today on AirTalk, we offer an explainer on electric bike use in California with Jared Sanchez, Policy Director of the California Bike Coalition.
World Champion Boxer Oscar De La Hoya Squares Off With His Past In New HBO Documentary ‘The Golden Boy’
From the first time he put on boxing gloves at the age of six, it was clear Oscar de la Hoya had a penchant for pugilism. The son of immigrant parents, de la Hoya grew up in East L.A., where his dad saw his son’s talent as a ticket out. By age 15, de la Hoya had made a name for himself as a young, up-and-coming boxer by winning a junior Olympics title, and would eventually become an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1992 at the Summer Games in Barcelona. He won his first world title in his twelfth professional fight, and would go on to win a total of 11 world titles across six weight classes during his professional career. But despite the “Golden Boy” persona in the ring, de la Hoya battled demons for much of his career. He struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, even in his years after hanging up his gloves, and just last year he was accused of sexual assault on two separate instances by a tequila company executive -- charges de la Hoya denies. In the new two-part HBO documentary “The Golden Boy,” de la Hoya shares, in his own words, his journey to international stardom, the stumbles along the way and the lessons he learned, and how he’s rediscovered himself during his post-boxing career.
Today on AirTalk, Oscar is with us to talk about the new documentary, reflect on the ups and downs of his life in the ring and outside of it and share some of the lessons he’s learned from his life in boxing.
Hospice Care In America Is In Crisis – What’s Been Your Experience?
An investigative piece from ProPublica and The New Yorker by Ava Kofman on rampant fraud in the hospice industry made waves late last year. The article detailed many abuses of the system by for-profit hospices, from enrolling people in end of life care without their knowledge to discharging patients who take too long to die–all to maximize the amount of money they can be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid. But there are signs that action is being taken to combat fraud. Just last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced “enhanced oversight” over newly registered hospices in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. This comes after CMS changed inspection procedures for hospices earlier in the year. Joining us to discuss is Ira Byock, emeritus professor of medicine at Dartmouth and a past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Caltech Celebrates 100th Birthday Of Nobel Laureate Rudy Marcus
Last Friday, Caltech held a symposium to celebrate the 100th birthday of Caltech Professor of Chemistry Rudy Marcus, who won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work explaining how molecules transfer and store energy. Despite having just become a centenarian last week, Marcus has remained active not only as a scientist, continuing to publish research and scientific papers, but also as maintained his love of sport -- his son, Alan, says he played tennis into his mid 80s and skied downhill until he was 90!
Today on AirTalk, Larry talks with Dr. Marcus about his continuing passion for his work and research at his 100th birthday.
TV-Talk: 8 Shows To Watch Including ‘This Fool’ Season 2, ‘Good Omens’ Season 2 & ‘Dark Winds’ Season 2
Have you felt completely overwhelmed when deciding what new show to watch these days? Us too. There’s just so much content out there between network TV and numerous streaming platforms. Each week, we’re going to try to break through the noise with TV watchers who can point us to the must-sees and steer us clear of the shows that maybe don’t live up to the hype. This week, Larry talks television with Inkoo Kang, TV critic for the New Yorker, and Dominic Patten, senior editor & chief tv critic for Deadline.
This week’s shows include:
- This Fool [Season 2] (Hulu)
- Good Omens [Season 2] (Amazon Prime Video)
- Dark Winds [Season 2] (AMC)
- Twisted Metal (Peacock)
- Harley Quinn [Season 4] (Max)
- The Righteous Gemstones [Season 3] (HBO & Max)
- Survival of the Thickest (Netflix)
- Secret Invasion (Disney+)
