The job market shrugs off the Fed

Make Me Smart March 2, 2023 Transcript

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Kai Ryssdal 

Oh man. Have we started?

Kimberly Adams 

Yes we started. Hello, I’m Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to make me smart where we make today make sense.

Kai Ryssdal 

Hey, everybody. I’m Kai Ryssdal. Thanks for joining us on this Thursday. Thursday. Yes! We are both in the same place, a rarity in this podcast. I’m in Washington DC. We’re in a very tiny, and stuffy little sound booth here in the bureau on what are we on Connecticut Avenue? Yeah. Anyway. So today’s Thursday, we’re gonna do a little news fix, a little make me smile, and then get on about things. You wanna go first?

Kimberly Adams 

Well, are you going to tell everybody why you’re here?

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, I wellm hopefully they will have heard the radio show. But now I had a sit down with Janet Yellen this morning at the Treasury Building. So got in last night. Did the Secretary this morning and show this afternoon? So here we go. Yeah. Always, always good to get to the Treasury building.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. It’s beautiful and lovely DC architecture. Of course.

Kai Ryssdal 

Also, by the way, it’s like springtime in DC. Blooms and blossoms everywhere. It’s crazy.

Kimberly Adams 

Well, they just actually announced peak bloom for cherry blossom season yesterday. And it’s going to be earlier again this year than it was previous year. Thank you climate change. But I think what did they say? The 22nd to the 25th. Yes. So yeah, which does not bode well for my annual cherry blossom party. But hopefully there will still be a few blooms hanging on by the time that happens.

Kai Ryssdal 

Also, if you’re a native DCer that’s of course you’re wanting to stay away from the Tidal Basin from the 22nd to the 25th

Kimberly Adams 

Yes for sure. I took my bicycle down there last year, like right at peak bloom and I was like never again. Never again. Alright, real news. Okay. So staying in Washington. Big bit of news today out of the Department of Justice, which basically said that, yeah, President Trump can be held liable for calling people to violence on January the sixth. Now, this is not a criminal charge. This is not an official doing much of anything. A court asked the Department of Justice, whether or not Trump could be held liable for something like that, or if it was covered by presidential immunity, because there are several people who were injured or harmed during the attacks on January 6, that are trying to do civil lawsuits involving the president. And so the question of whether or not presidential immunity covers him is going to be important for these lawsuits as they move forward. The court asked the Department of Justice for an opinion. Department of Justice took a very long time to give set opinion but today has said no, this doesn’t cover it and actually compared the January 6 situation to previous incidents involving the Klu Klux Klan.

Kai Ryssdal 

No way. Wow

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, where they were saying that it doesn’t, you’re not covered with immunity if you’re inciting people to violence. And so there’s a lot more details to it. We’re gonna include a couple of links. But it’s it’s a very interesting development. And, as in so many other parts of the American justice system, often, even if you can’t get somebody on the criminal side of things, you can still get them on the civil side of things. And so attack people in their pocketbooks when you don’t necessarily get a criminal…It’s so weird when you’re sitting here.

Kai Ryssdal 

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to look at you. I know. I know. I felt weird not looking at you. Let me ask you a very quick follow up question. So the Department of Justice issued an opinion that says “yes, the President can be sued in these matters,” but a court is going to decide.

Kimberly Adams 

Court is going to decide that is that is absolutely accurate. Although the Department of Justice could still pursue criminal charges.

Kai Ryssdal 

Gotcha. All right.

Kimberly Adams 

That’s a that’s a totally different thing. Okay, so that was number one. Number two on my list is more news on Chat-GPT, which, as we’ve said on here before, this is going to keep coming up over and over again. Well, this time Chat-GPT has released its API. And we talked about API’s a while back on here, when Twitter, Twitter said it was going to charge for basically other developers to have access to the software, or the programming or whatever you want to call it, so that they can sort of fold it into their own technology. Chat-GPT already had some developers using versions of it in their apps and in various programs. But there wasn’t necessarily as formal of a way for any old developer to sort of patch in and use the software. So now there is this API that pretty much all developers will be able to access under certain circumstances in order to deploy it in various apps. And that is going to be really significant. That means that pretty much any app you have on your phone, if they so choose, they could use the API from Chat-GPT to upgrade it. And already, there’s one app, a mail app that uses AI tools and plans to use Chat-GPT in helping people write emails, or respond to emails. And Apple reportedly has blocked the update to this app that would have deployed that because they said that the that there’s not evidence that there is enough content filtering. And so if they want that update, they have to put like a 17+ plus rating on it. And so this is just going to continue to get more and more complicated as people and businesses sort through how this technology is gonna play a role in our life. It’s so fascinating.

Kai Ryssdal 

And mildly terrifying. I will say that. Right I mean, yeah,

Kimberly Adams 

It’s a little it’s a little worrying

Kai Ryssdal 

It’s a little bit yeah. Well, you got one more or is that it?

Kimberly Adams 

No that was just two articles on the same thing.

Kai Ryssdal 

Okay. So super quick. Ones dorky and one is Elon Musk is a jerk. So I’ll do the dorky one first. I need to point out that the American labor market is looking at the Federal Reserve and going “Hey, fed (fart noise). We don’t care what you think.” And I say that because today we got a statistic that usually like in normal times, and in the before times, we didn’t pay almost any attention to it, which it’s this indicator called “first time claims for unemployment benefits.” It’s notoriously volatile, because it’s a weekly measurement of a labor market that’s 165 million people in a $20 trillion economy. And you can’t really track things weekly in a meaningful way in something that big. Except for the fact that we now have seven weeks in a row where first time claims for unemployment benefits have been under 200,000, which is remarkably low. They fell again last week for the third week in a row to a and look, this is 190,000 people losing their jobs, so let’s not lose sight of that. But it was a a an amazingly low 190,000 people. Finally, first time claims for unemployment benefits. Right? So that’s a big, big deal. And as I said to Secretary Yellen today, how do you have a recession, when we’re adding 500,000 jobs a month, and we’re getting 190,00 first time claims for unemployment benefits. She responded and said, “I’m still hopeful about the American economy.” And anyway. Whatever, she said more smartly. You know what I mean. And she also said it, because that’s her job. But I don’t understand how we’re going to have a recession when that’s happenning. So that’s item one.

Kimberly Adams 

And just to sort of add a little bit more context to that. Usually, in the before times, as Kai was saying, when interest rates go up, jobless claims go up. Like those things go together, and that is, you know, air, quote, loosening the labor market, but we’re not seeing that, for whatever reason. And, you know, last week when I was reporting on this number, which, again, like you said, we usually don’t, but it’s become interesting. One of the things that one of the folks I talked to said is that a lot of the people who are getting laid off are getting severance, because especially if you talk about in the tech sector. And so they might not file for unemployment right away when they have severance that they’re spending down, or if they don’t think that they’re going to be eligible because unemployment insurance isn’t always a ton of money. And so if you have savings or you just don’t think it’s worth the time and the paperwork. Maybe you’re not going to file for unemployment right away and additionally, apparently there’s like a lot of people don’t even know that you can and that it’s available.

Kai Ryssdal 

Really?

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, apparently it’s one of the most underutilized like sort of public safety net things. Anyway, it’s a big long thing. So yeah, all those things factor in

Kai Ryssdal 

Okay, so here’s my Elon Musk has a jerk item which follows on several Elon Musk is a drug items having to do with Twitter and various and sundry things the richest man in the world is on. He is by the way, again, the richest man in the world with the rebound in Tesla stock shares, but that’s all a different. Bloomberg has an amazing graphics package today. Of which the title is “Elon Musk is so busy his private jet is taking 13 minute flights.” “Musk’s plane,” Bloomberg says, “has flown the most among some of the richest us billionaires with a frequency ramping up after he added Twitter to his portfolio of companies.” Now, here’s why this is interesting. This is a guy, other than, you know, weird fascination with all things Musk. Here’s a guy who basically invented the electric car market in this country and is doing all he can legit to decarbonize this economy, right? I mean, he’s gonna take us to another planet, SpaceX, and he invented the electric car market. And now he’s taking 13 minute flights, spewing out a gig, bajillion tons of of CO2 in the process, flying all over the world. And as he says, at the very top of this piece, which you will read. He says, “I have too much on my plate, that’s for sure.” I will also say parenthetically. So he did a product announcement thing at Tesla last night about their new Mexico plant. Sorry about their new, small “n”, Mexico plant. They’re building a plant in Mexico. And he was ragged. I mean, he’s never the most coherent public speaker at all. He was absolutely ragged, ragged, and I have to believe finally, that all this stuff is getting to him. It’s It’s wild. Wild Wild Wild. Anyway, check out this graphics package. It’s fun. Yes. Go ahead.

Kimberly Adams 

That word you just said I think should actually be a word. A mix of ragged and haggard. Yeah, that, like that feels like that should really be a word. But anyway.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, let’s go.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. Yours is so interesting.

Kai Ryssdal 

I love mine. I imagine he was doing that after the hearing.

Kimberly Adams 

Go for it.

Kai Ryssdal 

I love mine. So Merrick Garland was on Capitol Hill yesterday getting yelled at by senators, most particularly Ted Cruz. And if you haven’t seen that footage, you should. Wall Street Journal has a story today. Merrick Garland is a huge Taylor Swift fan. “Channeling Taylor Swift. I know that all too well,” Mr. Garland said, name dropping the title of one of her songs. “I’m pretty familiar with Taylor Swift.” Turns out Merrick Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, formerly a very distinguished federal judge, is a Swifty and I just kind of love that. I just kind of love that. His favorite song by the way, Shake It Off. Yes. Anyway, there you go.

Kimberly Adams 

All right. That’s fun. That’s definitely a make me smile. Mine is you know, since you were talking about Musk earlier, let’s return to space. There’s such an interesting story in the AP about… with the headline, “what time is it on the moon? Europe pushing for a lunar timezone?”

Kai Ryssdal 

Really?

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. And so because there are more lunar missions happening, obviously than ever before, the European Space Agency is pushing to give the moon its own timezone and space organizations all over trying to figure out how you keep time on the moon. And there are a couple of problems, you know, that make it a little bit more difficult. So here’s what the AP says: “clocks run faster on the moon than on Earth, gaining about 56 microseconds every day. Further complicating matters, ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface than in lunar orbit. Perhaps most importantly, lunar time will have to be practical for the astronauts there.” Let’s see. “Each day lasts as long as 29.5 Earth days, but having an established working time system for the moon will allow them to go on and do the same for other planetary destination.”

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s very cool. What an interesting problem, actually. Right? How do you do this?

Kimberly Adams 

How do you do that? Because you basically have to decide, you know, what, is a day still a day ias in a full rotation when it takes almost a month.

Kai Ryssdal 

But I can’t be.

Kimberly Adams 

And your clocks have to be remade, because matter moves differently in different gravity and all this other stuff.

Kai Ryssdal 

And, you know, eventually all nationalities will have a presence on the moon. They won’t necessarily get there by themselves, right? They’ll ride rockets that are commercial, or by some of the big space powers, but eventually you’re gonna have I don’t know, you know, Andalusians or something on the moon, and they’re gonna want to know what time it is in their own time zone. That’s really interesting. Also, for me, I mean, I’m big fan of the movie, The Martian and the book, obviously, by Andy Weir right? They call them sols out there, and I wonder what we’re gonna call them on the moon.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, that’s, and that’s often something that they pick a lot in a lot of sci-fi novels. They call them sols. Yeah, because, you know, the reference to the sun and all that stuff. But yeah, super cool.

Kai Ryssdal 

I should watch that on a plane home actually. That’s what I should do.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. Okay. My other one is a very, very cute story. It’s about squirrels and no, not eating squirrels this time. This is a lovely Washington Post story about a woman who rescues baby squirrels. Apparently, in certain parts of the country, you can volunteer to be like a wildlife rehabilitator. And you get to special training and you work with like your local wildlife service and a vet, and they let you keep baby animals or injured animals in your home while they rehabilitate them. And so she basically has become the squirrel lady and rehabilitates all of these injured squirrels in her house, especially baby squirrels. And look at the article, basically for all of the cute baby squirrel photos. It’s adorable. She’s in Moss Point, Mississippi and apparently has become known in the community as the squirrel lady and has saved many, many squirrels. It’s pretty darn cute.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah. Yeah. We will have that link obviously on the show page. Yes. And with that, we’re done on a Washington DC Wednesday. Nop it’s Thursday. Back tomorrow for economics on tap. 6:30 Eastern. I’ll be back in the Western timezone. 3:30 Pacific. There’s going to be drinks, news. I will probably not be drinking tomorrow afternoon because I will have gotten up at four o’clock in the morning New York or Washington time to get on my plane. So a beer would pretty much put me asleep. Anyway, we’ll do that. I’ll have probably a glass of water, fizzy juice or something. We’ll do some news. And we’ll play around a half full half empty with Drew.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, I’m probably gonna have a mocktail. And in the meantime, keep sending us your thoughts, comments, questions. We will take them all at 508-U-B-SMART, where you can leave us a voicemail. You can also email us words or a voice memo at makemesmart@marketplace.org Please write it yourself. Don’t ask Chat-GPT to do it.

Kai Ryssdal 

I noticed you rolled right back into mocktail without even blinking.

Kimberly Adams 

It’s just I don’t know. I’m kind of over it at this point.

Kai Ryssdal 

Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Today’s episode was engineered by Charlton Thorp. Our intern is Antonio Barreras.

Kimberly Adams 

Ellen Rolfes writes our newsletter. Marissa Cabrera is our acting senior producer. Bridget Bodnar is the director of podcasts and Francesca Levy is the Executive Director of Digital. I mean, you can kind of like, go on on about a thing only so long.

Kai Ryssdal 

And then you gotta put it away. You gotta just… we’re done with this.

Kimberly Adams 

It’s like how I don’t bother you about Neverending Story anymore.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s…and I appreciate that.