Scott Galloway · 20:39
Spending and some of what I call this normalization of spending more money than we have, that is partially to blame. And you can lay some of that blame at the Biden administration and their inability to make hard decisions to get our spending in line. Having said that, that deficit... If you wanna talk about deficits, no one has increased the deficit like Donald Trump. I mean, let me get this. I understand. People will say, alright. I I think that COVID was the ultimate intergenerational theft of the ages. Let's put $7,000,000,000,000 into the economy, or maybe it was 5,000,000,000,000, depending on how you account for it, and somewhere between sixty sixty plus percent of it wasn't spent. So that just sent asset prices flying. And inflation in housing and stocks is great if you're an incumbent. It's terrible if you're an entrant or a young person. So it's been champagne and cocaine for me because I own stocks and real estate. It's been incredibly discouraging for young people who want their piece of the action, we but decided to artificially inflate the prices of all these assets. So the inflation here has had real social ramifications. But what we didn't do is say, okay, we had an emergency, we had to pay for it, We had to borrow money on the credit cards of our kids and our grandkids. Now shouldn't the people who have benefited from it, specifically corporations and the wealthy, shouldn't maybe we pay a little bit more taxes? No. Here's an idea. Let's cut our taxes to the lowest they've been, the corporate taxes, since 1939. Corporate taxes used to be three and a half percent of GDP, now they're 1%, and then we cut taxes on consumers. So now we have this just ridiculous deficit. So inflation is is a a function of exogenous shock and economic policies. Biden can share some of that blame, but most of it goes to Biden and things outside of our control, specifically the invasion of Ukraine and COVID interruptions in the supply chain.
Kara Swisher · 22:33
And you're right about deficit. That deficit is what's sitting there. It's like a big part of our GDP. One of the things that's, also happened is they've shifted not just from products, goods, you know, spending on goods, consumers, but also services because they weren't flying. They weren't going to concerts. They're... You know, so service prices have gone up, quite a lot, and they had fallen. And then the tight labor market is, I think, absolute... I was... I just interviewed the guy who started Chipotle who now has a vegan robot Yeah. It's really interesting. But he was talking about moving from 12 to... No. I think 50 employees to three in a store and, using these robotic methods and this this sort of hub and spoke method, and it's really interesting. And I I was talking to him about, like, jobs, and he's like, you can't hire people for this. They can't get them to do it in stores, cut things up and stuff. So it's not even... He can't even... He goes losing jobs. You can't get people to do it. And and then so now he can pay the people at the hub much more money over $27 an hour and give them benefits if he has fewer people in the stores. So, you know, there's a whole shift going on, but labor is certainly part of it. But the deficit, lack of the... Our tax, we won't tax rich people, things like that.
Scott Galloway · 23:46
Just to dwell on the deficit for just one second, to to bring it down because people don't understand it, and they... It's just some illusory thing that doesn't seem to impact them. Imagine you had a household that had the best credit in the world. Credit card offers every day. You can sign up for a new credit card almost every day. And your income in that household is 50,000, but every year you spend 70. That is America. We've taken 5,000,000,000,000 in revenues and we spend 7,000,000,000,000. Now at some point at some point, you're gonna stop getting those credit card offers, and they're gonna say, we're not gonna lend you any more money. Or if we're gonna lend it to you, we're gonna jack up the interest rates because you are becoming a high risk borrower. That's where we're headed. We need to get our house in order. Do we need to raise taxes or cut spending? The answer is yes. At some point, America is gonna vote an adult into office.
Kara Swisher · 24:36
Yeah. And we'll have to do it. It's already gonna be hard and not very popular. But with the consequences, probably would have been dire if we hadn't spent some of that money, but they always overspend. And the tax breaks, I'm sorry. We didn't need to do those. We just didn't need to do those. I know Trump touts them, but, just trickle down economics is really nonsense. Anyway, Laura, great question. Scott, one more quick break. When we come back, one more question.
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— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 27:07
Okay, Scott. This is our last listener question. I think you'll have a lot to say on this topic.
Guest · 27:12
Hey, Karen, Scott. It's Jorm from Minnesota. Longtime listener and reader. Yeah. Sure. You betcha. Felt the negativity out there. I'm calling to ask you to put on your positivity prognosticator hats
Scott Galloway · 27:24
for
Guest · 27:24
the day. Has you most excited, happy, or curious about the rest of the year? There's some possible upside surprises on the horizon for tech, politics, or business. Putting a smile on your face. What's circled on your calendar to look forward to? Anyhoo, Kara, I finished your book last month. And, Scott, I'm listening to your book so my boys who are 12 and 14 could hear your insights on the way to and from school. Congrats on all your success.
Kara Swisher · 27:47
Oh my god. These Midwesterners love us. Why? Jesus. Why? We're really terrible people, Midwest.
Scott Galloway · 27:53
So salt of the earth.
Kara Swisher · 27:54
Salt of the earth. What is... We are terrible people, people of the Midwest. But nonetheless, thank you.
Scott Galloway · 28:00
I answer the door without pants on.
Kara Swisher · 28:02
I am a grumpy lesbian from the East Coast and West Coast and from the elite parts of the coast. Listen. I'll start with this. I am looking forward to Scott's birthday in September. Am. I'm so excited to wear a kilt.
Scott Galloway · 28:15
That's nice. That makes me feel good.
Guest · 28:16
I'm gonna
Kara Swisher · 28:17
wear a kilt. I'm so excited. I'm not gonna wear any pants with it.
Scott Galloway · 28:20
We... By the way, folks, we we rented a castle in Scotland for my for my fiftieth.
Kara Swisher · 28:24
Yeah. Yes. We did. And we're we're creating economic opportunities for the Scots. I'm excited about economic opportunities. I feel really good about things I'm making. I feel like us having bestselling books are, like, great. We're, like, creating money. We're creating businesses. We're creating stuff. I feel good about I feel good about the stuff we make in an economic way. Like, really, we're doing great stuff, and we're making money from it. So I feel good about that because I can then fly in a nice seat to Scott's birthday party in Scotland. I I feel excited about my next book, which is about about sort of where tech in a good way, like all this climate change tech, health care tech. There's some... When you start to meet some of these new younger entrepreneurs, you feel so much better. Honestly, you do. You know, leaving behind the whining Elons of the world, I think I'm feeling like that's happening. It's time for a new group of people. The same thing with politicians. I... Even though there's... Oh god. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the whole gang of them and Trump and the choices we have, I've also met some amazing politicians, especially governors across the country, both parties, but really some really astound... Josh Shapiro, I'm thinking of, or Maura Healy or Gretchen Whitmer. And, you know, I'll I'll just put a shout out to Mike Gallagher who's leaving congress, but really interesting. Someone I think is gonna be back on the scene. So I'm excited for that. I... My kids are doing great, and I... They have all kinds of cool things they're working on. Claire is going to public school in the fall. I'm very excited for that. She just got into the school that we want her to go to, the public school. What about you, Scott?
Scott Galloway · 30:05
Yeah. There's a lot. I was thinking, this is how old I'm getting. I I merely go back to last Saturday when in one day we passed legislation that is pushing back on a murderous autocrat trying to evade Europe. We're supporting our allies against the terrorist group. And we're banning the CCP's. We're unplugging the neural jack from the wet matter of our youth. I think America, after exhausting every other option, gets it right. I think generally speaking, we're going to see a massive increase in health care opportunities, both through AI and also think GLP-one drugs are going to reduce death, disease, and disability in this country. I think that obesity is the pandemic that kills more people than COVID every year. And I think we're finally having an honest conversation around that. I'm excited. I think more people are starting to wake up to how young men are struggling and that to have empathy for them isn't a zero sum game. I think that dialogue is getting more and more productive. Personally, I'm rounding third, Kara. I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm economically secure. I have people who love me immensely and let me love them immensely. I have to... I get to see two boys turn into men in front of my eyes. I get to spend time with dogs. I have a partner that I I love spending time with and love fucking. But just
Kara Swisher · 31:23
Thank you for that.
Scott Galloway · 31:24
I am going to squeeze so much juice out of this lemon called life. I have a ton to look forward to. And if it's just a weekday, I'm doing really well, and I'm trying to take stock of my blessings.
Kara Swisher · 31:37
Yes. It's true. It's true. We've had a good year, Scott Galloway. We have.
Scott Galloway · 31:41
That's right. And I have a great business partner in you, and Vox has been nice to us. I get to to talk about things I'm interested in and make money. I mean, Jesus Christ.
Kara Swisher · 31:50
Yeah. Who, like Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 31:51
Talk about hitting the lottery. Both of us have hit the lottery.
Kara Swisher · 31:54
Yeah. We have. But we've worked hard too. That's the other thing. I feel good about making things. I think that's the biggest part is it feels really good when you make something and it works out. And the other day, someone's like, are you surprised about how well you both are doing? I'm like, no. We work really hard. We make good stuff. Why wouldn't we be? Really?
Scott Galloway · 32:11
I'm a little surprised.
Kara Swisher · 32:12
I'm not. I'm not. Not. Little surprised. Thing is, I really
Scott Galloway · 32:14
do like I'm a little surprised.
Kara Swisher · 32:15
Hearing from our listeners like this who especially on the book tour, think you're probably hearing from listeners on your book tour as you start to meet people. Like, we really are helping people in a nice way. I feel like what we're making is a positive contribution to society. That's what I feel the best about.
Scott Galloway · 32:29
Well, that's a little nice.
Kara Swisher · 32:30
It is so. People are... We make people happy. We are in the happy business.
Scott Galloway · 32:34
Okay. I'll I'll go I'll
Kara Swisher · 32:36
go with that. We are. People are amused
Scott Galloway · 32:38
by us.
Kara Swisher · 32:38
So it's fine. We're very amusing.
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Scott Galloway · 32:42
Is that true? Remember that in Goodfellas?
Kara Swisher · 32:44
I think people find us amusing, and I think it's gonna end in tragedy, probably or some really horrible fight.
Scott Galloway · 32:50
No. Scandal. Not tragedy. It won't be tragic. It could be scandal.
Kara Swisher · 32:53
Combinations. Let's try to end it badly. So, in any case, thank you, again, all our Midwestern listeners. We love you all. We love you all. We never would live there because we would be thrown out, but but we appreciate you. Those were great questions. Send us more. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show, or call 85551 Okay, Scott. That's the show. We'll be back on Friday with more with a show we're taping in front of a live audience in Hamburg, Germany. Yeah.
— Predictions segment ends —
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Kara Swisher · 33:27
Oh my god. You tell this joke every time we go to Germany. It
Scott Galloway · 33:30
never gets old.
Kara Swisher · 33:31
You need a good new German joke. You need a Mercedes Benz joke. You need some other German joke that doesn't reference Nazis. Can you do that? Can you find one?
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Kara Swisher · 33:44
Okay. That's better. Okay. In any case, read us out.
Scott Galloway · 33:48
Today's show was produced by Lara Nayman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Nertaut engineered this episode. Thanks also to Jubaro's Emil Severio. Nishat Kurua is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com/pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. Despite what you see in the media or get notified 210 times a day, America gets more like America every day, and that's a good thing. It's a wonderful future facing our children.
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