Apple News Today
People are noticing “recession signs” everywhere. What does the data say?
08 May 2025
Fed Chair Jerome Powell held interest rates steady on Wednesday, and said the economic path ahead is unclear. The Washington Post reports on how economists are trying to sort through the warning signs they’re seeing. The Wall Street Journal’s Drew Hinshaw joins to discuss a complicated problem the next pope will inherit: how to handle the Vatican’s messy finances. Yesterday Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water. The Utah News Dispatch has more, while the Tallahassee Democrat details a similar ban set to take effect in Florida. Vox breaks down the science about fluoride’s benefits and risks. Plus, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new autism database, why the Trump administration is spying on Greenland, a unique use of AI in the courtroom, and some cardinals are in fact watching the movie ‘Conclave.’ Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Thursday, May 8th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, the Vatican's messy financial picture, why more states are considering taking fluoride out of the public drinking water, and an AI-generated video allows a dead man to confront his killer. But first, in the past few weeks, there's been a lot of talk of recession indicators.
Some of it's been in the form of snarky memes online in response to the seesaw tariff policy from the Trump administration. Some of it is trying to translate the general sense of economic anxiety and figure out whether it's a temporary blip or here to stay. Economists are trying to sort out what's anecdotal, vibes-based, if you will, from what's showing up in the data.
Take McDonald's, which recently saw a drop in spending in U.S. stores, as acknowledged by their chief financial officer on a recent earnings call.
People are choosing either to skip breakfast or they're choosing to eat at home for breakfast. And I think that's more to explain what's going on in the U.S. versus any kind of
And The Washington Post reports that a number of major airlines have withdrawn their financial forecasts for the year, uncertain about how things are going to shape up. Companies like Procter & Gamble, responsible for so many of our household brands, are raising some prices. Mattel, the makers of Barbie, have also said their prices will go up due to the administration's tariffs on China.
And for smaller businesses, the effects of the tariffs will be harder to mitigate. CNN spoke to Stephen Borelli, the CEO of a California-based clothing store, Cuts, about his concerns.
When the 145% tariff hit, it caused a lot of stress on our business where we had to raise prices and it caused demand to go down a little bit. And I just want to reiterate, I am a Trump supporter and I believe he's going to figure out how to help us out. But I just want to say that, you know, cuts represents the small businesses and the American dream. And the 145% tariff really threatens that.
Meanwhile, if you zoom out and look at the larger economic picture, many of the key economic markers have largely remained steady. Yesterday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell kept interest rates unchanged, but said the path ahead was not clear.
My gut tells me that uncertainty about the path of the economy is extremely elevated and that the downside risks have increased. The risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen. But they haven't materialized yet. They're really not in the data yet.
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