Economic Chaos and Car Costs: How to Weigh Risks in Uncertain Times
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Should you buy a car now or wait?
Sean, how's your car doing these days?
I love my car. She is happy and healthy and ready to roll. How's yours?
It's all good for now, but for at least one of our listeners, it might be time to get into the car market. But they're wondering about the effect of tariffs on that decision.
Well, we've got thoughts and advice, so rev the engines. Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Piles.
And I'm Elizabeth Ayola. This episode, we're looking at whether tariffs and other factors mean it's a good time to buy a car or not. But first, our weekly money news roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money.
Elizabeth, I'm sure you'd agree that these are confusing times for our financial lives.
I would agree, Sean. And if I didn't work in the news business, I'd try to avoid the headlines as much as possible.
But we can't, and a lot of other people can't either. So how do we navigate all the uncertainty around us? It's not the first time we've asked that question on the show, but we're asking it again to get some perspective from NerdWallet economist and longtime friend of the show, Elizabeth Renter. Welcome back, Liz. Sean, Elizabeth, thanks so much for having me. I don't know about you, Liz, but I find it incredibly difficult these days to just tune out the daily machinations of the U.S. and global economies, and not just because I host a finance show. It seems like we're on this wild roller coaster, and a lot of us would really like for the ride to end so we don't have to pay attention anymore.
I'd love to get a gut check from you of whether this sense of chaos is justified, or, you know, we've been here before and we'll be here again, so just ride it out.
The sense of chaos is totally justified. So consider those feelings officially validated, Sean.
Thank you.
Not only have we not previously seen the scope and complexity of the current tariffs, for just one example, but the way new policies are being talked about implemented, rescinded, reintroduced, etc. All of that is very unique, too. So not only are the policies themselves unusual and exciting, not necessarily in a good way, but we don't know what's really going to happen when. And that all makes for some confusion and stress, whether you're just a casual news watcher or an economist or podcast host at NerdWallet. I personally feel like there are a few kinds of chaos going on right now. So on one hand, we have everything around tariffs. We've talked about that a few times on the show now. They're on, then they're off, then they're on again. And then the second element of chaos is the stock market. And some of that is tied to the tariffs. But again, we're having just these really wild swings.
And then, of course, we're watching for how all of this is affecting prices and inflation. And a few months ago, inflation was coming down. But now who knows what's going to happen? Liz, does all of this seem about right? Absolutely. The economic policies, whether it's the tariffs or things that impact government spending, such as doge cuts and the spending bill, these all have the potential to have significant impacts on the economy, both immediately and for months and potentially years to come. Merely talking about these things can move the markets, and we're seeing the stock market react pretty quickly and dramatically to those things. In the short term, these policies and merely talking about them can impact investments and how we spend and save. In the midterm, they can also impact prices and supply.
And down the road, on a broad scale, they could change global trade patterns, industry, domestic and abroad, labor markets, election outcomes, and so much more. And that's just at a high level. At a household level, it could change your home buying or vacation plans this year. the work you're doing in five years from now, or what your children decide to be when they grow up.
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