Financial Stress and Antitrust Laws

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Exploring economic indicators like credit card delinquencies and dollar store sales, as well as a Biden administration plan on antitrust laws, impact consumers' financial well-being. The history of grocery retail, spotlighting the dominance of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in the 1930s and the subsequent Robinson-Patman Act, is also discussed.

What's going on with consumers? This is one of the trickiest puzzles of this weird economic moment we're in. We've covered a version of this before under the term "vibecession," but it's safe to say, the struggle is in fact real. It is not just in our heads. Sure, sure, some data is looking great. But not all of it.

What's interesting, is exactly why the bad feels so much worse than the good feels good. Today on the show, we look into a few theories on why feelings are just not matching up with data. We'll break down some numbers and how to think about them. Then we look at grocery prices in particular, and an effort to combat unfair pricing using a mostly forgotten 1930's law. Will it actually help?

Today's episode is adapted from episodes for Planet Money's daily show, The Indicator. Subscribe here.

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