Booming

Costco is a beloved brand, famous for its bulk deals and $1.50 hot dogs. But can shopping there really save you money?  On this special episode of Booming brought to us by our friends at Control F: How much money are you really saving when you shop at Costco? The surprising ways that wholesale can—and can’t—save you money.   Sources in this episode: Consumer Price...

Washington is one of 17 states trying to break up with gasoline. It wants every new car sold here to be electric by 2035.  But so far, drivers have been slow to adopt electric vehicles. Nationally, only one in ten new cars sold each year is electric. That’s because EVs are expensive, and finding a place to charge them can be inconvenient.  So one Seattle inventor came up with a wor...

Big Tech is bankrolling massive clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to power the data centers of the future. These carbon-free energy gambles are being built here for a reason: Washington and Oregon have some of the most aggressive mandates to ditch fossil fuels on the books. But before those laws take effect, Big Tech is driving demand for fossil fuels in the region—and elsewhere...

Seattle’s city council just approved a one-year moratorium on data centers within city limits – making the city the biggest in the country to ban them.  The move comes after several big developers proposed data center projects that could use up to a third of the power that Seattle uses on an average day.   On today's episode, what do data center companies want to be in Seattl...

CEOs have been making some bold claims about how artificial intelligence will change work—that in the future, the work week will shrink to four days or fewer, or that a job will be as optional as growing vegetables at home instead of buying them from the grocery store.  Whether AI makes us work more or less, there’s no question it’s already changing the way millions of peopl...

Recent data show a record number of Americans are now sharing a home with people they’re not related to.  Most of these roommates are renting, because living alone has gotten really expensive.   But what if we made it easier for friends to own a place together instead? Could it be the game changer that allows them to live the American dream?  More and more peopl...

It’s a weird time to work in tech. Last year's tech layoffs in Washington state were the second highest in the country . That has some tech workers turning to fields they see as AI-proof.  We sat down with Brett Burden, a laid off tech worker who did what a lot of people are advising: went into the trades.  On today's episode, what’s it like to go from white collar to bl...

For the last year and a half, tariffs have been harder to predict than the weather in Seattle. And that’s created a volatile climate for businesses. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned some of President Trump's tariffs, there’s a storm front looming between companies and their customers over who gets to pocket tariff refunds.  A lot of people are wondering – where's my...

There’s a scene that shows up in just about every spaghetti Western movie: the showdown.   Two guys at opposite ends of a dusty street... their hands are hovering near their holsters... but neither one wants to draw first. Welcome to Seattle's housing market.  What does this standoff mean if you’re trying to buy or sell a home right now? And could it finally drive prices...

There’s a lot of debate in Seattle right now over whether it's still a good place to do business.  It's hard to tell whether recent high profile moves by companies are signs of a wider exodus, or if they’re outliers -- but there may be lessons from the past that provide clues to what the future will hold.  On today's episode, is big business souring on Seattle?...

Remember when bookstores were an endangered species? Well not anymore.  Thousands of independent bookstores across the country just celebrated Independent Bookstore Day.  Brick-and-mortar places like Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle didn't just survive the e-commerce revolution. They’re thriving ... by leaning into doing what online sellers can’t do.  On today's episo...

People everywhere followed along as Artemis astronauts made their historic mission around the moon.  But what made that possible was research -- and that kind of scientific discovery is in jeopardy after ongoing cuts to federal research funding.  For decades, the University of Washington has received more federal research money than almost any other public university.  &nb...

Warning: this episode mentions suicide. Artificial intelligence powered chatbots have become unavoidable. We use them to search, get advice, and even for companionship. But getting close to an AI comes with real and serious risks.  Washington state leaders want to do something about that. Two new state laws passed this year that require AI-modified content to be traceable, and limits the kind...

Planet Money has been making economic news fun since 2008. And now it's the start of a new chapter for the beloved podcast... a whole book’s worth of chapters in fact.   Their new book is called Planet Money: A guide to the economic forces that shape your life .   On today's episode, Monica and Joshua sat down with  Kenny Malone , host of Planet Money, and Alex Mayya...

The middle class economy is quintessentially American. It’s a whole range of businesses that cropped up to serve the growing middle class after World War II. Think coffee and apple pie at your neighborhood diner. Or back-to- school shopping at Sears.   But companies that cater to the middle class are cratering under the weight of the affordability crisis.   On today's epi...

It’s taken 10 years and almost $4 billion, but at long last, light rail will run across Lake Washington.   For people living near the new light rail, it’ll mean shorter commutes, and faster trips to the airport, sporting events, and public parks. But its impact will extend beyond those conveniences for riders. Some say it could lead to an economic renaissance in the region, c...

Washington state just passed a tax on incomes above one million dollars a year. The so-called “millionaires tax” has critics warning we’re about to see an exodus of Washington’s wealthiest residents. So we wanted to know whether “millionaire migration” is really a thing. Today, what states that already have millionaire taxes can tell us about what to expect here...

About nine thousand tech workers in the Seattle area have lost their jobs in the past year. That could be nine thousand people competing for a shrinking pool of tech jobs.  This year started off with the most layoffs we’ve seen in a January since the Great Recession, and the lowest hiring on record. Many companies are now citing artificial intelligence in their layoff announcements. On...

How do we decide who gets financial support from the government? Usually, it comes down to the federal poverty line.   You might think a lot of data and research goes into establishing that number. But in reality, it’s much squishier. So squishy in fact that it involves Jello... Today, a special episode brought to us by our friends at Control F : the surprising history of the...

For the first time ever, cities across Mexico, Canada, and the United States will be sharing the world’s most viewed sporting event... the FIFA men’s World Cup.  But sports economists will tell you, the cost of hosting these games isn't always worth the reward. On today's episode, will the World Cup be an economic win for the city? GUEST: Lynnette Buffington, chief of staff for th...

If you have sticker shock at the grocery store, you’re not alone. In Seattle, the cost of groceries is about 30% higher today than before the pandemic.  Those high prices are straining family budgets and causing many people to change how they shop. Today, creative hacks for putting food on the table now that your dollar doesn’t go as far as it us...

Twenty years ago, buying a house in Seattle felt like a stretch. Today, it feels like you need to win the lottery.  Homeownership is slipping out of reach for a lot of people, especially those with modest incomes.  But there’s a movement underway in Washington State -- one that could bring housing costs back within reach.  State legislators want to make it legal...

Data centers needed more space, so they literally moved there.  This week, Elon Musk announced he has merged his rocket company, Space X – with his AI company, xAI. The reason? He wants to build AI data centers in space.  But his company is not the only one that wants to take the cloud... off the planet. Various companies from Google to Blue Origin to smaller startups are look...

This week, Amazon announced it's laying off 16,000 employees.  It’s part two of a continued downsizing Amazon started in October, when it laid of 14,000 employees. Taken together, this is Amazon’s biggest reduction in force ever. This week's layoffs are also the latest in a series of tech downsizings over the past few years that have pushed Seattle’s unemployment rate well a...

The cost of child care is at an all-time high. The typical American family with young kids  now spends more on child care than housing . In most of the developed world, the government pays for child care so parents can work and contribute to the economy. But free, universal child care is nearly unheard of in the U.S.   At least it  was  until a few months ago. In...