Booming

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...

According to a Harvard economist, spending on data centers and artificial intelligence accounted for 92% of U.S. economic growth in the first half of last year.    That's fueled speculation that we’re in an AI bubble, because spending on that level doesn’t feel sustainable. If the bubble pops and the spending stops, the shockwave could hit all of us. Past economic collap...

Austin, Texas is not a cheap place. But for the last few years, it’s been a real outlier. While many cities saw rent go up, Austin’s average rent actually  fell . A  lot .  On today's episode, what is Austin doing right? And what could Seattle learn from it?  GUEST: Audrey McGlinchy , Housing reporter at KUT Austin Thank you to the supporters of...

Happy New Year! The Booming team is taking a week to rest and recharge before the new year begins...we’ve got lots of new episodes up our sleeve that we’re excited to share with you.   In the meantime, we wanted to revisit some of our favorite episodes. This one is about the rising costs of Seattle sports tickets, and how you can enjoy games on a budget. This episode first ai...

The Booming team is hard at work on some new episodes coming out next year. In the meantime, we wanted to revisit some of our favorite stories this holiday season. We think this one will be particularly useful for those of you still doing some last-minute holiday shopping. It explores the ways AI is being used by some of your favorite retailers to get better at selling you stuff. This story first...

We all know the cost of living is really high in Seattle. Whether it's housing or groceries, this town is a tough place to make ends meet.  But just how expensive is Seattle compared to other cities? On today's episode, Monica talked to a researcher who sends armies of shoppers to find out. And we get his tips for making your dollar stretch as far as possible in this very expensive city. GUES...

The Pacific Northwest has been booming for decades, and home builders have struggled to keep up.   That’s led to a housing shortage, homelessness crisis, and transportation headaches. But we may see an even bigger population boom here as climate change makes more places unlivable.   Climate migration is difficult to study, and even harder to predict. But some researchers...

You may have heard that the economy is maybe... definitely... probably... in an “AI bubble.”  Companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build the AI infrastructure of the future. The hope is all that spending will pay off with super-advanced AI that will more than cover the cost of building it. But that payoff isn’t coming — at least not yet. Companies...