A year later, is Trump’s investment in Intel… a win-win?

In the middle of a week dominated by tariffs, oil prices, and rising bond yields, Kai Rizdahl and his panel of reporters paused to note something strange: the economy is humming along on paper, with jobless claims at their lowest since the late 1960s, yet consumer sentiment is in the dumps. People are cranky, but they keep spending. The disconnect between how the economy measures and how it feels was the undercurrent of this Marketplace episode, which covered the Trump administration’s trade agenda, the outlook for the Federal Reserve, and a surprising corporate turnaround story involving Intel and the American taxpayer.

Tariffs as economic wallpaper — but with teeth

The episode opened with a discussion of the latest round of tariffs that went into effect at midnight, replacing the ones that expired. Stacy Vannock Smith of Bloomberg described the situation as “tariffs are dead, long live the tariffs,” noting that the constant churn has made trade policy feel like background noise. But she stressed that the real-world impact is mounting. The Tax Foundation estimated that tariffs cost households about $1,000 in 2025, and that figure is expected to rise this year. With gas prices high, inflation climbing, and wages failing to keep up, Vannock Smith warned that consumers and businesses may be approaching a breaking point.