Jul 13, 2021

Child tax credit payments are coming. How will Americans use them?

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Also, we look into the benefits of clean energy, use lake imagery to explain quantitative easing and get to the "point" about the markets.

Segments From this episode

Inflation can start from perceptions — that's why the Fed surveys consumers

by Kristin Schwab

Jul 13, 2021

If people think prices will rise, they will modify their behavior. That could, in turn, lead to price hikes.

A New York Fed survey shows consumer expectations of inflation over the next year have reached a new high.

Scott Olson via Getty Images

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The child tax credit is a first shot at stability for some families

by Caroline Champlin

Jul 13, 2021

The monthly payments can lead to small changes that have long-term effects, experts say.

The upcoming child tax credit payments could give some families a chance to invest in their kids' futures.

Getty Images

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Kai Explains

To understand the Fed’s bond-buying dilemma, picture a lake

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst

Jul 13, 2021

A Columbia Business School professor explains quantitative easing and the Feds' $120 billion per month bond-buying program with an analogy.

If water on a lake is too low, boats can't go from one side to the other smoothly. "The Fed is basically adding some water in that lake to keep the liquidity — or to keep the water — from completely drying out,” says Yiming Ma of Columbia Business School.

Ethan Miller via Getty Images

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Benefits of clean energy far outweigh costs, report shows

by Andy Uhler

Jul 13, 2021

Clean Energy Futures found that a U.S. transition to 80% clean electricity by 2030 would produce a net benefit over $1 trillion.

The transition to clean energy would be a net positive economically but easier said than done.

Peter Macdiarmid via Getty Images

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I've Always Wondered ...

What's a point on the Dow, S&P or Nasdaq?

by Mitchell Hartman

Jul 13, 2021

Our listener asks what constitutes a "point" on the major stock market indexes.

The American obsession with stock index numbers developed during the economic boom years of the 1950s and '60s, according to historian Tom Stapleford.

Drew Angerer via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Lush Four Tet

Circles Post Malone

Battlefields Misun

Flight to the Jungle (Take Off) Monster Rally

Sticky July Butcher Brown

Black Sail Chastity Belt

Origins Tennis

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Richard Cunningham Associate Producer I

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