00:00When you look at the state of the economy prior to the shutdown, how fragile, if at all, did you see it to be?
00:06Well, there's two things I would say.
00:09First, you know, the shutdown, at least the chosen issue, involved health insurance,
00:14involved the enhanced benefits which are turning into a, you know, which are going away on the Affordable Care Act.
00:22And Democrats caved on that.
00:24So 22 million Americans who have subsidized Obamacare insurance are about to see or are in the process of seeing gigantic increases in their health insurance premiums,
00:36an average of 114 percent, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.
00:40And that is happening.
00:41That's happening despite the fact that the shutdown is over.
00:45So that's a pretty big factor.
00:47That's a pretty big hit, certainly, to the finances of a lot of families and probably some knock-on effects on the economy as a whole.
00:54The other thing you see is that people are really, really down on the economy.
00:59I mean, we were – we talked about a vibe session under Biden.
01:04But the vibe session now – I mean, the economy ain't as great as Trump claims.
01:09Grocery prices are not, in fact, way down.
01:12But people are really, really negative.
01:15We have the – basically, we have the worst consumer sentiment about current economic conditions, basically ever.
01:22Worse than – not just worse than, you know, 2000 – then 2022 when we had 9 percent inflation, but worse than the aftermath of the financial crisis, worse than the stagflation of 1980.
01:34People are really, really down on this economy.
01:37And I have to say I don't think that the way this drama has been playing out is going to change that.
01:42If anything, we're likely to see – you know, I was just hearing the tail end of what you're saying.
01:48Ordinary people, people who are not in on the stock market, are hurting and feeling extremely stressed.
01:57Ordinary people, people who are not in on the stock market, are hurting and feeling extremely stressed.
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