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America’s economy is booming, so why are Americans still broke? · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

0:09
You're listening to The Hidden Lightness on America Out Loud Talk Radio.
0:12
I'm your host, Jimmy Hinton.
0:14
Well, there's more good news when it comes to the economy.
0:17
And top economists are saying that the economy is actually booming.
0:23
And it is set for a really big boom.
0:26
It's going to continue to grow.
0:28
And this, of course, is good news.
0:31
Kevin Hassett forecast a 4% growth in our economy in the short term.
0:41
He's also talking about data that reflects long-term investment in manufacturing equipment.
0:48
And there is not a weaker demand.
0:51
This is actually driving it up.
0:52
So he's forecasting a 4% growth and says that the artificial intelligence boom and the tax incentives are driving U.S.
1:03
investment surges.
1:05
This is really, really good news, especially given the fact that we have a lot of debt.
1:13
And I talk about this often because it's so important.
1:34
And the article is, are your kids stressed about family finances?
1:39
Psychologists offer answers for addressing anxiety over tight budgets.
1:44
And this was in 2023, actually three years ago now.
1:50
And I think things have gotten a lot harder for a lot of people.
1:55
That's because of inflation.
1:56
We know that inflation has kept creeping up higher and higher.
2:01
Wages haven't kept up.
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And people are spending money like they've never spent it before.
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It's really, really out of control.
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And people have got to get a grip on this.
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So that's why I talk about this often, because it is a major, major stress.
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In fact, it's the leading reason, according to some research, the number one reason why people divorce.
2:30
It's over money issues, the stress of money.
2:34
It brings a lot of stress into your family.
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Any of us who have been there, I've been there before, and I vowed, my wife and I both, we vowed that we would get out of debt as quickly as possible and begin building wealth.
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We have zero debt whatsoever.
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And we're in our mid-40s and have no debt at all.
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And so we're very aggressively building wealth.
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And this is kind of the Ramsey way, but uh I know that he kind of lays claim to that, but he's not the only one by long shot who believes in paying off debt and using your money.
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In fact, Kevin O'Leary, he's been talking about this for decades, and many, many others.
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And of course, there are different schools of thought.
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There's some who say that debt is fine as long as you're using it to build wealth.
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Uh, but again, I'm I'm not smart enough to do that.
3:40
And uh, and I just don't like taking the risk.
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Quite honestly, some people don't mind the risk.
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I don't want to take that risk.
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I have no desire.
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Zero none nada.
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So it is a major, major cause of stress in marriages.
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It's a major cause of stress in families.
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It's a major cause of stress, even for kids because they feel the weight of that.
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And the kids, they know whenever you're struggling in debt, they can feel it.
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And this article is really excellent.
4:16
I want to read a little bit of this.
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Um, whether from a recent job loss, the added cost of inflation, or longer-term challenges, families dealing with financial strain might find themselves faced with several worries.
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What's the best way to discuss financial limits as a family without stressing out children?
4:35
How can parents support children's well-being while taking care of their own?
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Financial problems are one of the most stressful things that can happen to a family, and they're also very common, said Catherine Grant, PhD, a professor of psychology at DePaul University, who studies ways to protect children from the negative effects of stress.
5:00
Children are more likely to face mental health problems if they grow up in a family that is low income or has significant debt.
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Factors with long-term consequences, psychologists say.
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Kids report feeling stressed and anxiety, guilt for not being able to help, embarrassed about being unable to afford what their peers can, and on and on it goes.
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The number two thing that I talk about is faith.
5:54
Now you would think that that would be reversed, but my experience has been that people can work through faith issues easier than they can work through money issues.
6:05
If they disagree on faith, they can work through those issues.
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Now it's not easy, it's a lot of work, but when they disagree on money, that affects everything about their day-to-day lives.
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It creates negative feelings towards each other, it creates a sense of division.
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And so forth.
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In fact, it's essential that people agree, or at least somewhat agree, preferably they would completely agree on how to manage your money, but a lot of people don't.
6:48
And I've seen this time and time again, where people point the finger and they say, well, my spouse is the spender, and I I tried to budget and they just spend all the money.
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Well, that's a problem.
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Well, that's a problem.
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And I do agree with Ramsey on this.
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And I do agree with Ramsey on this.
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I agree with him when he says that your money is not your money, it's our money.
7:06
I agree with him when he says that your money is not your money, it's our money.
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When you're married, there is no my money and your money.
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When you're married, there is no my money and your money.
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It's all combined.
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It's all combined.
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It's both of your money.
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It's both of your money.
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And it doesn't matter if one person works and the other person stays home.
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And it doesn't matter if one person works and the other person stays home.
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It doesn't matter if you both work and one person.
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It doesn't matter if you both work and one person makes 20,000 and the other makes 120,000.
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It's all your money.
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And even legally, it's all your money.
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So whenever we play those games, like, oh, well, I deserve this because I work more hours than my spouse, and you go out and you overspend, you overextend yourself, it puts a lot of strain on that marriage.
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It puts a lot of strain on your kids.
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And it's it really has negative impacts on the entire family dynamics.
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So here's the advice from psychologists on how to best support kids in times of financial hardship.
8:09
And again, my wife and I went through, we went through a period where we nearly lost our house.
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In fact, I wrote about that in my book, Tithing Your Time, Treasure, and Talent.
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A practical guide to biblical budgeting and investing.
8:26
I wrote about how we nearly lost our house.
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The math wasn't mathing.
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When my wife lost her job, we didn't see a way out.
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We didn't see a way that we could keep up with our mortgage and all the utilities and all the other bills.
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And we had overextended ourselves because we bought our house based on a dual income.
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And we both knew what the incomes were.
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Well, you remove one of those incomes.
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Let me tell you, that changes things really quickly.
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I mean, very abruptly.
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So we really struggled, and we ended up uh really tightening up our belts.
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And she was able to get another job, making much less money, less than half what she made before, but it was something, and we worked through it.
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Not only did we work through it, but uh, she's actually still at the same job, and that's been 13 years ago.
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She's still at the same job.
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We've since paid the house off.
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We've paid uh all of our other debt, which wasn't much, it was just the the purchase of a vehicle, but that's all paid off.
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And we knew what that stress felt like.
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We felt that stress.
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It was hard on our marriage, it was hard on our kids.
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And it's just really, really challenging.
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But a lot of people are stuck there, and they blame the system.
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Well, the system is rigged against us.
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They blame companies.
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Well, if these stupid uh greedy oil companies wouldn't charge so much money, right?
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They they blame everybody else instead of taking responsibility.
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And yes, things are expensive.
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Utilities are expensive, cars are expensive, houses are expensive.
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But we don't have to buy the brand new latest model car.
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Uh we don't have to buy a house that that makes us house poor.
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You know, there are other, there are other alternatives, and you can be really, really creative.
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So anyway, that's another story for another day.
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So here is the advice from psychologists.
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How do you best support your kids in times of financial hardship?
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Number one, be proactive.
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Having less money for clothes, toys, and activities that can interfere with a sense of togetherness that make kids feel connected to their peers.
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Kids with fewer possessions might feel embarrassed or worry about being teased, said Amanda J.
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Rose, PhD, a professor of psychological studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
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If teasing becomes recurrent or rises to the level of bullying, seek help from a school counselor, teacher, or administrator.
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First of all, man, if kids are picking on other kids because they're poor, shame on those parents, number one.
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Um if the parents know, if the parents have created that, shame on them for that.
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But number two, uh there's just no room for bullying.
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It's no fault of the kids when they're living in poverty.
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Uh, it is not the fault of the kids.
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And so I would hope that we all train our kids that if we see other kids being picked on for any reason.
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But if kids are being picked on, our kids should intervene.
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I hope that we train our kids to do that because it's really, really important.
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Uh, but I can tell you this.
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Kids really don't care.
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At the end of the day, they don't care how much money mom and dad have.
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What they care about is spending time together as a family.
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You know, there are times where we grew up really poor, and I didn't know that at the time when I was a kid, I had no idea.
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I didn't know that we couldn't afford groceries for the week.
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I didn't know that because my parents didn't talk about that.
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And us kids, we just loved going outside.
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We love playing in the woods, and we we just love to be an active and playing basketball and it just running around acting crazy like a kid.
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That's what kids want.
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That's what kids long for.
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That's what kids desire, not the possessions, not the things they honestly could care less about them.
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So, yeah, be proactive.
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Talk to your kids.
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Hang out with your kids, spend time with your kids.
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Number two, ask kids about their emotions.
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When kids pick up on financial stress in the family, they may be anxious about getting the items they need, feel guilty for needing things, or think that the problems are their fault.
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Younger children may show signs of physical distress, including stomach aches or trouble sleeping.
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Other symptoms can include anxiety, anger, stubborn behavior.
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And so, yeah, talk to your kids about their emotions.
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What are they feeling?
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What are they, what are they going through?
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What are they going through?
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What's going on inside of their head space?
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What's going on inside of their head space?
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Number three, explain the problem and the plan.
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Number three, explain the problem and the plan.
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Research on stress and children suggests that a positive proactive framing can help put kids at ease.
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Research on stress and children suggests that a positive proactive framing can help put kids at ease.
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Start by calmly conveying the situation and explaining what action you're taking.
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Start by calmly conveying the situation and explaining what action you're taking.
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We don't have as much money as we'd like to, but we have a plan that will help.
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We don't have as much money as we'd like to, but we have a plan that will help.
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All right.
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Kids, kids aren't dumb.
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They pick up on these things.
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Kids are actually very smart and very intuitive.
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If you're stressed out, they're stressed out.
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They know that you're stressed out.
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So talk to them.
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Explain the problem and tell them what your plan is.
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And if you don't have a plan, get a plan.
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I think about the what's the the uh the Will Smith movie, The Pursuit of Happiness or something like that.
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That that was an excellent, excellent movie.
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He was a homeless guy, and he was open with he was open and honest with his kid.
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Uh I I think is really cool.
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Uh number next, reframe the problem.
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For most types of stress, psychologists recommend using active, engaged coping strategies rather than ignoring the problem at hand.
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When money is tight, involving kids in a family's financial plan can help them feel like they're taking action, said Rose.
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That may mean uh making joint decisions about spending and saving.
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You know, this is a really good point.
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Uh, we talk about money all the time with our kids.
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I mean, all the time.
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And we're very transparent.
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Our kids know what's in our savings account, they know what's in our retirement account, they know what's in their accounts.
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We're very, very honest about it.
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And the kids help make decisions.
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And it's really great.
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It's really fantastic.
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And our kids, they they they begin to budget and they budget their own money and they make their own money.
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And they want to make their money, they want to invest, they love to invest, they love to watch their money grow.
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And it's really good for them to see the ups and the downs in the stock market and to be able to experience that and to take ownership and making those decisions.
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And a lot of families don't do that, unfortunately.
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And I think it's just really important.
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I think it's good to give them responsibility.
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It's good to teach them how to save.
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It's good to teach them how to save up to uh to make a purchase instead of just clicking a credit card or tapping it and and just giving them whatever they want.
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You've got to get ownership with your kids.
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Well, we're coming up on a break here.
17:00
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18:18
Well, did you see Google quietly updated its AI principles removing its pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance?
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A promise they agreed to in 2018.
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Well, the American people have seen Google's track record.
18:35
Is Google and on trustworthy player in the AI race.
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Now is our time, my fellow Americans.
18:47
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18:59
As we mentioned before the break, Kevin Hassett forecast, he's a top economist.
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He forecasts a 4% growth in the American economy and says that artificial intelligence, uh, that boom and the tax incentives, they're driving US investments to absolutely surge.
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And this is really good news for America.
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This is really good news for us.
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And uh I I mention this all the time that our economy is very resilient, that our economy is doing well, that there are millions of vacant jobs right now, lots of vacant jobs right now.
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And I I just think it's really good for all of us.
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A lot of people are out there struggling and and uh not really uh holding on to hope, thinking that our economy is is in the gutter because they listen to the narratives, they listen to these ideas that we're absolutely stuck, that we're in trouble, that Trump has wrecked the economy, and it's just not true.
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Um the economy has ups and downs, there are ebbs and flows, businesses come and businesses go.
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That's very normal in any given economy.
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But overall, the economy's doing quite well.
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I I was mentioning this before the break.
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It's because money finances the stress of money and finances, the stress of not having a job or being stuck at a job or not being able to budget correctly, or whatever it is, it puts tremendous stress on the entire family.
20:53
So I was reading from an article here before the break, and uh that they were talking about ways to to talk to your kids, and I'll just kind of go through these really quickly again.
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To talk to your kids.
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And I'll just kind of go through these really quickly again.
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Uh I'll just rattle them off.
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I'll just rattle them off.
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Number one, be proactive.
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Number one, be proactive.
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You know, uh uh talk to your kids.
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You know, uh, talk to your kids.
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Don't just pretend like the elephant's not in the room.
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Don't just pretend like the elephant's not in the room.
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Number two, ask your kids about their emotions.
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Number two, ask your kids about their emotions.
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How do they feel?
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How do they feel?
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How are they coping with the fact that you may be struggling at the moment?
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How are they coping with the fact that you may be struggling at the moment?
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Number three, explain the problem.
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Number three, explain the problem and the plan.
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I love this because a lot of times people talk about problems, plural.
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They talk about problems, and they do this stuff in front of the kids, but they never talk about a solution.
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And we've made that a habit in our family.
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I mean, it is a big time habit.
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If there's a problem, we always talk about what a solution is.
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And sometimes problems don't have solutions, at least not in the uh not in the near future that you can see anyway, but we're honest about that too.
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If we don't see a plan, we talk about a mini plan, and we're like, well, we'll use this as a stepping stone, and we're eventually gonna get there.
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All right, explain the problem and the plan.
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Number four, reframe the problem.
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For a lot of stress, the psychologists recommend using active engaged coping strategies rather than ignoring the problem.
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Number five, ask for help.
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Seeking social support, which includes everything from emotional care to help with everyday tasks.
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It's one of the most effective ways to cope with stress.
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Get support from friends, neighbors, family, therapists.
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Uh, don't be afraid to ask people for help.
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A lot of times we are what we may be ashamed, but sometimes we just need help.
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And I think it's okay to talk to other people and ask them, ask people who've been through the ringer, ask them what worked for them.
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That was another reason why I wanted to rate the book that I wrote to to be transparent about the problems that we have.
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I don't have it all figured out.
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Most of us don't.
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Tithing your time, treasure and talent.
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It's about the struggles that we had, saying that we nearly lost our home, and we still have very mediocre paying jobs.
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We have no benefits, uh, none, zero.
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There's no retirement, there's no health care.
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And yet, not only did we make it, we paid off debt, and we're building wealth very aggressively.
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In fact, to the point where we're looking at early retirement.
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And that's not accidental.
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And that's what that's what people need to realize.
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You know, you have to look at opportunities that are in front of you, and you have to take advantage of those.
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You have to take advantage of opportunities.
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And if we're not doing that, we shouldn't be surprised.
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We shouldn't be shocked whenever we're struggling.
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So it's really, really important.
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I mean, all of these things are important.
24:42
So I was looking at another article here, and this uh that this one I actually heard from a guy who I follow and really respect, but he brought up the figure about the amount of debt that people are in with car loans, and it keeps getting worse by the minute.
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And this is not to be negative or to be an alarmist, but it's tound a warning bell, and to let everybody know that people are absolutely destroying, destroying their mental well-being by getting into debt with our car loans.
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And for what?
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That's for a vehicle that's gonna wear out in five to eight years.
25:34
Yeah, the the average car payment now is well over five years, and for a lot of people, they're pushing that up into seven or more years.
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I mean, that's like the lifespan of your car now.
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But the amount of debt that people have taken out on car loans, it reached an all-time high just this year.
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It's never been this high.
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1.68 trillion dollars that Americans have in car loans.
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Car loan debt.
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So this article here is when the wheels come off.
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How surging auto loan debt is hurting households.
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This was just posted uh a couple days ago.
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Over the past several years, American households have been crushed under the growing burden of debt.
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And few areas, this is more evident than in the realm of auto financing, where families have been struggling with rising car prices, rising interest rates, longer loan terms, and increasingly expensive maintenance and insurance costs.
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Borrowers are facing rising costs imposed at every phone of transaction from inflated automaker prices to shady dealer terms.
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I've done a couple shows on that.
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The cheap kind of sucker punch dealer terms that they sneak in there, a bunch of shysters.
27:16
Uh, it's just crazy.
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It's getting worse and worse.
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So we need to be aware of those things.
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Uh, two costlier loan products.
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Moreover, President Trump's aggressive tariffs and chaos have caused inflated interest rates, driving prices even higher.
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Now, President Trump's war with Iran has set gas prices surging with a price of crude oil peaking at 112 per barrel in early April, translating to an average price of $4.54 per gallon at the pump for Americans at the time of publication.
27:55
Well, as of this morning, I got gas in our gas-guzzling minivan, and I spent 83 to fill up.
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In our gas guzzling minivan.
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And I spent $83 to fill up.
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It's a $21 gallon tank.
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It's a 21 gallon tank, and I spent 83.
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And I spent $83.
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I paid $499.9 a gallon.
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I paid 49.9 five bucks a gallon.
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It is now five dollars a gallon.
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It is now $5 a gallon.
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And you know, again, my wife and I.
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And again, my wife and I budget for that.
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So it's it's annoying, but it's absolutely not hurting us.
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It's just a nuisance.
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But for other people, when you're carrying a car payment, you're carrying a, you know, the average is over $700 a month car payment for seven years.
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A lot of people driving big old SUVs and pickup trucks.
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They're putting in well over $100 to fill up their tank at least once a week.
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In addition to their car payments.
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So you're talking just for that vehicle, just for gas and your car payment.
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You're talking well over $1,000 a month than factor in insurance.
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And all the other maintenance, oil changes, tires, on and on and on.
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You get the picture.
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That adds up really quickly.
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And a lot of people don't factor the the all the cost in.
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They just buy a car because they think it's cool.
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They think it's shiny and it's great and it's it's going to make them look cool.
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And they come to find out pretty quickly.
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Geopolitical issues can change everything on the dime.
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No pun intended.
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But it changes quickly, doesn't it?
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So anyway, this article here.
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It says all of these trends together have made purchasing and maintaining a car increasingly expensive.
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As a result, has households have been taking on more and more debt to finance what is for many a basic necessity.
30:19
No analysis by the Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers reveals how this historically high auto debt is negatively impacting household budgets.
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Building on a worsening affordability crisis.
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So the key findings in this article are uh just kind of blow through these bullet points real quick.
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Auto debt has exploded both in absolute terms and as a share of household debt.
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As I mentioned, that the the auto debt has reached $1.68 trillion, a 37% jump since early 2018.
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And now comprises the largest volume of outstanding loan debt ever recorded.
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At the end of 2025, nearly 86 million Americans.
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28% have outstanding auto loan or lease debt.
31:25
That is wild.
31:28
Um next bullet point.
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Auto debt appears to accelerate household financial strain.
31:38
You think borrowers carrying auto loans see significantly higher and faster credit card balance growth, regardless of income level, suggesting that auto debt cascades into broader financial pressure.
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It's because your car is a money pit.
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It's because things always go wrong.
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Even on brand new cars, there are always things going wrong with it.
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There are always minor little little dings that you get, scratches, club in a curb and you bend a wheel or you scratch a wheel.
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Stuff that's not covered by your insurance, but you have to get it fixed.
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They break down.
32:37
Cars are increasingly junk.
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I talk about this all the time.
32:43
Cars are garbage.
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Most of them.
32:48
What used to be respectable auto companies are now turning out absolute garbage.
32:53
GM, Ford, Dodge.
32:58
All the major ones, they're turning out most of their cars, are absolute crap.
33:04
They break down constantly.
33:06
I mean, obsessively, they break down.
33:10
Costing the consumer time, a lot of money.
33:16
Insurance companies only cover or the dealers will only cover a rental for a very, very short amount of time, usually about a week or so.
33:25
You might stretch them into a couple weeks, but your car's down sometimes for months at a time.
33:33
All right, point number three.
33:35
New auto loans are staggering, uh staggeringly more expensive than ever before.
33:42
At the end of 2025, the average origination balance for an auto loan reaches 33,519, an amount 10,000 higher than the average in 2018 due to massive increases in the price of even the most basic cars and a shortage of affordable car models.
34:05
Interest rates are also much higher.
34:10
Point number four, financially vulnerable borrowers have the highest costs.
34:20
Those in the bottom 20% of the income distribution had the highest average auto loan balance.
34:27
4,000 higher for higher uh than for higher income borrowers.
34:34
Those in the top quintile.
34:37
Borrowers with the most limited access to credit pay a steep penalty for these borrowers.
34:42
The average APR is up to 18.7%, which means a six-year loan on a 30,000 car will cost $20,000 in interest alone.
34:56
This is insane.
34:58
That is absolutely wild to me.
35:00
Wild to me.
35:02
That people are paying $20,000 just on interest on a car.
35:02
That people are paying $20,000 just on interest on a car.
35:07
$20,000.
35:07
$20,000.
35:08
Do you know what you could do with that if you invested that?
35:08
Do you know what you could do with that if you invested that?
35:11
That is wild.
35:11
That is wild.
35:13
And then finally, families are turning to risky loans with longer terms to drive down monthly auto costs.
35:13
And then finally, families are turning to risky loans with longer terms to drive down monthly auto costs.
35:20
Isn't it amazing that we'd rather do that?
35:20
Isn't it amazing that we'd rather do that?
35:23
We'd rather take risky loans.
35:23
We'd rather take risky loans.
35:25
We'd rather take longer terms.
35:25
We'd rather take longer terms.
35:27
We'd rather pay $20,000 in.
35:27
We'd rather pay $20,000 in interest rather than just buy then just buy a cheaper vehicle.
35:36
Because we don't want to be seen driving the cheaper vehicle.
35:42
It's crazy.
35:43
So this is really hurting people.
35:45
So all of this to say, these are just warnings.
35:49
Um saying that even if these jobs are available, and they are, believe me, the economy's good, the economy's strong, jobs are good, but people are living on this fine line.
36:01
They're living right on the very edge.
36:04
Even top earners, they live this way.
36:07
I mentioned before Jim Carrey went back to work.
36:10
He came out of retirement because he said he couldn't afford his lifestyle.
36:16
Even multimillionaires are living right on the edge of what they can't afford.
36:25
And it's really hurting people.
36:32
One tragedy away from losing everything.
36:35
We shouldn't be living that way.
36:38
It's too risky.
36:39
There is a better way, and we'll talk about this after the break, but it is good news, trust me.
36:44
There is lots and lots of good news, but I felt like I had to put these warnings out there.
36:50
Just to say, like most Americans are living this way.
36:54
And so we shouldn't live like most of those Americans.
36:58
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38:55
The economy is doing really good.
38:57
It's growing.
38:58
There are plenty of jobs available.
39:01
Kevin has it forecast of 4% growth.
39:05
Things are looking up.
39:07
Florida's looking really good.
39:08
Florida has uh tons of people moving to Florida because of the tax incentives.
39:17
People are leaving New York City, New York State like crazy in droves they're leaving.
39:24
California and New York have an exodus of people.
39:29
I just saw an article.
39:33
I mean, they're coming out left and right now.
39:35
But Mamdani keeps doing more things to cause this exodus to even speed up further.
39:44
I'm telling you, New York City is gonna be, it's gonna be a vacant concrete jungle before too long.
39:53
If he keeps doing what he's doing, it is gonna be such a dump until he's through with it.
39:59
And it's a shame.
40:00
It's a shame to see that.
40:02
But the people who are leaving New York, they're finding better opportunity.
40:09
They're much better off.
40:11
People are finding uh uh tax incentives that they never even knew existed.
40:18
Their businesses are thriving.
40:21
Yeah, Florida welcoming people with open arms.
40:25
And uh Texas, same thing.
40:27
Texas is welcoming people with open arms.
40:31
And I think it's really good.
40:34
Uh we have to resist all of this nonsense.
40:41
That that whole mindset that we gotta tax the rich, make them pay their fair share.
40:48
That stifles growth.
40:51
That doesn't help to grow.
40:55
So at any rate, here is the article here.
40:58
Hassett forecasts 4% growth, says AI boom and tax incentives driving U.S.
41:05
investment surge.
41:07
This is a Fox business article.
41:11
Uh, Wall Street's rally is increasingly being tied to a mix of artificial intelligence investment, corporate tax incentives, and a wave of factory construction reshaping the U.S.
41:24
economy.
41:25
White House National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, joined Fox Business Maria.
41:35
I don't know how you say your last name.
41:38
Um Barta Romo, there we go.
41:43
Uh, on mornings with Maria to discuss why he believes the economy is entering a new growth phase driven by capital spending.
41:53
AI productivity gains in tax policies aimed at accelerating domestic manufacturing.
42:00
The bottom line is that there's an AI productivity boom, which is feeding through to an earnings boom.
42:00
The bottom line is that there's an AI productivity boom, which is feeding through to an earnings boom.
42:11
The comments come as companies pour billions into U.S.
42:11
The comments come as companies pour billions into US based expansion projects tied to semiconductors, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
42:15
based expansion projects tied to semiconductors, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
42:23
Hassett pointed to major investments from multinational firms, including.
42:23
Hassett pointed to major investments from multinational firms, including Navardis and Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company, also known as TSMC, as signs the U.S.
42:40
has become the hot place to be right now.
42:43
Now you've heard Trump say this for a long time.
42:45
He keeps saying the economy's hot, the economy's hot.
42:49
And a lot of times it's it's really hard to tell whether he's just blowing smoke or whether it actually is.
42:57
But it turns out that the economy actually is really hot right now.
43:02
And there's lots of evidence to back this up.
43:04
A lot of reports.
43:07
I mentioned at the end of last week, the private sector added 109,000 jobs in April, which is much above expectations, according to the ADP.
43:20
There are plenty of jobs out there.
43:22
500,000 electricians are needed in the next two years.
43:30
The problem is we don't have enough workers.
43:32
We don't have enough trained workers.
43:50
That's not the problem.
43:52
The problem is quite the opposite.
43:56
The problem is, and you wouldn't know this talking to politicians on the left.
44:03
Because all they talk about is how bad Trump is.
44:06
He's bad for the economy, he's bad for the world economy, he's bad for our allies.
44:12
On and on and on it goes.
44:20
So he said there's uh this is Hassett, there's a race unlike anything we've ever seen to create jobs in America right now.
44:28
Now, the warning about this is, and I I talk about Mike Rowe quite often because I think he's just absolutely brilliant.
44:40
But he said, don't let the job availability blindside us.
44:46
Because he's like, we we still we still need people.
44:51
He's like, you can have all the jobs in the world, but if you don't have people to fill those jobs, we've got a really big problem.
44:59
So we need people to go into these fields.
45:02
That's why it's really important, I believe.
45:04
It's important that as parents, we talk to our kids, grandparents, caretakers, teachers, guidance counselors.
45:13
We all need to be talking to our kids about not just college, but I would say especially the trades.
45:24
Yeah, and some of these jobs require, they require education.
45:28
Now, I was looking the other day, you know what linemen make?
45:32
People that work on uh power lines, you know what the average pay is in America?
45:39
The median is 81,000 to 86,000 as of May, as of May this year.
45:48
The median pay for linemen is 81,000 to 86,000.
45:53
Now, that's uh that they get very good benefits too.
45:59
Hourly rates start around 35 to 40 bucks an hour.
46:04
And their salaries frequently exceed well over 100,000 annually with an overtime.
46:13
The national median is 81,760 to 85,420 annually, or about 40, 40 to 41 bucks an hour.
46:26
Experienced linemen or journeyman, they exceed well over 100,000 to 150,000 plus, especially in urban areas or high demand areas.
46:42
Pay varies by state, but Washington, D.C.
46:45
and New York show high average salaries.
46:50
Pennsylvania salaries are averaging around 71, just just shy of 72,000 in May of 2026.
46:59
All right, that's just one example.
47:01
And people are like, oh, there aren't jobs out there, nobody will hire me.
47:05
And it's just not true.
47:08
There aren't any good paying jobs out there.
47:11
Excuse me.
47:15
If that's not a high-paying job, I don't know what is.
47:18
Yeah, it's hard work, granted.
47:22
But if you're not afraid of hard work and you're not afraid to go out there, I'm telling you, the money's there.
47:28
So anyway, Hassett also predicted strong economic growth through the rest of this year.
47:35
Arguing that recent import data reflects long-term investment in manufacturing equipment rather than weaker domestic demand.
47:44
He said, I'm highly confident that we're going to be looking at 4% numbers for the rest of the year.
47:50
I personally would make a bet on it with my friends.
47:54
Probably not the best to uh be making bets, but anyway, uh it's it's pretty cool.
48:02
Here's another article.
48:04
This one just came out too.
48:06
Southern cities dominate rankings of best job markets for new college graduates.
48:13
ADP study compared 53 largest metro areas on hiring, wages and affordability amid slowing labor market for young workers.
48:26
And it turns out that uh the South is it's hot right now in more ways than one.
48:33
I had to get out of the South.
48:34
I couldn't take the heat.
48:36
Give me the snow.
48:39
I love the snow.
48:41
But if you don't mind the heat, you want to move south, the jobs abound.
48:51
The slowing labor market is posing a challenge to recent college graduates looking to begin their careers with many new graduates finding work in southern cities.
49:00
Graduates finding work in southern cities.
49:03
Now, when they say the slowing labor market, don't get this idea that the labor market is coming to a grinding halt because it's just not.
49:03
Now, when they say the slowing labor market, don't get this idea that the labor market is coming to a grinding halt because it's just not.
49:14
Uh, it goes through these ebbs and flows.
49:17
It goes through a little bit of sluggish months, and then it'll pick back up.
49:22
But overall, the labor labor market is doing quite well.
49:27
Fed chair Powell, Jerome Powell.
49:27
Fed chair Powell, Jerome Powell, he just talked about this at the latest Fed meeting.
49:34
And he said, you know, the economy continues to be extremely robust.
49:40
And that's part of why they held the interest rates.
49:43
They didn't lower the interest rates because he was like, there's not really a sign that the economy's slowing down to where holding the interest rates higher is going to hurt businesses.
49:57
So the study by the ADP found that Birmingham, Alabama, and Tampa, Florida were at the top of the list of destinations for fresh graduates embarking on careers.
50:09
Birmingham was in the 85th or higher percentile in wages, affordability, and hiring.
50:17
While Tampa was topping the rankings and hiring, despite middling scores for wages and affordability.
50:30
Cities were followed by San Jose, California, Columbus, Ohio.
50:37
I mean, like I said, the money's there.
50:41
Four other cities in the top 10 were located in the South, including Raleigh, North Carolina, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nashville, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina.
50:52
Two large metro areas around at the top 10, Stan Fran, and New York City ranked number 10.
51:03
So even though uh Ma'am Donnie's trying to destroy New York City, as of right now, it ranks number 10.
51:13
So there are jobs.
51:15
Probably because people are leaving there and it's leaving these vacancies.
51:21
But there is growth.
51:24
There is growth in the job market.
51:26
And I think this is really good news, but we have to be responsible.
51:32
Individually with our personal budgets.
51:35
We've got to be responsible.
51:38
We've got a budget.
51:40
You see, a lot of people hear this, and they're like, oh my goodness, let's go out, let's get a job, and let's uh let's buy the new Ferrari and uh get our payments for the next eight years at 18% interest.
51:56
And my responsibility hold on just a second.
52:00
Get the high-paying job, or get the job that you you really want that you desire.
52:07
Budget, drive the old Jalopy.
52:12
You know, there's a video.
52:13
I man, I should find this and link this to the show notes, but uh I might have a hard time finding it.
52:19
You can look it up.
52:21
But it's a young Jeff Bezos, and he has a reporter with him, and it's when he was starting up Amazon, and he was at the time worth I don't know, like a billion or so.
52:37
Uh and he's driving around this old like kind of run-down Honda Accord.
52:45
And the reporter was like, I just have one question.
52:49
What's with the Honda?
52:51
And then Bezos does like this cackle.
52:54
He's like, ah ha ha.
52:55
He's like, oh, well, and I agree with him.
53:00
He's like, it works perfectly fine.
53:03
Why would I get rid of it?
53:04
Why would I get something else?
53:07
It works.
53:09
And I love that.
53:10
You know, Warren Buffett does the same thing.
53:12
Warren Buffett drives the same old car.
53:15
His car is, I think uh on average, his car's always been eight years or eight years old or older.
53:22
Drives an old Cadillac around.
53:25
Nothing special, nothing fancy.
53:28
I think it's like gray.
53:31
This is not flashy at all.
53:34
And he talks about it.
53:35
He's like, yeah, why would I why would I waste my money on that?
53:40
Same with his house.
53:42
Nothing flashy, it just works.
53:46
Elon Musk, same thing.
53:50
He doesn't have anything flashy.
53:53
Why waste your money on that?
53:57
Uh so kind of interesting.
53:59
Kind of interesting.
54:00
They they get it, they understand it.
54:03
So if we combine these things, and this is what I want to end with.
54:07
All right, the jobs are there.
54:09
The economy is robust.
54:12
Plenty of opportunity here in America.
54:14
Do not listen to the lie that there aren't jobs available.
54:19
There are.
54:21
There are plenty of jobs available.
54:23
Plenty of high-paying jobs available.
54:27
So what if many Americans?
54:34
What if they really captured this idea?
54:37
This conservative idea that America is the land of opportunity.
54:42
And they went out and they pursued the jobs that they actually wanted.
54:46
And they pursued the level of income that they actually wanted.
54:51
And they lived well within their means.
54:54
And they became productive.
54:57
And they were budgeting and not ruining or running the risk of ruining their family because they're way extended beyond what their means are.
55:11
Do you realize how carefree we would be?
55:14
We'd have less people protesting and burning cities down because they're angry because they think that life is unfair, and that everybody's just out to get us.
55:27
You know, the world would be a lot more peaceful.
55:30
And I'm really hopeful.
55:32
I'm hopeful that people are starting to get it because I am seeing evidence.
55:36
I know that debt is at an all-time high.
55:39
And that that makes me really sad.
55:43
But at the same time, we have a growing trend of young people learning to budget.
55:48
It's being taught.
55:50
Kids are learning.
55:51
Kids are eager to learn.
55:54
And there are always investment opportunities available.
55:59
They're out there.
56:00
They're out there.
56:01
We just have to open our eyes to them.
56:01
We just have to open our eyes to them.
56:04
We have to teach them to our kids.
56:04
We have to teach them to our kids.
56:06
And when we do that, the world will be a much safer, more peaceful place.
56:06
And when we do that, the world will be a much safer, more peaceful place.
56:14
Definitely a lot less stress.
56:14
Definitely a lot less stress.
56:17
That, my friends, is the hidden lightness.
56:17
That, my friends, is the hidden lightness.
56:19
You can find more out about my show and get all the latest podcasts if you go to the Mendy Navigation Bar at America Outloud.
56:19
You can find more out about my show and get all the latest podcasts if you go to the Mendy Navigation Bar at America, Outloud.news under our shows or schedule.
56:27
You'll be in the know.
56:27
You'll be in the know.
56:28
There is a hidden lightness at Sean.
56:28
There is a hidden lightness that shines inside of all of us.
56:31
When there's so much darkness that envelops the world, remember that it doesn't take much light to expose that darkness and to ultimately inspire other people.
56:38
Join me in being a light.