How the Federal Reserve Interest Rates Affect You

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by another 0.75 percentage point to continue fighting inflation.  They have signaled that they may keep raising them, but in smaller increments.  In the meantime, experts say it is time to reassess your financial plans and pay down any high-interest debt immediately, maybe delay you house or car hunt, and put more money into saving accounts.  Julia Carpenter, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how the latest rate hike impacts you.

Next, this week Netflix launched their ad-based tier in the hopes of attracting more subscribers.  The new tier is called “Basic With Ads” and goes for $6.99 a month.  It will be a big test for a company that resisted placing ads with their content for a long time, but also comes at a time when many other streaming services are doing the same.  Joe Flint, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know and the fight over advertisers and licensing agreements.

Finally, with the rise of quiet quitting and more people returning to work, workers have gotten less productive.  Productivity has had the sharpest drop since 1947 and its hard to pin down exactly why, but experts think one reason is that employees are leveraging the power they gained in the tight labor market.  It’s harder for employers to fire and hire new workers.  Burnout could also be a factor.  Taylor Telford, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for how productivity is down.

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