Money Life With Chuck Jaffe Daily Podcast

Economist Steven Durlauf, director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, says that the federal budget deficit is the biggest source of the country's trade deficit, meaning politicians have failed "to seriously address the relationship between what the government wishes to do and how much it costs." If politicians can't cut budget deficits and, potentially, raise taxes, Durlauf says, tariffs won't fix the problem, and will cause new troubles. Durlauf sees the tariffs creating a one-time price hike of 2 to 3 percent, he expects unemployment to rise by about 1 percent, and he expects stagflation while the government sorts out tariffs and ultimately settles on lower levels than have been in current headlines. Howard Dvorkin, chairman at Debt.com, talks about how consumers who were already acting stretched are likely to respond to feeling the pinch of tariff-induced price hikes, and whether that will be the thi