The Anxiety Index: 4 Fear Factors Shaping the Economy

From COVID-19 relapses to election insecurity, these factors drive defensiveness up and demand down.

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This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com, Bitstamp and Nexo.io.

Today on the Brief:

• Skepticism around Powell’s inflation prognostications
• The Tesla Stock Split Game
• China’s COVID-19 vaccine maker presses countries for early adoption

Our main discussion: The Anxiety Index

We live in an economy organized around consumption and perpetual growth. In that context, factors that cause consumers to be fearful, reduce spending, increase savings, move less and generally slow down can wreak havoc.

In this episode, NLW discusses four factors shaping and driving consumer anxiety, including:

• COVID-19 related concerns, both health and economic
• Monetary policy questions
• U.S.-China tensions
• Election insecurity

See also: Winter Is Coming: Examining the Economy’s Eight-Body Problem

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.