Justin Ho

1 week ago | marketplace.org | Justin Ho

Jun 19, 2025Uncertainty still looms over manufacturers’ decisions about whether to pass on tariff costs and what to do about hiring. We’re going to get a couple of updates on the manufacturing sector in the coming days. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s monthly survey of manufacturers comes out on Friday, and S&P Global’s nationwide index of manufacturing activity comes out Monday.

1 week ago | marketplace.org | Justin Ho

That big GOP tax and spending bill that's making its way through the Senate right now — after it barely passed the House — has been getting some new scrutiny from the Congressional Budget Office. The nonpartisan organization reported yesterday that, if the bill passes as it currently stands, the interest payments the government makes on all of the money it borrows would “more than offset the primary deficit reductions driven by increases in economic output.”In other words?

1 week ago | readunwritten.com | Justin Ho

It’s already midnight. I stare at my monitor and become immersed in the world in which I’m playing. I can almost feel the controller in my hand morph into the blade I wield in the game as I face off against General Radahn, a massive, powerful demigod clad in golden lion armor with the power to control gravity. As I watch my character fall to his knees, I lean back in my chair and wait for the “YOU DIED” screen to fade away. At that moment, the negative thoughts came crawling back into my mind.

2 weeks ago | marketplace.org | Justin Ho

President Donald Trump’s latest steel and aluminum tariffs doubled the previous tariffs on imports of those metals to 50%. Those import taxes will, no doubt, be tough on a lot of sectors of this economy, and, by extension, U.S. consumers. But the American steel industry is welcoming the new tariffs. In fact, domestic steel producers have been investing in new capacity ever since Trump first imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum back in 2018.

2 weeks ago | marketplace.org | Justin Ho

Early in the pandemic, there were several types of goods that saw big surges of demand followed by big dropoffs in the following years: Think kitchen equipment, furniture, hand sanitizer and N-95 masks. After those peaks turned into troughs, the companies that made and sold those goods found themselves with too much inventory. That led to markdowns, and, over time for some industries, a general downturn — almost as though business never quite returned to even pre-pandemic normal.