We Hate the Inflation

We Hate the Inflation

From Slate Money by Slate Podcasts

June 13, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the recent rise in inflation, its implications, and the potential depletion of Social Security, along with an unexpected link between the iPhone and lower birth rates.

This week: Inflation hit its highest rate in three years thanks to skyrocketing energy prices. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , parse through what the various inflation numbers mean and discuss the Fed’s and Donald Trump’s blasé reaction to the situation. Then, with the trustees warning of its depletion by 2032, the hosts talk about the possible consequences of losing Social Security. And finally, they look at the natural experiment that revealed the unexpected connection between the iPhone and lower birth rates.  In the Slate Plus episode: Is Anthropic vs OpenAI the new Coke vs Pepsi? Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify . Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, Emily Peck

Topics covered

  • inflation
  • energy prices
  • Federal Reserve
  • Social Security
  • birth rates
  • technology

Keywords

  • inflation
  • energy prices
  • Social Security
  • iPhone
  • birth rates
  • Federal Reserve
  • Donald Trump

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Federal Reserve, Social Security, Slate Plus, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Slate

Products: iPhone

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