About this episode
If there’s one thing the White House, economists and basically everyone who thinks about money can agree on, it’s that this is going to be a big week for economic news. — On Tuesday, we get new consumer confidence numbers, a measure which has fallen for two consecutive months . Last month’s report showed the Consumer Confidence Index at its lowest level since February 2021 and the Expectations Index — “consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions,” per the Conference Board — at its lowest level since 2013. — On Wednesday, the Fed will meet and make a decision on just how much to raise interest rates. After the most recent inflation numbers, most observers expect a hike of .75 percentage points. That would be the fourth rate increase this year. — On Thursday, the GDP numbers for the second quarter will drop, and economists expect they’ll show a decline of 1% to 2%. It would be the second straight quarter of decline — which is often seen as signaling a recession. And Playbook's Eugene Daniels chats with POLITICO White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire about his newest book, " The Big Lie ." Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook. Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.