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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: Economic headwinds, including stubborn inflation and supply chain issues, are creating headaches for retailers and influencing Americans' shopping and giving habits. How will economic forces shape the holiday season? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's November 25th, Black Friday, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A Taylor Swift tour prompted a Ticketmaster meltdown, sparking outrage from fans and accusations of an abuse of power from some lawmakers. We had 14 million people hit the site, including bots, another story, which are not supposed to be there. And despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day.
--:-- John Bickley: We discussed the growing debate over Ticketmaster's pricing and its increasingly pivotal role in the music world. And state tax policies have a direct and at times dramatic impact on businesses and consumers. A new report ranks which states are friendliest to businesses and residents when it comes to taxes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, subscribe to our Morning Wire newsletter available exclusively to Daily Wire members. Get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe. Use code MORNINGWIRE to try a Reader's Pass membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Holiday season is upon us, but this year, things might look a little different thanks to one key factor, inflation. According to new data, American consumers and companies are preparing to spend less and donate less than in years past.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Cabot, we'll start with the consumer side of this. Today is Black Friday. What changes are we expected to see this holiday season?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, it'll hardly be a surprise at this point, but virtually everything is going to be more expensive this holiday season. We talked recently about Thanksgiving meals being more expensive, but it goes well beyond that. Flights are 40% more expensive this year than last, and gas, while down relative to this summer's peak, is still about 10% higher than last Thanksgiving.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, tell us about that. What do we expect with consumer spending?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So according to a recent survey by Deloitte Consulting, Americans plan on buying an average of nine gifts this holiday season. That is down considerably from 16 gifts in the same survey last year. We saw another report from ShipStation that predicted a $30 billion drop in holiday gift spending this year compared to last, with the biggest drops expected in clothing and footwear.
--:-- John Bickley: And keep in mind, we've already seen consumer spending going in the wrong direction for months. It did jump 8% last year, but has seen less than 2% growth every month this year. And because most Americans are strapped for cash these days, retailers know they've got to offer big sales to try and entice customers. But that is tough when businesses are also feeling the pinch.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right. So what are retailers doing to try and compensate for that?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, first retailers have tried their best to move customers toward online shopping as opposed to in-person shopping. That helps them offset the cost of labor, which is important given how tight the labor market is right now. That also explains why many so-called Black Friday deals have been going on for weeks now. Companies are really trying to spread things out to their advantage.
--:-- John Bickley: Another thing you're going to see more of this holiday season as consumers grapple with higher prices are buy-now-pay-later installment plans offered by retailers. Now, these might help offset sticker shock on higher-priced goods in the short term, but long-term can be dangerous as they often hurt your credit score and include incredibly high fees for missed payments.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, Dave Ramsey would not approve. Now, we're also expecting to see a decrease in charitable donations this year. What's the latest on that?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this part is really concerning as well. So not only do many businesses rely on the holiday season to reach end-of-year fiscal goals, but a lot of charities are in the same boat. About a third of all donations take place between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year, charities are bracing for a drop in giving, as donations are often the first thing cut from a budget when things get tighter.
--:-- John Bickley: On that note, we've seen more than a 10% drop in the number of Americans giving to charity this year compared to last. And the biggest drop, not surprisingly, comes among those giving less than $500 a year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, it's important to note the United States is far and away the most charitable nation on earth. Last year, for example, Americans gave away nearly half a trillion dollars. So even with the dip this year, we're still leading the world in charitable giving, but definitely a concerning trend that's clearly being driven by the poor state of the economy.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right. So inflation is clearly the key factor here. But what else is causing this downturn?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, there's no question inflation is the number one factor. It's not rocket science. People just have less money to spend. But beyond inflation, consumer sentiment is also a really important factor in all this. Right now, Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances than at any time since the 08-09 recession.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that means that even if some Americans do have enough money to afford gifts or donations now, if they feel like they won't be in a good spot a year from now, they still are likely to hold off. And that's really driving a lot of this.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, that makes sense. Could things change as we approach Christmas? Well, there's always the chance that projections end up being wrong. And to that point, there are some economists and companies with a more rosy outlook. They say that people might give one answer in a survey, but often end up acting differently in reality.
--:-- John Bickley: Both Walmart and MasterCard to that point have projected healthy holiday spending this year. And there's also the fact that supply chains aren't quite as backed up as they've been in the past. Meaning inventory is higher than last year. So some reason for optimism, but the general fundamentals of the economy still in a very negative spot right now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, let's hope for some surprisingly good news. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- John Bickley: Ticketmaster has come under intense fire for its mishandling of Taylor Swift concert tickets. The ticket outlet has also been criticized by Springsteen fans and other artists for high fees and having a monopoly on ticket sales. Joining now to discuss is Hollywood reporter and editor of Hollywood in Toto, Christian Toto.
--:-- Christian Toto: So first, Christian, Taylor Swift has been all over the headlines this past week. What happened there?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, the Ticketmaster site really melted down into all that high traffic on the day the tickets for Taylor Swift's new concert went on sale. Now, she hasn't been on tour live for years, five years. And this is, of course, supporting her new album, The Eras. The entire fiasco just led to calls for the so-called Ticketmaster monopoly to be broken up, and you can't blame fans.
--:-- Christian Toto: Now, according to Ticketmaster, though, more than 3.5 million people pre-registered to buy those Swift tickets. Huge demand, they expected it, but was even worse than they imagined. Now, they said that bot attacks also factored in here as well. So given all that attention, the bots the system broke down That means fans faced really bad technical glitches along the way Some of them were getting booted off the site and other ones just had to wait hours and hours to get those tickets
--:-- John Bickley: And has Taylor Swift actually addressed this issue?
--:-- Christian Toto: She has. You know, Taylor Swift has a huge social media following. So she went to social media and shared her thoughts. And she said, listen, I'm really sorry. And I feel terribly about this. She described what fans went through as like being through several bear attacks. pretty clever, and it really does connect with a common fan.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, regarding the criticisms of Ticketmaster, this isn't the first high-profile incident we've seen that's prompted calls for it to be broken up. Tell us about the Springsteen incident this past summer.
--:-- Christian Toto: Yeah, I don't think a lot of artists love Ticketmaster. It's kind of a necessary evil as they see it. But just in July, Bruce Springsteen's fans were outraged by the platform's fees. Now, just to put it in perspective, fans are being charged thousands of dollars for even mid-range seats, not the best of the best, not the front row. And this was all due to Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing model.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, again, fans don't mind paying big bucks for big seats, but these prices kind of felt like extortion to them. Now, according to Vox report, the average ticket fee is about 27% of the overall face value of a ticket. And in some cases, it's as high as 37%. In that case, the fans just were angry at the boss, Bruce Springsteen.
--:-- Christian Toto: Now, has Bruce Springsteen actually addressed any of this?
--:-- John Bickley: He didn't right away. At first, it was just Springsteen's manager, John Landau, who came to his client's defense. Now, he said, well, yes, some of the tickets do cost $1,000 or more. The true average ticket price, in his words, were in the mid-$200 range, which he said was a fair price, especially when you're talking about Springsteen. I mean, he's regarded across the culture as one of the greatest artists of his generation. And I don't think that's a hyperbole at all.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, Springsteen himself stayed mum on the subject for a while, months and months. And then recently he spoke to Rolling Stone magazine. the conversation came to those tour price tickets and all the controversy, and he defended the prices. He said they were totally affordable, and he also said that Ticket Master should be able to sell some tickets at higher rates.
--:-- Christian Toto: So we're now again hearing calls for Ticket Master to be broken up. For example, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted something to that effect over the past few days. Is that something we could actually see?
--:-- John Bickley: It's certainly possible, and it'd be kind of interesting to see if this had some bipartisan in support. We'll have to kind of remain to see how that plays out. But, you know, she called Ticketmaster a monopoly. Pretty, pretty harsh words, but some may agree with that. And the U.S. Justice Department has opened up an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster. They've been reaching out to different companies, different venues, saying, hey, according to The York Times, is this an abuse of power in this concert space?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Of course, music lovers may have to wait a while if they want any lower prices or even just a little bit of what they see as justice. These antitrust battles, even the ones that are successful, they often take years and years to play out.
--:-- Christian Toto: All right. Well, Christian, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire contributor Christian Toto.
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--:-- John Bickley: Many factors contribute to how friendly a state is for business. A new report details the business climates for each state and where they ranked based on tax policy. Here to bring us more information is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: All right, Charlotte, some intriguing numbers here. Tell us about this report.
--:-- John Bickley: Sure. So the Tax Foundation released its 2023 State Business Tax Climate Index last month And through the findings we can see which states have the best and worst tax landscapes for businesses next year You might not be surprised to hear which states had the worst taxes New Jersey came in 50th place with New York California Connecticut Maryland and Minnesota coming in above it. So all pretty deep blue states there.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The best states were Wyoming at number one, then South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Montana, and New Hampshire. Unsurprisingly, mostly red states in that list.
--:-- John Bickley: What exactly contributes to a state being considered so burdensome for taxes?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: A few factors. So the report said that states that ranked the lowest had a few things in common, essentially high rates paired with complicated tax policies. New Jersey, which again was the worst state, came in 48th for individual and corporate taxes, 42nd for sales taxes, and 45th for property taxes. It has some of the steepest property taxes of any state, as well as the highest corporate income taxes, and one of the steepest rate individual income taxes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, one of the main reasons a state lands in the top 10 is when it doesn't have a major tax. Every state has property and unemployment insurance taxes, but some don't have one or more of the other huge taxes like the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, or the sales tax. Some examples of that are Nevada, Wyoming, and South Dakota. They don't have any individual or corporate income tax, but Nevada does tax companies on gross sales.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Alaska has no individual income tax or sales tax at the state level. Florida doesn't have an individual income tax, and New Hampshire and Montana don't have a sales tax. It's not entirely clear-cut, though, as the report points out. Indiana and Utah do have all of the major taxes, but they're still in the top 10 states on the report.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, I noticed Texas, which has no income tax, is off the top 10 list there. Why is that?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, Janelle Fritz, a policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, told me that even though Texas doesn't have an individual income tax, it has high sales taxes and high property tax collections. And while it doesn't have a traditional corporate income tax, the way it targets businesses' gross receipts is actually worse.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Some other interesting points. Arizona moved up in its ranking this year. It changed from four income tax brackets to two, and in 2023, a 2.5% tax rate will start, which is lower than it has been and will help it move up in the rankings next year.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Washington state moved down on the list a full 13 places. It used to not have an income tax, but now it started a capital gains income tax on people who make a lot of money. But the tax isn't adjusted for inflation and has a marriage penalty.
--:-- John Bickley: Janelle Fritz, again from the Tax Foundation, she told me that states can improve their rankings by prioritizing pro-growth tax policies. And they shouldn't just try to get rid of a specific tax only since that can sometimes lead to undesirable trade-offs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What are some other factors that residents should take into account when it comes to taxes in their state?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, an interesting thing that might come into play is the tax on student debt forgiveness. Some states don't tax on this, but others might tax the forgiven loans as someone's income. CNBC also ranks states to see which are the best this year for business and also incorporated how states use certain competitiveness markers to promote business in their state. North Carolina came in first, followed by Washington and Virginia, with Mississippi coming in last, followed by Alaska and Louisiana.
--:-- John Bickley: The site used other measurements, such as the life, health, and inclusion in the state, its business friendliness, education, and cost of living. But lots of factors certainly can be important for companies as they either attract people to live there or don't, as we're seeing with people moving out of California to other states where they would rather work and live.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, it makes sense. A lot of factors to consider there.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
