Government shutdown déjà vu

Make Me Smart March 21, 2024 Transcript

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Kimberly Adams 

I just heard something on the news about the guy who played Ferris Bueller. Wasn’t it like, his birthday or something?

Kai Ryssdal 

Matthew Broderick? I don’t know. All right, Jesson Duller. That’s controls. There we go.

Kimberly Adams 

Hello everyone, I’m Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where we make today make sense.

Kai Ryssdal 

I’m Kai Ryssdal. Thursday today, March 21. Thanks for coming on the pod, being on the pod, whatever it is, you’re here.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. And today, we are going to do what we normally do on Thursdays, which is listen back to some audio clips from some of the big stories of the week. So, we have a couple of those snippets lined up. Let’s hear our first one.

Brian Schatz

“This is not a political or policy question for me. It’s basic timekeeping. Amending this bill will take up time that we don’t have all but guaranteeing a shutdown.”

Kai Ryssdal

Is that you or me?

Kimberly Adams 

It’s me, but I just love the sort of the exhaustion in his voice. That was Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz talking about the need for Congress to move quickly and pass a spending bill as we approach yet another government shutdown deadline. And so just as a reminder, they did this sort of laddered continuing resolution thing, where they had one package of bills to fund a portion of the government that already made it through. And then now the deadline has approached for the second package, which includes things like the Department of Homeland Security and a bunch of other things. So, the language for that $1.2 trillion funding package. This batch came out this morning, and it would fund about three quarters of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. And Congress. The deadline is Friday night, you know, Saturday morning, whatever you want to say midnight is, but there are all of these rules that they have to sort of work through. People want to amend it. The Republicans are having a fit because they feel like they haven’t had enough time to read it. Nobody’s had enough time to read it. And so yeah, they have until Saturday to get it done. It probably will get done because nobody wants a shutdown of like, a day, but it’s um, yeah, that’s where we are. For what it’s worth, though they are sort of. The Republicans really wanted, and one of the reasons the whole speaker fight happened, was that they wanted regular order. They wanted to be able to pass each of the individual appropriations bills and not have these giant pieces of legislation that bundle everything together into must pass bills. And despite everything. Despite all the machinations, here we are again.

Kai Ryssdal 

Here we are again. Here’s one other sort of indication about, you know, have a booger that Congress is. There is this and the GOP insisted on this, right? When Kevin McCarthy was around and other GOP speakers. The 72 hour rule that when you when you put a bill on the floor, you have to give members 72 hours to read it because these things were thousands of pages long. Speaker Johnson, as have other speakers before him, basically said, you know, we don’t have 72 hours to give you a vote or shut up, you know.

Kimberly Adams 

Basically. But I doubt he’ll lose a seat over it.

Kai Ryssdal 

No, no. No chance. I mean, you know, Matt Gaetz or somebody might try it, but I don’t think the House GOP wants to go through that again.

Kimberly Adams 

Again. Yes. All right.

Kai Ryssdal 

Okay, next one. Let’s go.

Jensen Huang

“This is Hopper. Hopper changed the world. This is Blackwell.”

Kai Ryssdal 

So, that was a guy by the name of Jensen Huang. He’s the CEO of Nvidia, which is the chip design company of the moment. It’s now like a two or three trillion-dollar company. It is exploding because the chips it works on designs are geared toward artificial intelligence. They came out the other day, I think it was two days ago with a new chip. It’s called Blackwell. And if you take it against one of their earlier chips, the Hopper chip, it’s like four times as big. It was either the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times that had a great graphic on how this thing was put together and the layers and how many circuits are on it, like in the billions and billions. It is absolutely crazy. Anything to do actually with less energy. We’re using less energy, which is really cool. AI is where it’s at. And if you’re in that field, you’re going to make a lot of money as Nvidia is doing. It’s really cool. It’s kind of amazing.

Kimberly Adams 

Wow, I’m looking at the picture of it, and this is amazing.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, it’s truly remarkable. And if you just take a second and look at that video just to see how complicated it is to build these things. And the reason I’m sort of into this now is I just came back from a reporting trip in Phoenix, where we talked a lot about semiconductors. And we talked about TSMC, which is a big chip manufacturer out there. Also, Intel got a billion dollars from the White House, eight and a half billion, I think in grants, and they’re going to get more in loans.

Kimberly Adams

11 billion in loans.

Kai Ryssdal

Yeah, 11 billion in loans. Yeah. I mean, the future is here, and it’s happening in Phoenix, Arizona and many other places and is going to be powered by chips like Blackwell. It’s amazing. Amazing.

Kimberly Adams 

It is. Okay, moving on. Let’s hear the next clip.

President Joe Biden

“Nearly all manufacturing are leading those chips across the entire industry moved overseas to Asia years ago. That’s why today’s investment is such a big deal. We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturer to make a comeback here in America after 40 years.”

Kai Ryssdal 

I didn’t know I was stepping on the next clip. Read ahead in the rundown, Kai. Read ahead in the rundown.

Kai Ryssdal

Were you at the event?

Kimberly Adams

I was not at the event, thank God, because those presidential events are a mess. And more to the point, the departure of Air Force One did not mess up my flight home.

Kimberly Adams 

Hmm, there you go. Well, that was obviously President Biden announcing that Intel was going to receive up to $8.5 billion in funding from the Chips Act. And I was doing a story on this yesterday. And the grants they have to hand out with the Chips Act are somewhere upwards of like $50 billion. And so, when you think about it, Intel, one company getting 8.5 billion of that is a huge deal. And it’s going to be in at least four states, either to build new plants, expand operations in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon. I spoke to a professor in Oregon who talked about what a huge employer Intel is in the state. But he was like, you know, yes, this is going to create tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs and construction jobs, but that’s not really the point. You know, because this is $8.5 billion for even 30,000 jobs is not really ROI. It’s the national security conversation. And it’s the bringing, you know, semiconductor chip manufacturing into the United States and building up those supply chains, you know, as we’ve covered quite a bit on all the shows.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, yeah, totally. Also, the scale of the construction that’s happening. Just very quick boots on the ground. The scale of this TSMC plant, the Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company that they’re building in Phoenix. It’s enormous. Truly. It’s just the scale of these things is incredible.

Kimberly Adams

What are they doing for water?

Kai Ryssdal

Well, that’s a very good question. The Phoenicians I spoke with are very proud of the fact that they have, in many instances, reduced their use through technology and through making water really expensive. Water in Phoenix apparently is incredibly expensive. But there’s not going to be enough water, right? And if Phoenix keeps growing. It’s the fifth largest city in the country. 1.6 million people in the middle of the bleeping desert, and it keeps growing the way it has been growing, there simply will not be enough water. And you know, Amy did this on How We Survive, too. So.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, and the reason I’m bringing this up is because this industry is notorious for requiring huge volumes of water to produce these chips. So yes.

Kai Ryssdal 

All right, last one. Here we go.

Steph Curry

“Her shooting ability is, you know, it’s her superpower, but the rest of her game is as polished as that, and so this is must-see TV.”

Kai Ryssdal 

That was Steph Curry for the Golden State Warriors. Basketball player, obviously. One of the great ones talking about another soon to be great. Well, she’s great in college, and she’s going pro next year. Caitlin Clark at the University of Iowa women’s basketball team. She, if you have been living under a rock or maybe just ignoring this. Have you heard of Caitlin Clark? Kimberly?

Kimberly Adams

I have. I have.

Kai Ryssdal

There you go. Okay, so.

Kimberly Adams 

That takes a lot.

Kai Ryssdal 

So, I was just going to say, if Kimberly Adams has heard of a college basketball star, then, you know, everybody has. Anyway, that was Steph Curry talking about.

Kimberly Adams 

It’s like, the only people I know are like her and Shohei Otani.

Kai Ryssdal 

Right, right. Right. Pitcher for the Dodgers. Right. Good for you. Good for you. Um, anyway, she is leading that team into the tournament, the NCAA women’s tournament, which starts either today or tomorrow. I don’t know when the women’s start. But also, her rise to stardom and the draw that she has been for women’s college basketball is sort of another example of the rise of women’s sports. Savannah Maher did a story for us the other day on the rise of women’s sports, and it’s from broadcasters are investing. Streamers are investing. Lots of just straight up people are investing. The women’s soccer team here in Los Angeles is a big women’s investment team. Also, you know who Patrick Mahomes is, right? No, okay. Quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. I thought you know, since the middle of the country close to St. Louis, you might know where he is. Patrick Mahomes.

Kimberly Adams 

St. Louis and Kansas City.

Kai Ryssdal 

I know, I know. I know. Don’t yell at me. Anyway, his wife is active in women’s sports, and in point of fact that Kansas City Women’s Professional Soccer League team just opened in the first professional stadium built for women, specifically for women’s team. Yeah, it’s kind of amazing. Kind of amazing. So, women’s sports are where it’s at. Another person big into women’s sports. Alexis Ohanian, the guy who co-founded Reddit.

Kimberly Adams

Yeah, of course he is.

Kai Ryssdal

Well, right. Exactly. Right. Married to Serena Williams, right. Father of two daughters, but also an investor in Angel City Football Club out here in Los Angeles. One of the lead investors. Yeah. So, women’s sports. They are coming for you. It’s good. It’s good to watch too.

Kimberly Adams 

Good.

Kai Ryssdal

There we go.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. I mean, I remember when the World Cup you know, before we all had our hearts broken. Everybody was like, yes. It was like the year that America finally rallied behind the Women’s National Team after decades of them just, you know, winning all the time. It’s okay. They did their best, and that’s what matters.

Kai Ryssdal 

There you go. We’re done for today. Two more quick things. One of which is that tomorrow’s Economics on Tap. It’s Friday. Kimberly’s out. It’s me and Nova Sofo. The YouTube livestream at 3:30 Pacific. 3:30 Pacific, yes, because I’ll be in the Pacific Time Zone. 6:30 Eastern. And that’s tomorrow.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. And since we were just talking about the Midwest, 5:30 Central. But one more thing before we go. We are still in our fundraising drive, and we really would love your support. And when you do give a monthly pledge to support Marketplace and hopefully Make Me Smart, those donations are going to be matched for a full year by our Investors Challenge Fund, which is a really big deal. And we haven’t done this before. It’s a new thing, and so we’re really hoping it’s successful. So, if you start a monthly gift of $5 it’ll basically have the same impact as if you gave $10 a month on Marketplace for a year, and that really helps our journalism, so if you sign up to give $10 that would be like 20 and math etc. As it goes on.

Kai Ryssdal 

10 gets you 20. 5 gets you 10. Take your pick. Double your money. Do it as you wish. marketplace.org/givesmart. We need your help. You know I say this every time we do this, and it’s just that’s a fact. We need your help. Also, we have throwback swag as a thank you. Those of you who are old timers here at Marketplace, which I am one, will appreciate that. marketplace.org/giftsmart. Thank you very much.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, please and thank you.

Kai Ryssdal

That’s what I meant to say please and thank you. I just couldn’t remember.

Kimberly Adams 

Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Audio engineering by Jesson Duller. Ellen Rolfes writes our newsletter. And Thalia Menchaca is our intern.

Kai Ryssdal 

Marissa Cabrera is the senior producer of this podcast. Bridget Bodnar is the director of all podcasts. Francesca Levy is the executive director of Digital and On-Demand.

Kimberly Adams 

Oh, Courtney says it’s Matthew Braddock’s birthday today, so that was the Ferris Bueller thing.

Kai Ryssdal 

Ferris Bueller, yeah. I just didn’t know it was a birthday. Alright wait, Courtney, if you’re still listening, how old is Matthew Broderick?

Courtney Bergsieker

He is 62.

Kai Ryssdal 

62. Boom. I’m younger than Matthew Broderick. I win.

Kimberly Adams 

Well, there you go. That’s all that matters.