Podcast Summary: "The Year, According to Tracy Alloway, Felix Salmon, and Robert Smith"

Podcast: Everybody's Business (Bloomberg & iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Date: December 26, 2025
Hosts: Max Chafkin & Stacey Vanek Smith
Guests: Tracy Alloway (Bloomberg/Host of Odd Lots), Felix Salmon (Slate Money), Robert Smith (Planet Money, Pushkin Business History)

Main Theme and Purpose

This special year-in-review episode assembles "the Legends of Pod"—three acclaimed business and economic journalists—to reflect on the defining business, economic, and political moments of 2025. The roundtable explores the past year's biggest numbers, most notable events, and weirdest controversies, blending sharp analysis with behind-the-scenes context and plenty of humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Each Legend's "Number of the Year"

(03:06–13:45)

• Tracy Alloway – 40%
  40% of 2025 US GDP growth is attributed to AI investment, surpassing even consumer spending growth as a driver.
  • “Half the US economy is now driven by AI capital spending. It's a bigger driver of the US Economy now than consumer spending growth, which is crazy.” (03:06–03:40)
• Felix Salmon – $115 Million
  The astronomical legal bill run up in the Charlie Javice vs. J.P. Morgan fintech fraud saga—mostly paid by J.P. Morgan due to legal insurance loopholes and aggressive lawyering.
  • “She got JP Morgan to pay all of her legal bills... $2,100 an hour... $115 million of legal bills, which they then presented to JP Morgan and said, you have to pay this.” (05:12–06:18)
• Robert Smith – 2.24
  The global total fertility rate: averaging barely above the replacement rate, signaling that worldwide population may soon start to decline for the first time.
  • “It does appear that during my lifetime... the globe will stop growing in population and will begin to decline.” (08:05)

2. Musk, Memes & Metrics

(11:00–16:00)

• Musk-Adjacent Numbers
  Discussion of dubious financial “wins” claimed by Musk and the "Doge" phenomenon (“$214 billion saved”), the crossover of Silicon Valley design into government, and the "woke fonts" meme (Calibri vs. Times New Roman as a political flashpoint).
  • “The Airbnb guy is like the chief design officer for the US government... the websites look like 2010 startup designs.” (12:04–12:32)

3. Stories of the Year by Category

(17:00–43:00)

• Flub of the Year: Trump’s "Liberation Day" Tariff Rollout

• Clumsy launch of broad, chaotic tariffs causing global market disruptions—complete with a poster of tariffs on penguin-inhabited islands.
  • “Giant poster... American industry was reborn… And it just did not have to be that way. Yet it was.” (17:43–18:35)
  • “My favorite moment... tariffs imposed on uninhabited islands—inhabited only by penguins and seals.” (19:08–19:13)

• Person of the Year: Shohei Ohtani (and Trump, grudgingly)

• Max nominates the transcendent baseball player for his “freaking cool” dual-role performances, a rare positive story amid the divisiveness.
  • “He pitched in a game and hit home runs. Even Babe Ruth... did not do that. It's really freaking cool.” (23:03–23:09)

• Feud of the Year: Scott Besant vs Maersk (Michael Musk) in the White House

• A near-physical altercation over IRS nominations, emblematic of the reality-TV governance style in the current administration.
  • “A famous shouting match that almost became a fist fight in the White House.” (23:46–23:57)

• Meme of the Year: Trump/Powell Hardhat Tour Snap

• Viral photo of Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a construction tour, Trump inventing cost overruns, Powell confused and frowning.
  • “Poor Jay Powell, who actually takes numbers seriously, looks confused, disturbed... has a very pronounced frown.” (27:27–28:15)

• CEO Social Media Post of the Year (Non-Ackman): Alex Karp’s "Neurodivergent Fellowship"

• Palantir CEO's awkward post-DealBook-conference initiative—supposedly celebrating neurodiversity with no clear criteria—sparks confusion and ridicule.

• CEO Social Media Post of the Year (Ackman division): "May I Meet You?"

• Ackman’s widely-mocked/imitated dating approach tweet.
  • “He claimed his technique for picking up women is to approach them and say, ‘May I meet you?’ And he claimed to never have received a no.” (41:03–41:15)

• Product of the Year: Labubu (Chinese Toy Craze)

• The first non-American toy phenomenon to dominate the US market, compared to Beanie Babies, but driven by Chinese cultural exports.
  • “It's the first time I can remember America falling for a huge sort of toy craze that wasn't American and where [we’re] not the main character.” (36:37–36:47)

• TikTok’s Ghost Ban

• Despite being banned in the US, TikTok continues to thrive, with legal and enforcement absurdities on display.
  • “The White House had to beg Apple to put it back. And Apple was like, but there’s a law against it… And eventually they relented.” (37:48–38:15)

4. "Who is Trump Talking About?" Game Show

(45:56–57:05)

A lightning round where panelists guess which public figure Trump is referencing, ranging from world leaders (Japan’s Prime Minister, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mark Carney), US officials (Jerome Powell, Scott Besant, Stephen Miller) to classic rock bands (“KISS”). This segment showcases the surreal and reality-TV-like flavor of the year in Washington, as well as Trump’s unique rhetorical flourishes.

• Memorable moment:
  “I call them the Bobsy twins. They are the most different human beings I've ever met... like by about 200 yards.” (50:05–51:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI and Markets:

  • "Half the US economy is now driven by AI capital spending. It's a bigger driver... than consumer spending growth." — Tracy Alloway (03:37)

• On the $115 Million Legal Bill:

  • “She got JP Morgan to pay all of her legal bills... $2,100 an hour... $115 million... after losing even more than that on buying her company in the first place.” — Felix Salmon (05:12–06:18)
  • “It’s kind of a tip, which, as we know, is gonna be tax free.” — Robert Smith (06:23)

• On Fertility and Demographics:

  • “We don’t have an economics profession that has ever dealt with shrinking population globally.” — Robert Smith (09:00)
  • “Elon has the solution to this, which is pay every woman who has a baby $30 million…” — Felix Salmon (09:11)

• On Trump's "Liberation Day":

  • “It did not have to be that way. And yet it was... an enormous amount of chaos for businesses that is ongoing.” — Tracy Alloway (18:15–18:35)
  • “My favorite moment: tariffs on uninhabited islands—included for no reason!” — Robert Smith (19:08)

• On Billionaires' Behavior:

  • “People become very, very weird after they become billionaires.” — Felix Salmon (32:08)
  • “Billionaires used to be boring... now there are incentives to be as weird as possible.” — Robert Smith (33:10–33:28)

• On Labubu Phenomenon:

  • “America’s fallen for a huge sort of toy craze that wasn’t American and we’re not the main character at all.” — Felix Salmon (36:37–36:47)

• On the Ackman "May I Meet You?" Tweet:

  • “He claimed to never have received a no. People who tried to adopt this technique… had less success, let’s put it that way.” — Tracy Alloway (41:03–41:17)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:06–13:45] — Panelists' Numbers of the Year
• [17:00–43:00] — Category Awards: Flub, Person, Feud, Meme, Social Post, Product
• [45:56–57:05] — "Who is Trump Talking About?" guessing game
• Passim — Notable sidebars on social media, billionaires' eccentricities, and pop culture business moments

Tone and Style

The episode is fast-paced, witty, and blends insight with satirical asides. The hosts and guests riff off each other’s experience and pop culture touchstones to make sense of a year where economic headlines often bordered on the surreal. The chemistry is high, humor is omnipresent, and even the grave moments (like global depopulation or chaotic government rollouts) are dissected with sharp, knowing wit.

Takeaways

• AI’s dominance: Artificial Intelligence investment shapes nearly half of new US economic growth, eclipsing even consumer spending.
• Legal excess: Corporate legal battles and eccentric CEO antics are bigger and more public than ever.
• Geopolitics & culture: The US economy and cultural landscape reel from both policy shocks (Trump tariffs, TikTok ban) and surprising imports (Labubu, TikTok, sports heroes like Ohtani).
• Surreality of 2025 politics: Reality TV-style drama (from White House feuds to meme-able moments) defines the public business conversation.
• Billionaires as performance artists: The ultra-wealthy are now public performers, using Twitter (now X), memes, and manufactured controversy to command attention.

Conclusion

This whirlwind year-end review distills 2025’s wild blend of tech revolution, government chaos, changing demographics, and the increasingly performative nature of power—both in business and politics. For listeners who missed it, this episode provides a sharp, insightful, and very entertaining map of what mattered (and what was simply too weird to ignore) in the year’s business news.