Cars, crypto, and Cuba

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report — "Cars, Crypto, and Cuba"

Date: October 22, 2025
Host: David Brancaccio
Episode Overview:
In under ten minutes, this episode takes listeners through three tightly packed stories: the shifting electric vehicle (EV) market after a major policy change, the Federal Reserve’s openness to crypto, and Cuba's troubled tourism sector. The show wraps up with a quick nod to the global "beer index" and changing consumer habits amid economic uncertainty.

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1. Electric Vehicles After Federal Subsidies Expire

Segment Starts: [01:01]

Key Points:

• Tesla's Summer Results & Market Response: Tesla expected to report earnings and has launched new, sometimes more affordable EV models. Rivals like Hyundai, Chevy, and Ford respond with their own price cuts or less expensive offerings.
• Policy Change: Federal EV tax credits, which provided up to $7,500 off new vehicles, ended this month due to a GOP tax and spending bill.
• Impact on Consumers & Industry:
  • Jessica Caldwell, Head of Insights at Edmunds:

    “In this era of people struggling with affordability, that really helped a lot.” ([01:41])

  • Without subsidies, automakers must make their cars attractive "on their own merit."
  • Adapting Strategies: Cheaper models are prioritized to remain competitive and accessible.
• Market Sweet Spot:
  • Chris Harto, Consumer Reports:

    “There has been sort of a limited supply of vehicles in that sweet spot between 30 and $40,000, which is really where a lot of Americans who buy new cars are looking.” ([02:18])

  • Automakers know smaller margins on affordable cars are a trade-off to keep the future EV market growing.
• Segment Summary: Incentives are out, so affordability and value become the new battleground for EV makers.

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2. The Fed and Crypto: Toward Financial Innovation

Segment Starts: [02:46]

Key Points:

• Federal Reserve’s Attitude Shift:
  • The Fed hosted a conference on digital assets and payment innovations, focusing on how to integrate these tools rather than resist them.
  • Fed Governor Christopher Waller:

    “My view for the Fed from now on is embrace the disruption, don’t avoid it.” ([03:17])

• Potential New Fed Account:
  • Waller introduces a prototype account tailored for decentralized finance (DeFi) entities, allowing some access to Fed payment infrastructure.
  • Features: no interest, capped balances, easier money movement for crypto firms.
• Segment Summary: The Fed signals a transition from skepticism to experimentation with digital finance, aiming to modernize payments while maintaining oversight.

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3. Cuba’s Struggling Tourism Industry

Segment Starts: [04:05]

Key Points:

• Context:
  • Cuba, reliant on tourism for foreign currency, faces hardships due largely to U.S. sanctions (old embargo and 263 additional measures during the Trump era), pandemic fallout, and local economic mismanagement.
• Minister’s Take:
  • Juan Carlos Garcia Granda, Cuban Tourism Minister:

    “I’m not a doctor, but what I can say is tourism in Cuba is alive and kicking... we face obstacles unlike any of our competitors.” ([04:40])

    • Cites ban on U.S. cruise ships:

      “Take for example, the ban on cruise ships. What would Cuban tourism look like if we could still count on the cruise ships? We’d perhaps have a million more visitors a year.” ([05:12])

• Local Perspectives:
  • New K Tower Hotel in Havana—42 stories, 5 stars, the tallest on the island—is seen by some residents and students as a symbol of poor spending priorities amidst blackouts and shortages.
    • Dianis, Student:

      “I’d have used the money for other ends, for things we really need, like new hospitals.” ([06:05])

    • Sabrina, Architecture Student:

      “Engineering wise, it shows progress, but given our current circumstances, most people aren’t happy with how they’ve spent the funds.”

  • Minister responds to concerns:

    “There may be some indignation on the streets, but people are not frustrated. They’re still fighting, they’re still working, they’re still trying to help.” ([06:52])

• Segment Summary: The tension between high-profile tourist investments and everyday hardships is palpable. Despite official optimism, many Cubans are skeptical about economic priorities.

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4. The "Beer Index" and Shifting Consumer Behavior

Segment Starts: [07:06]

Key Points:

• Heineken CEO’s Warning:
  • Predicts declining global beer sales, blaming “macroeconomic volatility”—interpreted as consumer insecurity and changing policy landscapes (like tariffs).
• Underlying Reasons:
  • Health consciousness and popular weight-loss drugs contributing to less alcohol consumption.
• Segment Summary: Traditional indicators of economic anxiety are joined by evidence from beer sales, reflecting deeper changes in consumer habits.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On automakers post-subsidy:

  “The training wheels have come off. They have to figure out how to sell these vehicles on their own merit.” —Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds ([01:56])

• On new Fed openness to crypto:

  “Embrace the disruption, don’t avoid it.” —Christopher Waller, Federal Reserve ([03:17])

• On Cuba’s struggle:

  “Tourism in Cuba is alive and kicking from the intensity and the pressure of an economic war... we face obstacles unlike any of our competitors.” —Juan Carlos Garcia Granda ([04:40]) “I’d have used the money for other ends, for things we really need, like new hospitals.” —Dianis, Student ([06:05])

• On beer sales and economic indicators:

  “That’s likely code for consumer insecurity, given shifting policies such as Trump administration tariffs.” —David Brancaccio ([07:19])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:01] — Electric Vehicles: The Post-Subsidy Market
• [02:46] — Crypto and the Fed: Signals Toward Integration
• [04:05] — Cuba: Tourist Industry and Economic Struggles
• [07:06] — Beer Index: What Declining Sales Reveal

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Tone and Style

The reporting maintains Marketplace's signature concise, fact-packed style with a blend of expert analysis, vivid quotes, and human perspective. The tone remains measured, informative, and global.

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Bottom Line:
For listeners starting their day, this quick episode underscores three global pivot points—how EVs are priced and sold without government help, the Fed’s move to “embrace disruption” with crypto, and Cuba’s balancing act between tourist glitz and everyday struggle—all sandwiched by real-world economic signals like falling beer sales.

Transcript

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[David Brancaccio]

We have cars, crypto and Cuba stories for you this morning. I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. We'll find out how the summer was for Tesla after the market closes later today. This month, the company unveiled new and in some cases cheaper electric cars. Rivals Hyundai, Chevy and Ford are also promising to discount EVs or to roll out more affordable models at a time Congress and House have turned off federal electric car subsidies marketplaces. Savannah Peters has more.

[Savannah Peters]

For the last three years, electric vehicle sales were getting a lot of help from federal tax credits that knocked as much as $7,500 off the price of a new EV.

[Jessica Caldwell]

In this era of people struggling with affordability, that really helped a lot, says.

[Savannah Peters]

Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmonds. But as of the first of the month, that incentive was ended by the GOP tax and spending bill.

[Jessica Caldwell]

And so now it's up to automakers. Really, the training wheels have come off. They have to figure out how to sell these vehicles on their own merit.

[Savannah Peters]

For some automakers, that means offering more budget friendly EVs with fewer bells and whistles and price tags comparable to gas powered cars. Chris Harto with Consumer Reports says that's a product lots of car shoppers have been looking for.

[Jessica Caldwell]

There has been sort of a limited supply of vehicles in that sweet spot between 30 and $40,000, which is really where a of Americans who buy new cars are looking, harto says.

[Savannah Peters]

Those smaller, cheaper models won't turn as much profit, but Automakers hope they'll keep the EV market growing so they can sell more expensive ones down the road. I'm Savannah Peters for Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

America's central bank is looking at ways digital assets like crypto could play nice with the old school financial system. The Fed convened a conference yesterday to look at new ways to pay. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer monitor proceedings.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

Fed Governor Christopher Waller says the central bank needs to keep up with payments innovation and decentralized finance. The use of blockchain technology to move money around outside of banks. Waller says that's not viewed with suspicion or scorn at the Fed. Instead, he says, my view for the.

[David Brancaccio]

Fed from now on is embrace the disruption, don't avoid it.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

In fact, Waller thinks there should be a new type of Fed account to accommodate decentralized finance. He's come up with a prototype. It would give fintech firms access to Fed infrastructure to move money around. These accounts wouldn't pay interest and could be capped, but they could make life a lot easier for crypto firms. I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

Cuba needs tourists to bring and spend foreign currency. But the industry has taken a hit under pressure from the Trump administration and lingering challenges from the pandemic. The Cuban economy is now in a tough spot with rolling blackouts and food shortages. Are there ways to keep tourists with their money coming in? The BBC's Will Grant filed this report for us from Havana. Hola.

[Will Grant]

The BBC had the rare opportunity to discuss the health of the industry with the island's tourism minister, Juan Carlos Garcia Granda.

[Juan Carlos Garcia Granda]

I'm not a doctor, but what I can say is tourism in Cuba is alive and kicking from the intensity and the pressure of an economic war launched by the main source of tourists in the world, the United States. We face obstacles unlike any of our competitors.

[Will Grant]

We will enforce the ban on tourism.

[Jessica Caldwell]

We will enforce the embargo.

[Will Grant]

Broadly, he's referring to the decades long US Economic embargo on Cuba. But specifically he means a range of newer sanctions under the Trump administration.

[Juan Carlos Garcia Granda]

In Trump's first term, they took 263 measures against Cuba, the majority designed to destroy Cuban tourism. Take for example, the ban on cruise ships. What would Cuban tourism look like if we could still count on the cruise ships? We'd perhaps have a million more visitors a year.

[Will Grant]

But not all the decisions affecting the health of Cuban tourism have been taken in Washington.

[Local Resident / Student]

At the corner of 23 and L in Havana is a new landmark, the K Tower, the tallest building on the island. A 42 floor 5 star hotel meant to define the cutting edge of the tourism experience in Cuba. For many local residents, it's simply a gaudy and expensive symbol of the revolution's economic mismanagement.

[Will Grant]

There are plenty of other hotels in Havana, and it doesn't fit in with its surroundings, says student Dianis. I'd have used the money for other ends, for things we really need, like new hospitals. I see some positive and negative points, says Sabrina, who's studying architecture. Engineering wise, it shows progress, but given our current circumstances, most people aren't happy with how they've spent the funds. I put those complaints to the Cuban tourism minister, asking him if he could appreciate that people are growing increasingly frustrated amid nationwide blackouts at seeing new five star hotels in Havana with their lights blazing.

[Juan Carlos Garcia Granda]

There may be some indignation on the streets, but people are not frustrated. They're still fighting, they're still working, they're still trying to help.

[Will Grant]

I'm the BBC's Will Grant for Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

And there's an index of dread on the stock market, a measure of volatility some call the fear index. But how about the beer index? The CEO of Heineken warns beer sales will fall because of what he called macroeconomic volatility around the world. That's likely code for consumer insecurity, given shifting policies such as Trump administration tariffs. What he did not say is that beer sales are also falling because health conscious imbibers are turning to other things. Also, studies show popular weight loss drugs can help people drink less alcohol. In Los Angeles, I'm David Brancaccio. This is the Marketplace Morning Report from APM American Public Media.

[Bridget]

Hey everyone, it's Bridget, host of Million Bazillion, a podcast from Marketplace. You've probably heard about the government shutdown, but if you're anything like our young caller Esme, whose dad is a federal worker, you might still have questions.

[Juan Carlos Garcia Granda]

I've noticed that my dad hasn't been going to work, and I don't know when the government Chittenden Will, Dolph and my dad can go back to work.

[Bridget]

We can help tune into our recent episode where we explain what you and the young ones in your life need to know about government shutdowns. Listen to Million Bazillion on your favorite podcast.

[Will Grant]

Applause.