SNAP is "a really important, invisible piece" of the economy

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: SNAP is "a really important, invisible piece" of the economy
Date: October 30, 2025
Host: David Brancaccio

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Overview

This episode delves into the economic ripple effects of the impending loss of SNAP (food stamp) benefits for millions of Americans due to an ongoing government shutdown. The discussion highlights the crucial but often overlooked role that SNAP plays not just in alleviating food insecurity, but also in sustaining local economies, small businesses, and jobs. Additional segments cover the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut amid government data blackouts, New York City’s mayoral race focused on a proposed rent freeze, and signs of economic insecurity in the restaurant sector.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. SNAP Benefit Disruption and Economic Impact

(Segment starts at 01:15)

• Scope of SNAP:

  • Nearly 42 million Americans rely on food stamps (SNAP).
  • The government shutdown threatens to interrupt these benefits in November.

• Community & Economic Effects:

  • Each month, around $8 billion in SNAP benefits flow into businesses, often within recipients’ communities.

  • Stores in lower-income and rural neighborhoods are particularly reliant, with some getting more than 50% of sales from SNAP customers.

    “This is a really important invisible piece of the economy.” — Lily Roberts, Center for American Progress (01:56)

• Business Implications:

  • Independent and small grocers plan staffing and inventory around SNAP payment cycles.
  • A lapse in payments could mean reduced hours, spoilage in perishables, and significantly lower sales.

• Jobs and Stimulus Effect:

  • SNAP supports approximately 400,000 U.S. jobs, generates about $20 billion in wages, and over $4 billion in taxes.

  • Functions as an economic stimulus, especially vital during downturns.

    “We sometimes talk about SNAP as if it's a cost and a drain on the economy, but it's actually an important component ... not only [ensuring] people have enough food to eat, but that businesses in the food sector have a regular flow of income.”
    — Elaine Waxman, Urban Institute (03:03)

  • Every $1 of SNAP spending creates over $1.50 in economic activity.

• Summary Quote:

  “The abrupt loss of SNAP dollars will also hurt stores that accept food stamp ... cards in practice.”
  — Samantha Fields, Marketplace (01:56)

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2. Federal Reserve Interest Rate Cut Amid Shutdown

(Segment starts at 03:29)

• The Fed cut rates by a quarter point as the job market slows.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that further cuts are not a “foregone conclusion” due to lack of fresh economic data during the shutdown.

  “A rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it.” — Jerome Powell (03:54, as cited by Nancy Marshall Genzer)

• The Federal Reserve Board is divided:

  • Two dissents: One wanted deeper cuts, the other wanted no cut.

• Uncertainty Looms:

  • The lack of government data complicates future decisions.

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3. New York City Mayoral Race: The Debate Over Rent Freezes

(Segment starts at 05:45)

• Issue at Stake:

  • Frontrunner Zoran Mamdani campaigns on freezing rents for one million subsidized apartments.
  • Opponents argue this could hurt landlords.

• Historical Context:

  • The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) in NYC sets allowable increases for stabilized units.

  • Previous freezes in 2015 and 2016 correlated with fewer tenants falling behind on rent and fewer utility shutoffs.

    “You actually saw that particular hardship drop by about eight or nine points and other hardships as well.” — Oksana Mironova, Community Service Society of NY (06:54)

• Landlord Concerns:

  • Rising costs for insurance, taxes, and labor mean rents that don’t keep up with expenses force landlords to delay repairs.

    “If you don't have enough revenue to keep up with your expenses, you know you often are now delaying a repair.” — Ann Korchak, Small Property Owners of NY (07:40)

• National Context:

  • Rent freezes are rare but gaining traction in other cities; policymakers are watching New York closely for outcomes.

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4. Economic Insecurity and Its Broader Effects

(Segment starts at 08:31)

• Economic anxiety is leading to reduced consumer spending—even at restaurants like Chipotle, whose clientele skews middle-class.
• Chipotle’s profits met targets, but the chain forecasts fewer customers and saw its stock drop 18% in pre-market trading.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Lily Roberts (Center for American Progress):

  “This is a really important invisible piece of the economy.” (01:56)

• Elaine Waxman (Urban Institute):

  “We sometimes talk about SNAP as if it's a cost and a drain on the economy, but it's actually an important component ... not only [ensuring] people have enough food to eat, but that businesses in the food sector have a regular flow of income.” (03:03)

• Jerome Powell (Fed Chair), via Nancy Marshall Genzer:

  “A rate cut in December is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it.” (03:54)

• Oksana Mironova (Community Service Society of NY):

  “You actually saw that particular hardship drop by about eight or nine points and other hardships as well.” (06:54)

• Ann Korchak (Small Property Owners of NY):

  “If you don't have enough revenue to keep up with your expenses, you know you often are now delaying a repair.” (07:40)

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Timeline of Major Segments

• 01:15–03:29: SNAP benefits shutoff, economic risks, and community impact
• 03:29–04:43: Federal Reserve rate cut and policy uncertainty
• 05:45–08:31: NYC rent freeze debate, tenant/landlord impacts, and national relevance
• 08:31–08:55: Economic insecurity’s effect on consumer behavior (Chipotle)

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Tone:
The tone is brisk and informative, typical of Marketplace’s morning briefings. The reporting is data-driven, with experts providing analysis in clear, accessible language.

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Bottom Line:
This episode succinctly illustrates how government policy and economic shocks cascade through communities—from food security to retail jobs to political debates over housing—showing the tight interconnection between public assistance, local economies, and broader financial confidence.

Transcript

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[David Brancaccio]

Business news includes food stamps, interest rates and rent freezes. I'm David Brancaccio in Los angeles. It's now 3:30 days of government shutdown. It is now likely that Most of the 42 million people on food stamps or SNAP will not get their November benefits starting this weekend. I say most, with some states trying to find ways to fill the gap when or if the government reopens, the delayed money would come. Now. We've been reporting on how this hits vulnerable families and food banks nationwide, which are already coping with a spike in demand. As Marketplace's Samantha Fields reports here, the abrupt loss of SNAP dollars will also hurt stores that accept food stamp actually EBT cards. In practice.

[Samantha Fields]

Every month, the federal government spends about $8 billion on SNAP benefits. The millions of people who get those benefits then spend them at businesses, often in their communities. This is a really important invisible piece of the economy. Lily Roberts at the center for American Progress says it's not just people who qualify for those benefits who rely on them. There are stores in neighborhoods that have more than 50% of their sales from SNAP. Those are stores that are typically in lower income areas or that are in rural areas. If benefits just stop. Stephanie Johnson at the National Grocers association says it will be a big deal for those stores, especially small independent ones.

[Carla Javier]

Grocer staffing and inventory are planned around SNAP benefits, so a lapse could lead to reduced employee hours, losses in perishable food items and declining sales, she says.

[Samantha Fields]

SNAP supports nearly 400,000 jobs in the US and helps generate about 20 billion in wages and over 4 billion in taxes. Elaine Waxman at the Urban Institute says it acts as a form of stimulus, especially during economic slowdowns.

[Elaine Waxman]

We sometimes talk about SNAP as if it's a cost and a drain on the economy, but it's actually an important component of the way that we not only assure that people can have enough food to eat, but that the businesses in the food sector have have a regular flow of income.

[Samantha Fields]

Every dollar the government spends on snap generates over $1.50 in economic activity. I'm Samantha Fields for Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

Markets predicted it and it happened. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates yesterday by a quarter of a percentage point, with the job market losing steam. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell made no promises about more cuts this year. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer has that.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

Fed Chair Jerome Powell set the tone in his opening statement at yesterday's press conference. Even before he started taking questions. He said a rate cut in December.

[Podcast Sponsor Announcer 1]

Is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

In fact, Powell said there are strongly differing views about what to do at the next meeting. Part of the problem is the federal government isn't producing economic data right now because of the shutdown, powell said. There's a growing chorus of central bank officials who think the Fed should wait before lowering rates again. The division at the Fed is clear. There were two dissents at this week's meeting. One dissenter wanted even lower rates. The other didn't want a rate cut at all. I'm Nancy Marshall Genser for Marketplace.

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[David Brancaccio]

To choose New York City's next mayor. The apparent frontrunner, Zoran Mamdani, has made a rent freeze for a million rent subsidized apartments his signature issue. His opponents, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, say that's a bad idea. Freezing rent does have a recent track record in New York marketplaces. Carla Javier has that.

[Carla Javier]

In New York City, the mayor appoints members of the Rent Guidelines Board, and every year the RGB decides how much rents on stabilized units increase. Former chair Rachel Godsel explained the board's balancing act at a June 2015 meeting.

[Interviewee / Expert]

The purpose of the law and the role of the RGB are to protect tenants from excessively high rents while also ensuring that owners can pay for necessary costs and receive a fair return on their investment.

[Carla Javier]

That year, the balance the RGB struck was a 0% rent increase. The next year, it extended the freeze. Oksana Mironova is a senior policy analyst with the Community Service Society of New York. Her organization surveys low income New Yorkers.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

Usually there's about like 25 to 30% of people who fall behind on the.

[Carla Javier]

Rent, but she says during the freeze.

[Nancy Marshall Genzer]

You actually saw that particular hardship drop by about eight or nine points and other hardships as well.

[Carla Javier]

Tenants reported fewer utility shutoffs and eviction threats, Mironova says. But landlords of rent stabilized units found the freeze challenging, according to Small Property Owners of New York board president Ann Korchak. She points to RGB data from 2017 showing they faced increased costs for insurance, taxes.

[Interviewee / Expert]

Labor operating expenses increased over 6% and 4.5% in 2018. So those rent freezes meant that, you know, rent was not keeping up.

[Carla Javier]

Korczak co owns two buildings that include rent stabilized units. She says that buildings like hers are old and needed repairs during the freeze.

[Interviewee / Expert]

If you don't have enough revenue to keep up with your expenses, you know you often are now delaying a repair.

[Carla Javier]

The RGB froze rents again early in the pandemic, but the nationwide eviction moratorium and assistance programs make it hard to draw lessons from that freeze. Since then, the board has approved increases of between 1 and a half and 3.25% annually. Elsewhere in the country, freezes are relatively rare, says Edward Goetz at the University of Minnesota. But rent regulation may be gaining steam. St. Paul, Minnesota put it in place.

[Interviewee / Expert]

And you have it on the ballot in places across the country, in the Midwest and other eastern cities where it hadn't been on the agenda before, getz.

[Carla Javier]

Says those jurisdictions will be watching how New York balances the needs of tenants and landlords going forward. I'm Carla Javier from Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

And economic insecurity is keeping people from eating at Chipotle, which tends to cater to more middle class diners. While profits met expectations yesterday, Chipotle expects even fewer people will come in the fall. The Stock is down 18% in pre market trading now. Los Angeles. I'm David Brancaccio, 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.

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I've noticed that my dad hasn't been going to work and I don't know when the government shut down will stop 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.

[K12 Advertisement Announcer]

Applause.