What’s next for BP?

Summary

Marketplace Podcast Summary: “What’s Next for BP?”
Hosted by Kai Ryssdal | Release Date: February 13, 2025

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Introduction

In the February 13, 2025 episode of Marketplace, host Kai Ryssdal delves into the multifaceted economic landscape shaping today's business environment. The episode, titled “What’s Next for BP?”, navigates through pressing topics such as persistent inflation, shifting global trade dynamics, the rise of digital payment networks, the influence of social media financial gurus, strategic pivots in the oil industry, and evolving trends in the live music sector.

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Inflation and Shelter Costs

Kai opens the discussion by addressing the latest inflation data released on February 12th. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.5% month-over-month and 3% year-over-year, signaling that inflation remains stubbornly high (01:11). Key contributors include energy, hotels, airfare, and notably, shelter costs, which accounted for nearly a third of the monthly increase.

Chen Zhao, head of economics research at Redfin, explains, “The Labor Department's definition of shelter costs includes rents and lodging away from home,” clarifying that while hotel costs have surged, rental prices have stabilized. Denise Leonhard adds, “For the last two and a half years, rents have been really flat, and in some parts of the country, rents have even been falling” (02:49).

The episode highlights that an influx of new apartment constructions, particularly in the Sun Belt, has alleviated some rental pressures. Bill Adams from Comerica Bank notes, “There are a lot of newly built apartments that are finally coming online” (02:58). However, high financing costs and constrained construction pipelines in regions like the Northeast may reignite rent inflation (03:41).

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US Tariffs and Global Trade

Shifting focus to international trade, Kai discusses the impact of recent Trump administration tariffs on steel, aluminum, and a broad range of Chinese imports. These tariffs, coupled with threats against Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and retaliatory measures from allies, have created a turbulent trade environment (04:12).

Syretta Jackson, President and CEO of the Global Research Institute of International Trade, shares insights on navigating these challenges. She emphasizes that businesses are adapting by exploring alternative manufacturing locations, such as Mexico, to mitigate tariff impacts. “Prices will go up, the business owner will have to carry those costs, and some of those costs will be passed on to the consumer” (07:11).

Jackson also underscores the critical role of international institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) in sustaining global trade norms amidst rising protectionism. “We are going through a unique period with shifts, but the WTO can continue to govern so that trade remains beneficial” (09:26).

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Rise of Digital Payment Networks

The podcast explores the exponential growth of peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps. Zelle reported servicing $1 trillion in payments last year, marking a significant milestone (10:33). Denise Leonhard discusses the transformation of financial transactions, noting, “They're being used peer to landlord” (11:07).

However, the surge in digital payments brings concerns. Lisa Gill from Consumer Reports warns, “The quick, irreversible nature of these apps makes it easier to send money to the wrong person or fall prey to scammers” (12:17). Regulatory challenges persist, as these platforms are not traditional banks and offer limited fraud protection, despite recent oversight efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (12:35).

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The Influence of Financial Influencers

Social media's pervasive influence extends into the financial realm, with financial influencers—or “finfluencers”—shaping investment and personal finance decisions. Isabella Kwai from The New York Times discusses the dual-edged nature of these influencers, who range from certified financial planners to unverified personalities potentially spreading misinformation (13:43).

Isabella emphasizes the risks associated with finfluencers: “There is potential for misinformation to spread… it can be really hard for the everyday investor to discern useful advice from harmful” (14:27). The conversation highlights the necessity for consumers to exercise caution and perform due diligence when following financial advice online (16:12).

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BP and the Oil Industry's Strategic Shift

A focal point of the episode is the strategic pivot within the oil industry, particularly BP's announcement to fundamentally reset its business strategy amid declining profits (21:04). Contrary to expectations that BP might pivot toward renewables, the company, along with Shell and Equinor, is doubling down on oil and natural gas production.

Severin Borenstein from UC Berkeley explains, “A few years ago, the political winds were clearly favoring renewables, but now, with the Trump administration encouraging more oil and gas drilling, the calculus has changed” (21:49). The sustained high prices of oil and natural gas, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have made traditional fossil fuel investments highly profitable.

Christopher Knittle from MIT adds, “Natural gas prices in Europe are still high, and oil prices have stayed pretty high,” reinforcing why oil companies are focusing on their core competencies to maximize shareholder wealth (22:33).

Hugh Daigle at UT Austin points out the importance of policy and public investment in enabling successful transitions to emerging technologies. “Policy and public investment matter when you look at the history of emerging technologies… it takes a long time for it to become profitable” (23:07).

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Concert Industry's Expansion into Mid-sized Cities

The live music sector is experiencing substantial growth, with North American concert ticket sales reaching an all-time high in 2023. Companies like Venue are targeting mid-sized cities by developing boutique amphitheaters, aiming to replicate the success of Denver’s Red Rocks with new venues in Colorado Springs and beyond (23:54).

However, this expansion is not without challenges. Local residents have raised concerns about noise pollution, as exemplified by Cherie Hutchison's testimony, “We had to cut our evening short as the band was screaming profanities… at over 70 decibels” (26:31). In response, Venue plans to invest $3 million in sound mitigation measures to address community grievances (27:06).

Dean Budnick, a concert industry writer, notes, “This is pretty common with new event spaces; it can take some time to calibrate the sound levels” (25:46). Despite initial resistance, Venue's CEO J.W. Roth remains optimistic, citing economic benefits and new business establishments like hotels and restaurants as compensatory factors (27:37).

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Federal Reserve's Interest Rate Policy

Concluding the episode, Kai touches upon the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates. Amidst ongoing inflation concerns, the Fed signals there are no imminent rate cuts. Chair Powell reaffirmed, “We want to keep policy restrictive for now” during a Capitol Hill hearing, indicating a continued focus on controlling inflation (28:19).

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Conclusion

The episode weaves together diverse economic narratives, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of current trends and strategic shifts across various industries. From the resilience of inflation factors and global trade tensions to the transformative impacts of digital finance and strategic realignments within the oil sector, Marketplace offers valuable insights into the evolving business landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• Chen Zhao (02:27): “The Labor Department's definition of shelter costs includes rents, but it also includes what it calls lodging away from home.”

• Denise Leonhard (02:49): “For the last two and a half years, rents have been really flat, and in some parts of the country, rents have even been falling.”

• Syretta Jackson (07:11): “Prices will go up, the business owner will have to carry those costs, and some of those costs will be passed on to the consumer.”

• Lisa Gill (12:17): “The quick, irreversible nature of these apps makes it easier to send money to the wrong person or fall prey to scammers.”

• Isabella Kwai (14:27): “There is potential for misinformation to spread… it can be really hard for the everyday investor to discern useful advice from harmful.”

• Severin Borenstein (21:49): “The political winds were clearly favoring renewables, but now, with the Trump administration encouraging more oil and gas drilling, the calculus has changed.”

• Hugh Daigle (23:07): “Policy and public investment matter when you look at the history of emerging technologies… it takes a long time for it to become profitable.”

• Cherie Hutchison (26:31): “We had to cut our evening short as the band was screaming profanities… at over 70 decibels.”

• Chair Powell (28:19): “We want to keep policy restrictive for now.”

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This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the episode, enriched with timestamped quotes and attributed speakers, providing a clear and comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the podcast.

Transcript

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Kai Rysdal]

All right, I'm just going to get right to it. Uh oh, that's it. That's the Open From American Public Media, this is Marketplace in Los Angeles. I'm Kai Rysdal. It is Wednesday today, 12th February. Good as always to have you along, everybody. We have heard over the past year or so that inflation's bumpy, that it's sticky, that the last mile, as it were, to the Fed's desired landing at 2% is the hard part. Inflation is, in fact, turning out to be all of those things, and maybe a little bit more, too. The January consumer price index came out this morning, up half a percent month to month, 3% on a yearly basis. Not what anybody wants to hear, obviously. And you could pick your favorite villain. Energy, hotels, airfare, they all went up. Shelter has been a persistent source of some of that stickiness. It accounted for nearly a third of that monthly increase in this morning's report. And yes, that does sound bad. But as Marketplace's Justin Ho reports, rent inflation has actually been coming down a bit lately.

[Chen Zhao]

The Labor Department's definition of shelter costs includes rents, but it also includes what it calls lodging away from home.

[Denise Leonhard]

Just think of that as basically hotels.

[Kai Rysdal]

When you go on vacation.

[Chen Zhao]

That's Chen Zhao, head of economics research at the real estate company Redfin. She says those lodging costs went up in January, but rents have not been increasing so quickly. According to the Labor Department and Redfin's own data.

[Denise Leonhard]

What you'll see is that for the last two, two and a half years, rents have been really flat, and in some parts of the country, rents have even been falling.

[Chen Zhao]

There are a lot of newly built apartments that are finally coming online, says Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. He says this is happening the most in the Sun Belt, where there's lots of undeveloped land and where home building.

[Ben Ayres]

Is cheaper and faster to do.

[Chen Zhao]

But in other parts of the country, the pipeline of new apartments is still pretty constrained, especially in the Northeast and the coastal. And there we're likely to see faster.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Rent increases in markets that are adding.

[Ben Ayres]

Less supply, where construction is more expensive.

[Chen Zhao]

The numbers of new apartment construction projects and building permits have been trending lower. Chen Zhao at Redfen says some contractors don't want to keep building apartments if rents are stagnant.

[Denise Leonhard]

Meanwhile, they're also facing very high financing costs because interest rates continue to be high.

[Chen Zhao]

All of that means the supply of new apartments could start to dwindle, says Ben Ayres, senior economist at Nationwide.

[Sponsor Announcer]

You know, a year from now, two.

[Kai Rysdal]

Years from now, we might be back.

[Sponsor Announcer]

In this similar situation where we're talking about constrained housing supply because we're just not building enough to keep up with the amount of demand in the market.

[Chen Zhao]

And that means housing costs could start to put more pressure on inflation. I'm Justin Ho for Marketplace Wall street today.

[Kai Rysdal]

Interestingly, not all that upset by that CPI report. We'll have the details when we do the numbers. It is one short month from today, March 12, that the Trump administration's 25% steel and aluminum tariffs hit. As the president said when he signed the orders on Monday, it's a big deal. What's also a big deal are the additional 10% tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on all Chinese imports and the threats of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and Colombia and various retaliatory tariffs threatened by our allies in response. In short, it has been a month in global trade. Sarita Jackson is the president and CEO of the Global Research Institute of International Trade, that is a trade consultancy. Syretta. Welcome to the program.

[Syreta Jackson]

Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be a part of the program.

[Kai Rysdal]

Explain to me, would you, the life of a trade consultant here in February 2025.

[Syreta Jackson]

Wow. Well, the best explanation I could say is just kind of being in the middle of a storm, if you will, just really staying on top of what those changes are on a regular basis. I would say 24 hours. Sometimes it's less than 24 hours.

[Kai Rysdal]

A woman's gotta sleep, right? But, but look, other the heck is going on? What are like the top three things that people are asking you?

[Syreta Jackson]

Well, the main thing is what does this mean for my product in a particular market? For example, some of my clients are one of the clients. And actually we're scheduled to talk again soon. Toward the end of last year, you know, I had worked with her, I said, hey, why don't you consider having your product or part of it manufactured in Mexico as opposed to China? Because we had these tariff already already the tariffs going on and then we're hearing about more tariffs. So why don't you shift to Mexico? Because we have the U. S. Mexico Canada agreement. Well then there were this, the concern about okay, what does this mean for me now that I am looking at Mexico for my production and there still are going to be these tariffs? Another issue that has really come up is pertaining to funding some of these clients and I just had this conversation yesterday actually is okay, well if there's cuts to the funding for the U.S. agency for International Development and that's how I'm able to expand overseas, what does that mean for me to still continue to remain globally integrated in 2025?

[Kai Rysdal]

Do you have many or any companies saying that because of the present tariffs and whatever tariffs may come that they are going to reshore their production and bring it back to the United States?

[Syreta Jackson]

You know, that is one of the interesting things that I was waiting to hear and as of yet I have not heard that. What has impressed me and these are smaller companies by the way, what has really been interesting, at least with the companies that I've spoken with. Now maybe someone else may have a different story, but they still are going global or remaining globally integrated and just saying, well, we just need to adjust and figure out the best strategy with the resources that are available.

[Kai Rysdal]

Right, right. Two more things and then I'll let you get back to work because I know you have client calls that you have to get on. The first one is just very broadly speaking. Clearly now, the United States as a matter of policy is going to be trying to go it alone in global trade. And I realize that's oxymoronic because you can't go it alone in global trade. But we're certainly going to pull back a good deal. What's that going to mean for the American economy?

[Syreta Jackson]

For the American economy, the one thing I can definitely say is prices will go up, the business owner will have to carry those costs, and then guess what, some of those costs will be passed on to the consumer. And then if you are an exporter, if that's what you depend on to grow your business and you're exporting to countries and then other countries are retaliating, well, that makes it more difficult for you to grow your business and to enter other markets and provide much needed goods or service in that market that has an effect both on the businesses and the consumers.

[Kai Rysdal]

Yeah. And then finally acknowledging that it took decades to build a system of international trade that we have had up until recently. And also granted that there were deep flaws with it and it did some level of damage, but you know, rising tide, all boats. How long do you suppose it takes to rebuild some kind of global trade order if we have three and a half more years of American isolationism?

[Syreta Jackson]

That is a really good question. Well, something I think needs to be discussed even more is the role of the international institutions, the World Trade Organization.

[Kai Rysdal]

The wto, which you haven't heard mention of very much at all lately anyway. Right?

[Syreta Jackson]

Exactly. Which just I think people miss. Yes, you see sort of this isolationism or protectionism, but there is this whole international institution that sets rules. So for me it's hopefully not that the whole system will crash, but just that we are going through a unique period where we have some of these shifts but that you have this international body that can continue to govern so that trade can continue and be beneficial in this so called global economy.

[Kai Rysdal]

Dr. Syreta Jackson, President and CEO of the Global Research Institute of International Trade. Thank you ma'am for your time. I appreciate it.

[Syreta Jackson]

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

[Kai Rysdal]

The digital payment network Zelle said today it serviced a cool trillion dollars in payments last year. What the company claims is the highest volume for a peer to peer payment app ever. According to the Atlanta Fed, almost 3/4 of consumers in this economy use mobile payment of one kind or another. Zelle Venmo, the Cash app and more than 90% of consumers under the age of 25 do. As Marketplace's Megan McCarty Carino reports. What started out as a convenient way to pay your friends back for dinner is becoming an ever bigger part of transactions all across the economy.

[Denise Leonhard]

They're called peer to peer payment apps. But often these days they're being used peer to landlord.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This is too convenient.

[Kai Rysdal]

I don't understand why people bother with paper checks anymore.

[Denise Leonhard]

Zianna Bunch rents out a couple rooms in her house in Morgan Hill, California. Several years ago, at the suggestion of a tenant, she started accepting rent payments through Zelle and she never looked back.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Even if they're out of town.

[Kai Rysdal]

They just hit the app and send me the rent, and you get a little ka ching noise on your phone.

[Denise Leonhard]

Zelle general manager Denise Leonhard says the Network moved almost $2 million a minute last year. That's Salata Kachings. We are now partnering with over 2,200 banks across the network, and this is enabling their customers to come on and be able to basically go through their daily tasks and be able to pay people that they know and trust. So landlords and babysitters, farmers market vendors, hairstylists, music teachers. But as the dollar amounts grow, so do concerns about mistakes and fraud, says Lisa Gill at Consumer Reports.

[Sponsor Announcer]

There's a lot of onus on the individual to sort out a problem.

[Denise Leonhard]

The quick, irreversible nature of these apps make it easier to send money to the wrong person or fall prey to scammers, says Gill. And there's little federal oversight.

[Sponsor Announcer]

They are not a bank.

[Denise Leonhard]

Last year, the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau extended the agency's oversight to include payment apps, and it sued several large banks for failing to protect Zelle users from fraud. Zell called the suit meritless, saying they provide multiple backstops to avoid mistakes and scams. I'm Meagan McCarty Carino for Marketplace.

[Kai Rysdal]

Social media is basically everywhere now, and you can get inspiration from it. You can use it to just kill some time, or you can use it to decide what you want to do with your money. As Wall street has become more accessible, there's a growing subset of influencers who offer financial advice to their followers. Isabella Kwai wrote about him for the New York Times the other day. Welcome to the program.

[Isabella Kwai]

Thanks for having me, Kai.

[Kai Rysdal]

Just generally speaking, who are these financial influencers out there?

[Isabella Kwai]

So financial influencers can be really anyone who is online and sharing information about investing or personal finance, or it could be something from a celebrity who has a big profile and is partnering or working with, you know, financial services or products. And I think that is something that is really interesting about financial influences of influencers as we.

[Kai Rysdal]

I'm sorry, finfluencers? Is that what we're calling them? Okay.

[Isabella Kwai]

It's very sleek. You know, people have really combined these words, but financial influences or influences, they really can be anybody. And I think that is part of the concerns around them.

[Kai Rysdal]

Well, yeah, let's talk more about that because we'll get to the possible upsides. But it, you know, on the Internet, they don't know you're a dog. Right. Wasn't that. Isn't that the famous far side cartoon? Right? So it could be anybody is the point.

[Isabella Kwai]

Right, right. And one of the issues that makes this field quite difficult is it's so vast. There are people who are giving you information who may not be qualified certified financial planners and there is potential there for misinformation to spread. In the most serious examples, you have influencers who've been accused of hyping pump and dump schemes or promoting high risk assets. And it can be really hard for your everyday person or your everyday investor to look at all these different influencers online and work out what is going to be handy information for them and what is potentially dangerous information.

[Kai Rysdal]

Right. So let's get the caveat in here that if you're going to follow a finfluencer, I can't believe I just said that, you have to do some due diligence and find out who they are. But part of the reason they're so popular is because they're accessible. Right. They probably cater to underserved groups, people who might have been shut out of, you know, this sort of wealth industry, as it were. Right. I mean there's lots of things that are appealing.

[Isabella Kwai]

Absolutely. And what some financial influencers are good at is putting it in everyday terms that people can understand. And there are influencers out there who I spoke to as part of the story who you know are certified financial planners themselves or certified financial advisors. And they do share information that helps people become more literate when it comes to their finances. But you know, whether they are qualified to do that, you know, experts have recommended. You really should be thinking about this.

[Kai Rysdal]

Yeah, absolutely. Given that social media is generally speaking, a vast unregulated wasteland, I imagine there aren't too many regulations protecting people from acting on this bad advice. Right. If you act on questionable advice from a finfluencer, you're kind of on your own, right?

[Isabella Kwai]

Well, not entirely.

[Kai Rysdal]

All right, okay.

[Isabella Kwai]

One thing, well, one thing that you know, is interesting to explore is, well, what's the responsibility here? And you know, in the U.S. the SEC, for example, has pursued some high profile celebrities for not being honest about whether they were paid to promote an asset or not. But ultimately one big challenge in this is jurisdiction. People can be following advice from someone in the US while they're, you know, sitting like myself in London and they, you know, the question being, would this fall under UK jurisdiction? Jurisdiction. And that makes it difficult for regulators to pursue some people who are perhaps spreading misinformation.

[Kai Rysdal]

Right, Totally. No matter where you are. Caveat emptor on your finances. I'm telling you Isabella Kwai with the New York Times. Isabella, thanks a lot. Appreciate your time.

[Isabella Kwai]

Thank you so much.

[Kai Rysdal]

Coming up, we had to cut our.

[Denise Leonhard]

Evening short as the band was screaming profanities.

[Kai Rysdal]

Let's have some control here, people. First though, let's do the numbers. Dow Industrials down 225 points today, a half percent 44,368 the NASDAQ ticked up 6 points. That's less than a tenth percent. 19,600 the S&P 500 slipped 16 points, about 3. 10% 6,051 DoorDash posted first quarter results beat expectations Company said it expects demand for food delivery services to increase as it adds more grocery stores to the business. Shares up 4% today Chevron announced it's going to lay off up to 20% of its workforce. It's a cost cutting measure. The oil company says it needs to reduce between two and three billion dollars in costs by the end of 2026. Chevron off one and six tenths percent. You're listening to Marketplace Create an oasis.

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[Denise Leonhard]

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[Kai Rysdal]

This is Marketplace. I'm Kai Rysdal. Crude oil droop today. Both benchmarks Brent North Sea and West Texas off about 2.5%, low 70s a barrel for each of them, which I mention because one of the stalwarts of big oil is rethinking things. BP once upon a time, British Petroleum says it's going to start a fundamental reset of its business strategy later this month. Profits were off more than a third in 2024, and while one might think that that reset would involve renewables, not so. And in point of fact, BP has company Shell and the Norwegian producer Equinor are doing pretty much the same thing. Marketplace's Samantha Field has more.

[Denise Leonhard]

Just five years ago, oil companies were announcing big investments in renewable energy projects and setting climate goals.

[Kai Rysdal]

Oil and gas companies are trying to make money, and they have been following the political winds.

[Denise Leonhard]

Severin Borenstein at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business says, a few years ago, those political wins were pretty clearly blowing.

[Kai Rysdal]

Towards having more emphasis on renewables and potentially restrictions on oil drilling.

[Denise Leonhard]

That's changed in Washington. The Trump administration is now encouraging more oil and gas drilling and rolling back clean energy incentives. Christopher Knittle at MIT says that's changed the calculus.

[Chen Zhao]

These companies are publicly traded companies that.

[Kai Rysdal]

Have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder wealth. And the profitability of oil and natural.

[Denise Leonhard]

Gas is increasing, and not just because of shifting political winds.

[Kai Rysdal]

Natural gas prices in Europe are still high since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[Denise Leonhard]

And oil prices have stayed pretty high, too, he says. So these companies can make good money doing what they're good at, getting oil.

[Kai Rysdal]

And natural gas out of the ground. That's what they've done for the last century.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Whenever you pivot to an alternative product.

[Kai Rysdal]

There'S a learning curve. You may lose some of your comparative advantage that you enjoy with the old product.

[Denise Leonhard]

That's why Hugh Daigle at UT Austin says policy and public investment matter.

[Kai Rysdal]

When you look at the history of.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Any kind of emerging technology that has.

[Kai Rysdal]

Gotten a lot of initial government support early on. It takes a long time for it.

[Ben Ayres]

Eventually to become profitable.

[Denise Leonhard]

And until it does for profit, companies don't have much incentive to invest on their own. I'm Samantha fields for Marketplace.

[Kai Rysdal]

2023 was the all time high for North American concert ticket sales. Beyonce, Taylor Wright. All told, better than six and a half billion dollars for the top 100 grossing tours. Should you be curious, 2024 was good too. And that's one reason the concert promoters are looking to grow the market, expanding into parts of the country that are typically underserved by the big tours. Think mid sized American cities. There's a company in Colorado trying to meet that rising demand and their product is the venue. Colorado Public Radio's Dan Boyce has more.

[Ben Ayres]

For a long time in Colorado to see a big epic concert, you had to go to Denver, maybe to Red Rocks, an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by sandstone cliffs. But last summer, the state's second biggest city, Colorado Springs, got its own venue.

[Kai Rysdal]

I hope when the Water.

[Ben Ayres]

A homegrown band called One Republic was the first to play at Ford Amphitheater. The outdoor concert space has room for 8,000 and it's kind of a boutique concept. People can sit around gas fire pits while big names play the hits. As the sun sets behind the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Springs company behind the amphitheater called Venue wants to bring basically this exact high end event space to dozens of mid sized cities.

[Chen Zhao]

Since there haven't been new amphitheaters built in quite some time in general, let alone in these areas, the company is being very, very tactical in terms of selecting where to create something new.

[Ben Ayres]

Dean Budnick writes about the live music industry for magazines like Billboard and Variety venues. Pitch to cities is that these outdoor amphitheaters can bring millions of dollars in economic activity. The company often gets tax breaks or other incentives, and Budnik says it's a smart model.

[Chen Zhao]

Venues are expensive to build.

[Ben Ayres]

Big promoters like Notes Live and AEG Presents are building new concert spaces too, but they can't build everywhere.

[Chen Zhao]

While it might be optimal to own the venue if one had the resources, it's you know, there's a lot of value in just operating the venues, and.

[Ben Ayres]

That'S the case here. AEG Presents brings in the bands that play the Ford Amphitheater. Colorado Springs was Venue's first project, but the company has five more under construction in places like Oklahoma, Texas. But plopping a concert venue in a place that's not used to concert sound can cause problems.

[Kai Rysdal]

My family and I were enjoying our.

[Denise Leonhard]

Last night of summer with the kids outside before they started school on Monday.

[Ben Ayres]

This is resident Cherie Hutchison speaking to the Colorado Springs City Council. She lives close to the new venue.

[Denise Leonhard]

We had to cut our evening short as the band was screaming profanities that were blaring at us at over 70 decibels.

[Ben Ayres]

She's one of hundreds of neighbors who have protested venue's amphitheater. Some residents say they can hear song lyrics loud and clear in their living rooms miles away. Budnik, the concert industry writer, says this is pretty common with new event spaces that it can take some time to calibrate the sound levels at an outdoor amphitheater. Budnik says the venue's decibel levels might.

[Chen Zhao]

Be legal but still could be just absolutely striking to the folks who who live around the venue and never anticipated that. And that can become a flashpoint.

[Ben Ayres]

Venue is trying to be a good neighbor. The company plans to spend $3 million on sound mitigation measures like additional walls and speaker system changes. The issue makes headlines in Colorado Springs on the regular, but Venue's CEO J.W. roth says lots of other cities are not so concerned about neighborhood noise.

[Kai Rysdal]

They want my business there and they want us there and so many of them have gone completely out of their way to make it easier for me, not more difficult.

[Ben Ayres]

He points out two new hotels have sprung up next to the Ford Amphitheater and five new restaurants. He's hoping residents eventually get used to the sound of the concerts and appreciate the business they bring in Colorado Springs. I'm Dan Boyce for Marketplace.

[Kai Rysdal]

This final note on the way out today, that sound you hear is the Federal Reserve's next interest rate cut. Leaving the station, the central bank was already all but saying it is not looking to cut rates real soon. Today's inflation report pretty much sealed that deal. Chair Powell wrapped up his two days on Capitol Hill today. The relevant quote from the morning's hearing goes like we want to keep policy restrictive for now, powell said. Our media production team includes Brian Allison, Jake Cherry, Justin Dueler, Drew Jostat, Gary O'Keefe, Charlton Thorpe, Juan Carlos Tirado and Becca Weinman. Jeff Peters is the manager of media production and I'm Kai Rysdal. We will see you tomorrow. Everybody, this is APM.