News Roundup: Shutdown Looms, Ticketmaster Targeted, EV Tax Break Ends

• The economy grew at an annual rate of 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the latest GDP estimate released Sept. 25.

• Consumer sentiment for September, as measured by the University of Michigan’s index, declined about 5% from last month, according to the report released on Sept. 26. But current readings remain above the lows in April and May. 

• The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. The latest report, released on Sept. 26, shows inflation remains elevated and steady. In August, inflation increased at a rate of 2.7% over the previous 12 months. Core inflation — minus food and energy — grew at a rate of 2.9%. 

• Weekly jobless claims — the number of new unemployment insurance claims filed in the past week — fell for the week ending Sept. 20, according to the report released on Sept. 25. Jobless claims are an indicator of the strength — or weakness — of the labor market.

Congress is, once again, playing chicken with funding for government programs, and the deadline to avoid a government shutdown is just days away.

Every year, lawmakers are expected to pass 12 spending bills to keep the federal government running. The bills aren’t introducing new programs, just paying for what’s already on the books. And if bills don’t get paid, things stop working.

For the last few funding cycles — which begin annually on Oct. 1 with the start of the new fiscal year — Congress has relied on short-term stopgaps to avoid a shutdown.

This time, as with many times before, lawmakers are cutting it close. Congress has been on recess all week and House Republican leaders have canceled its planned sessions on Sept. 29-30. If lawmakers don’t come to an agreement to keep the government funded when the clock strikes midnight on Oct. 1, we’re looking at a shutdown.

Even a partial shutdown would mess with certain government agencies and operations. On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo directing agencies to consider mass firings if the government were to shut down.

During a shutdown, nonessential services are suspended, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed without pay and there are a range of ripple effects:

• Social programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will all continue, but new disability claims and replacement cards could be delayed. 

• Food benefits: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the accompanying WIC program run on contingency funds so benefits will still be available, for now. WIC could run out after around 30 days and if the shutdown drags on, SNAP could face strain, as well. 

• Travel: TSA agents and air traffic controllers are considered essential so they’ll be required to work without pay. In the past, shutdowns have led to workers calling out sick, which has resulted in delays and flight groundings. 

• Parks: National parks may close entirely or open without services like trash pickup. 

• IRS: The IRS wouldn’t be able to verify income and Social Security numbers, which delays mortgage and other loan approvals — not to mention billions of dollars in tax refunds. 

Schools will continue to operate, student loan payments are still due, Amtrak will still run and you’ll still receive mail. However food and drug safety inspections could slow.

Stay up-to-date on the latest here.

Video: Here’s a snippet from our Smart Money explainer on the looming shutdown.

Smart Money: Here’s the whole podcast.

With a potential shutdown looming again, is there any issue our divided political parties can agree on?

The event ticketing giant, part of the Live Nation Entertainment conglomerate, was a favorite target of the Biden Administration, especially after its ticketing system melted down when seats for Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour first went on sale in 2022, leaving many Swifties ticketless and angry. That sparked congressional investigations and, eventually, a 2024 antitrust suit from the Department of Justice, which is tentatively scheduled to go to trial in March 2026.

President Donald Trump has picked up the torch. On March 31, he signed an executive order directing the Federal Trade Commission to “rigorously enforce” a 2016 law, the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which targets a common practice from online ticket brokers: creating hundreds, even thousands, of proxy Ticketmaster accounts — “bots” — to circumvent purchase limits and harvest as many tickets as possible for resale.

In August, the FTC sued a Maryland firm for its use of bots to score thousands of tickets for Swift and other high-profile acts. And now the agency is suing Live Nation itself, accusing Ticketmaster of “tacitly coordinating with brokers and allowing them to harvest millions of dollars worth of tickets in the primary market,” according to a press release. Read all the gory details.

Nerdy tip: Though Ticketmaster is fighting battles on all fronts, the situation for ticket buyers is not likely to change quickly, and tickets to the biggest events are likely to remain scarce. But there are steps fans can take to give themselves the best chance of scoring tickets at face value.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced on social media new tariffs that will go into effect on Oct. 1. The list includes:

• 100% tariff on all branded pharmaceutical products. The only exemption will be for companies actively building pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in America. 

• 50% tariff on all kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and associated products. 

• 30% tariff on upholstered furniture. 

• 25% tariff on heavy-duty trucks.  

The electric vehicle market has been hopping so far in 2025, with August sales up 17.7% year over year and 14.1% higher than July sales, according to auto industry site Cox Automotive. Used EV sales have been booming as well.

What happens after that? According to Cox Automotive: “With $7,500 incentives eliminated, the case for EVs now rests on performance, technology and total cost of ownership, rather than subsidies.” And for now, electric vehicle prices remain well above equivalent gas-powered cars.

Nerdy tip: Though the federal subsidy is ending, some states still offer incentives. You can look up your state on the Kelley Blue Book site.

On Wednesday, Disney+ announced it was hiking the cost of its streaming subscriptions.

• Disney+ (with ads) will cost $11.99 a month.

• The ad-free Premium plan will cost $18.99 a month or $189.99 a year.

Bundle prices will also increase for streaming subscribers:

• Disney+ and Hulu bundle (with ads) will rise from $10.99 to $12.99.

• Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Select Bundle (with ads) will rise from $16.99 to $19.99.

• Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Premium (ad-free on Disney+ and Hulu only) will rise from $26.99 to $29.99. 

The announced price increases dropped at a challenging moment for the company. On Monday, ABC, which is run by Disney-owned Nexstar Media Group, announced the reinstatement of late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel following a temporary suspension. On Sept. 17, ABC pulled Kimmel from the air “indefinitely,” following comments he made criticizing Trump and his supporters in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

Kimmel’s suspension launched protests, along with celebrity-endorsed and social media-fueled boycotts of Disney+. On Tuesday night, Kimmel returned to the air, garnering the show’s largest viewership in over 10 years. But the controversy isn’t over yet. Some affiliate networks are still refusing to air Kimmel’s show. And in a letter sent to Disney on Wednesday, a group of investors is demanding more information as to why Kimmel was suspended.

Economists were alarmed when word first spread that a key annual report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics would be delayed. The BLS had been scheduled to release the 2024 Consumer Expenditures Survey (CES) on Tuesday, and announced the previous Friday, Sept. 19, that the report would be delayed — initially without giving explanation.

That heightened concerns over data uncertainty that have been rising since the August firing of Erika McEntarfer, the Biden-appointed head of the bureau. On Monday, the BLS said the report was delayed because the bureau “discovered a discrepancy” in the data. The report will now be released Oct. 30.

According to NerdWallet’s senior economist Elizabeth Renter, “This is the sort of thing that happens when an agency is struggling with staffing and funding. The budget at the BLS has failed to keep up with inflation for most of the past two decades. In fact, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 marks an 8% decrease from the year prior. Also, the agency has been under a hiring freeze. Currently, more than one-third of their leadership positions are vacant.”

In addition to staffing concerns, Renter says, “I’m certain the microscope the statistical agency is currently under was top of mind in this decision as well.”

The CES is not as well known as some government measures, but plays an important role nonetheless. The report has been around since 1900, Renter says: “One of its primary uses today is in providing the weights for the CPI, or consumer inflation. By gathering data on how people allocate their spending across categories, the BLS knows how to weight category prices and better measure the impact of price growth on consumers.”

For more of Renter’s analysis, read on.

• Even in uncertain times, splurging can bring joy when done responsibly, according to Rachel Kramer Bussel in the New York Times.