VRIC Media, Released on 7/13/26 (Recorded on 7/9/26)

Danielle DiMartino Booth joins Darrell to examine the growing cracks beneath the U.S. economy. She discusses Kevin Warsh’s early approach at the Federal Reserve, unreliable employment data, declining labor-force participation, rising bankruptcies and the pressure facing heavily indebted consumers. Danielle also explains why corporate layoffs could accelerate, how high borrowing costs are freezing the housing market, why gold may be approaching an attractive entry point and whether the AI investment boom can continue.

00:00 Introduction
00:35 Kevin Warsh’s approach to the Federal Reserve
03:18 The outlook for interest rates
05:22 Problems with U.S. employment data
07:00 Young Americans delaying household formation
08:16 Bankruptcies surge across the economy
09:13 Record car payments and consumer stress
10:22 Credit cards, auto loans and falling savings
11:57 Is the U.S. already in a recession?
12:50 Corporate hiring freezes and tech layoffs
14:29 Inflation data and real-time price measures
15:37 Why officials have not declared a recession
17:29 Gold’s consolidation and potential entry point
18:55 Rising bond yields and government borrowing
19:55 Mortgage rejections and falling home prices
20:48 Inventory restocking and the credit cycle
22:58 Imports, inventories and weak GDP growth
24:10 Is the AI capital-spending boom sustainable?

Danielle DiMartino Booth is Founder & CEO of QI Research, a research and analytics firm. She spent nine years as an advisor to Richard W. Fisher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Danielle left the Fed in 2015 to found Money Strong, LLC, an economic consulting firm and launched a weekly economic newsletter She is the author of Fed Up: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America. DiMartino Booth began her career in New York at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Credit Suisse, where she worked fixed income and the public and private equity markets. Danielle earned her BBA as a College of Business Scholar at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.

  economy, recession