August 15, 2024 • 40 mins
The economy is one of the more prominent issues for voters this November. The big question is who, as president, will have a better handle on bringing down inflation? Will Harris be weighed down by Biden-omics? Out of the last two presidencies, did you fare better financially under one more than the other? Who do you think is the better candidate for overseeing the economy?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's nice time with Dan Ray. I'm telling you easy
Boston Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right now, Grippin appreciate it very much. So here's
what I'd like to do. With your permission and your cooperation.
I simply can suggest the topics you you can you
can decide to arise to debate or not. But I
know there's been a lot of talk and conversation about Bidenomics.
(00:30):
The stock market had a very good day today, and
apparently they said that because the the inflation rate dipped
by a tenth of a percentage point from last July
when it was three percent, and this past July, meaning
July twenty twenty four, it was two point nine percent.
(00:52):
That got the market going today. And of course many
people were going to try to say, hey, we just
proves that things are going great here. This was the
president yesterday when he was asked by someone in the
press pool if he had beaten inflation cut number one, Rob.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, yes, yes, I told you to have a soft landing.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We're going to have a soft landing my policies and
work and start writing that way. Okay, all right, that's
pretty direct.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Of course, Donald Trump sees it somewhat differently. So this
is the former president in North Carolina yesterday cut number two.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Rob Does anyone here phil richer under Kamala Harris and
Crooked Joe than you were during the Trump administration? Is
anything less expensive under Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And Crooked Joe.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I mean, we had inflation that I don't believe we've
ever had inflation like that.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You can go back a long way.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Are you better off now with Harris and Biden than
you were with a person named President Donald J.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Trump?
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Do you know him?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
He's a nice gentleman.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So earlier today I believe it was No, I guess
it was yesterday. Jared Bernstein, who's the head of the
White House Council of Economic Advisors, in the wake of
yesterday morning's report of inflation again year to year being
down from three point zero percent to two point nine percent, That,
(02:27):
of course, is peggybacked on top of the previous year's
inflation up, which was as much as nine percent. Okay,
take a look at what you're paying in stores for
regular things. I mean a package of Oriole cookies, I
mean whatever you want, a gallon of milk. That's been
(02:48):
my experience. Maybe some of you can help me find
a better stores to work up. But Bernstein was asked
about the fact that voters may hear these these these analysis,
but they're not feeling it. So this was Jared Bernstein
(03:10):
yesterday cut number nine.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
When I talked to.
Speaker 6 (03:13):
Voters in the field, when my colleagues talk to people,
they still don't think the economy isn't a better shape
than it was when President Biden christ took office.
Speaker 7 (03:24):
Well, I don't know about that in terms of the
broader economic assessment of where the you know, the economy is,
because you know, I think people do know that the
job market's been strong. Sixteen million jobs, that's record job growth.
The unemployment rate has been historically low. GDP growth has
been strong. But I think your question is a valid one,
(03:47):
which is Okay, people, I think are aware of many
of those many of many of the elements of that progress,
but they're still discomforted by the high prices.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Uh yeah, I mean I agree with him there. I
think that a lot of the numbers of phony numbers.
And we lost millions of jobs because of COVID. Okay,
it was as simple as that. There were when you
think about it, there were restaurants that were closed. There
were stores that were closed. Those businesses laid people off.
(04:24):
They have come back, many of those restaurants, and many
of those stores have come back. Okay, there wasn't much
of a need for Walmart greeters. For example, when when
COVID hit, Birnsting went on to say, he was again
I think I think he added to this comment, this
is a comment nine A again the head of the
(04:45):
White House Council of Economic Advisors, trying to make it simple.
I guess you know.
Speaker 7 (04:51):
I have three words for people who feel the way
you just said, which is, we hear you. The President
hears you, the Vice President hears you. We will never
stand here and say, oh, no, you're wrong. Look at
the GDP statistics. You know that's not the way it works.
That's not President Biden's orientation. We believe that people are
the best arbiters of how they experienced this economy, and
that's why we're working so aggressively on agenda, on an
(05:15):
agenda to help them cut costs in all the areas
I ticked through before, to make investments in ki areas,
particularly in places that have long been left behind and
hollowed out by irresponsible trade policy.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Very nice words, but I don't know what they mean. Now,
maybe some of you can explain to me what they mean.
I just don't know what they mean. And then when
we hear the White House Press Secretary Caarine Jean Pierre,
she said this earlier this month, was on August sixth. Again,
(05:50):
she works for President Biden. I get it, she's not
gonna say anything that's negative, but this is a little
hyperbole here cut twenty four, please Rob, and we understand.
Speaker 6 (06:02):
What the President inherited when he walked in was a
you know, an economic economy that was in the downturn.
Speaker 8 (06:10):
He had to turn that around.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And that's what the president was able.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
To do, turn the economy around. Well, I don't know
about that, but that's what the that's what they say.
So my question is real simple, how's your economy? Are
you making more money these days? Inflation cumulatively over the
last four years is up around twenty percent? Okay, simple
(06:34):
as that most items are, on average, are going to
cost you twenty percent more. So that package of cookies
that was I don't know, two ninety nine in the
in twenty eighteen or twenty nineteen, Nile's going to be
man two three seventy five, three seventy nine or whatever
(06:57):
a gallon of gas. You know what you were paying
for gas? I mean, is it as bad as it was? No?
Is it gonna go down more? I'm not sure.
Speaker 9 (07:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And there are factors over which we frankly have no control.
I mean, if if war breaks out in the Middle East,
you can blame, you can lay that, You can lay
that at the feet of a politician and say, hey,
you did a good job here, whatever. But I just
want to know how you're doing. Are you going out
to dinner as often as you did back in the
(07:31):
in the late teens? You know, essentially, when Donald Trump
was president, before COVID, obviously COVID, our world changed for
about a year and a half dramatically, and we're still
feeling consequences of it. COVID was not Donald Trump's fault.
COVID was not Joe Biden's fault. COVID was China's fault.
(07:56):
No matter how you cut that, folks, It's as simple
as that. And that is not an anti Chinese statement.
It came from China, whether it came from a lab
or whether it came from a what market, or whether
it came from some bat that, somehow someone ate. There's
all sorts of theories. But my question to you is
how are you doing? How are you doing? Do you
(08:19):
have more money in the bank, do you feel more comfortable? Obviously,
mortgage prices have gone up. My son was telling me
the other day that he back in I guess it
was I'm trying to think twenty eighteen, he was able
(08:40):
to refi at a two point seven five percent. I
mean he said, hey, you know, never find a mortgage
like that two point seven five percent today. So it's
really a question. It's a personal thing. And also will
it affect how you will vote? Will your economic circlemstances
(09:01):
push you to vote one way or the other. You've
got two choices and maybe it won't. Maybe you, irrespective
of how well you're doing or how poorly you doing,
you are going to vote Democrat or Republican. I just
want to know how we talk about the economy, talk
about the GDP, talk about the inflation rate, uh, talk
(09:23):
about the feder Reserve. Will they will they cut rates?
Will will rate stay the same? All of that stuff, okay,
which is what you'd call macro economics. That's what it's
called macro economics. Okay, the price of gas, you could
you could impact you. You can't impact the price of gas.
You can impact the way you drive your car as
(09:44):
opposed to doing five errands every day. If you have
the time, you know, drive to the to the to
the laundry, get your clothes, drive home, drive to the
to the grocery store, get your food, come back home,
drive to the post office, mail your letters, come back home. Oh.
The smarter way obviously, Uh. Perhaps less convenient is make
(10:05):
a list, pick them up, one two, figure it out
how you're going to go and save yourself some mileage.
So the question is, how is your economy working right now? Uh?
And if you want to give Joe Biden credit and
tell me that daidnomics has been the best thing that
you've ever experienced, that's great. If you want to tell
me it's all a bunch of whoy uh and that
(10:27):
you're worse off now than you were four years ago,
that's fine too. Six one seven thirty, triple eight nine
two nine ten thirty or six one seven, nine, three
one ten thirty. Your points of view are what makes
this program work because we get every night a variety
(10:48):
of callers, different callers last night, I think we had
four first time callers in a row. I haven't had
four first time callers in a row in a long time,
to be honest with you, because we have UH callers
who call infrequently, callers who call more frequently. UH. But
to get four first time callers in a row, that
was pretty good. I'd love to get some first time
(11:10):
callers tonight. But I want to hear from you, whether
you've called before or not. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine, ten thirty those
are the two best numbers. How is your economy working
in your household? Or are you? Are you just such
that you can buy whatever you want to buy? Open
it up, let's go. I want to hear your story
(11:33):
up close and personal. Coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Now, back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He's just talking to Rob. You're on the break. And
everyone is different, Everyone really is different. Single people, married couples,
married couples with kids, older folks who are looking to retire.
The economy, which of course again is the macroeconomy, effects
(12:03):
all of us differently. And I just let to get
a sense from you as to how your economy is going.
Let's start it off with Jim in Bridgewater. Jim, you
were next on Nightside, first this hour and night Side.
How's your economy, Jim.
Speaker 10 (12:18):
Dan, I've always been a frogo guy. I drive a
twenty year old car. I have a forty year old boat.
I've always been lucky enough to.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Fix and maintain those things good.
Speaker 10 (12:29):
But under Trump, I had extra money. We could go
out and use those things more we could use we
had money in the bank, we could go out to dinner,
you know. But now it's it's a paycheck to paycheck
like Style flarees, it's it's And I don't understand how
people are blinded and as soon as the other side
(12:52):
says something flowery and happy, they're like, oh, yeah, this
is this is the way it's going to be. Look,
look it's all turning around.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Well here's the.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Thing, here's the thing, and the reason I'm doing this
tonight is really simple. The average person, including me, gets
overwhelmed by the economists because just like you can get
at a criminal trial, you can get expert witnesses on
any side of the issue. You know, if you're doing
blood testing, if you're doing forensics there there are hired
(13:23):
guns out there. So when you hear a conservative economists
say oh, things are terrible and uh and we're heading
in the wrong direction, or then you hear Austin Goldsby
who will say, oh, this is great everything we're coming
around the president talking about it's a soft landing. Well,
I don't know if it's a soft landing. To be
(13:45):
really honest with you, I mean, it's that's all hyperbole.
And it comes down to how are we feeling? How
am I feeling? How are you feeling? You know, I've
I've been blessed to have a pretty good job for
a long time. Uh and and I've been pretty immune
to the ups and downs. But but not everybody is
(14:06):
that is that way, and that's why I'd like I'd
like to find out who who's happy who's not. So
you're not happy, Jim, right.
Speaker 10 (14:14):
And I'm not happy for my friends that I know
they can't fix things, and I know they have car
payments and mortgages, and I feel I don't even ask
them to come out because I know they can't afford
to come out. You know, it's just so upsetting.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So who's the one. Who's who's to blame for that?
Is it? Do you pin that on someone or is
that just the ebb and flow and the economy irrespective
of who's in the White House or who isn't.
Speaker 10 (14:39):
I absolutely blame the administration. It's one hundred percent. You've
seen it every day on the new not on the
news because they hide it constantly. But listening to people
that are intelligent and do things like you do, and
you know, stay in the middle as best you possibly
can with the facts.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
And well I always the fact.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah. Well, the thing that's great is that each one
of us have our own set of facts. I mean,
you know, no one you know, you're right when the
when the inflation number yesterday came out and said that
year to year, you know, July to July inflation was
only up two point nine percent, so it was under
this magic number of three percent. So that was good. However,
(15:26):
you know, your set of facts might be different than
my set of facts, and you are going to rely
when you go to the polls on your set of facts,
just like how we rely upon my set of facts,
you know. And that's what's beautiful. We all have within
When they talk about the American economy. We all we
all have an economy ourselves. That's the point that I'm
(15:47):
trying to drive home tonight, right that it really is
what your economy feels like. And I get at this
point you're not happy with your economy. Great college, Jim.
Speaker 10 (16:00):
Relationship also very impressful.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
No whole question about that. They say that when you
talk about married couples, the greatest problem, the problem that
most married couples have who have problems a financi is financial. Absolutely,
Sun Jim, great call, Thank you so.
Speaker 8 (16:19):
Much, have a good night, Thank you too.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Let's keep rolling here. Let me see who's next. They're
going to go to an in Boston. And the same
question for you, how's your economy doing.
Speaker 11 (16:29):
Well? I could say that twenty nineteen was definitely a
lot better two thousand. I'm in the service industry and
I was rocking. I mean I had so from two
thousand until twenty sixteen, I was helping somebody who was very,
(16:51):
very sick and died. And then after that I really
was able to work, and I worked really hard. I'm
a hard worker, and I was doing so well and
I was ready to buy a house. I was going
to buy a house up in New Hampshire, and nothing exactly,
you know, just I always live within my means. But
(17:13):
and then they shut us down March twenty, twenty twenty,
and I literally, in front of my eyes watched every
house that I had on railtor that I was just
so excited to look into more and more, just go
in front of my eyes, contingent, contingent, contingent, and they
(17:35):
basically shut I don't know who's responsible, if it's Baker
or Marty Walsh, but I don't believe it was President Trump.
I do believe that it was state. The decisions of
the state so on that I'm going to go with.
I don't believe it was Trump's fault. I just I don't.
(17:58):
But that being said, they shut me down for five months.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
When I went back, well, you say they shut you down.
Did you own a business or were you an employee
of a business.
Speaker 11 (18:10):
I was an employee, and just give me very very business.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You're just generically what were you doing?
Speaker 11 (18:16):
If I could ask, let's uh in the alternative health
business to put it that way, okay, and yeah, I
wouldn't be too specific.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I love that. I'm not gonna pry so alternative health
and things were going really well for you. But when
COVID hit, Yes, and look, Massachusetts was a fairly restrictive state.
I can remember you had to you had to wear
masks all the time and uh, and then we had
shortages and which was which was no one's fault? I
(18:51):
mean the fact that people went to stores and hoarded
toilet paper, for example. But the feeling that you had
in the summer of twenty nineteen when things were rolling
for you soon about the change, that feeling hasn't come back, right.
Speaker 11 (19:11):
No, So when we reopened, my client said, well, the
U haul truck just kept coming. So we decided to
move too, and you know, a lot of people moved
out of the city. And I worked really hard, as
a lot of people do in the city, building a clientele,
and then nine months later we ended up closing. And
(19:37):
so unfortunately, I had a feeling that was going to happen,
and Boston was very empty. I would walk around the
city and see, you know, retail space available, apartment space available,
commercial space. I mean it was frightening actually. So then
a lot of.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That, by the way, still has not come back. Ye,
a lot of that has not come back.
Speaker 11 (19:58):
Go ahead, really neither have I. So I haven't really
been back to Boston. I'm from Boston, and I love Boston.
I think it's the greatest city in the whole country.
And I've been all over the country.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Where are you're working? Now, generally you don't have to
tell me exactly where you've been out in the suburbs,
somewhere up in New Hampshire. Where are you working?
Speaker 11 (20:19):
It's been difficult. So I decided not just yeah, I
decided not to go back to Boston. And I did
go up to New Hampshire and it wasn't the same.
It's just been very different. It's not the same busyness
that I've had. And I would say that my income
has gone down from easily the seventies to the twenties
(20:43):
and thirties. Huge job, and I've had to drive a
lot further which and gas has gone up, so my
cost of getting to work is higher. But I am single,
and I don't see like I have it at so
I also I decided to go to Florida to see
(21:05):
if that was a better economy, but actually I won't
go into that. But I wasn't happy with it down there,
so I came back and now I can't even find
an apartment. I'm actually I'm either staying with friends or hotel.
I can't find an affordable apartment. It has gone up
so high that I just it's impossible. And so that's
(21:32):
where I'm at. But I have saved. I am not
you know, I knew something was coming. And if I
can also say, I don't believe it's Biden, I don't
believe it was Trump. I think it goes back further.
I think it goes back to Obama. I think it
has to do with overspending. I think the Fetter Reserve
has something to do with it. I think printing, printing,
(21:54):
printing for many years. I think getting off the gold
and silver standard has a lot to do with it.
I don't think it's just one administration. I think it's
a very complex problem that we really need to learn from.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, well I can tell you that that no matter
who gets elected, Republicans and Democrats. When when Bill Clinton
left office, we were we had a federal debt of
about five trillion dollars. When George Bush left office eight
years that federal debt had increased to about ten It
had doubled to about ten trillion dollars. When President Obama
(22:29):
left twenty sixteen, it was up to about twenty trillion dollars.
It also doubled, and Donald Trump pushed it up, and
Joe Biden pushed it up. Now, both Biden and Trump
could say, well, nobody else dealt with COVID, the world
shut down, but they both everything's gone up. We now
have a debt of about thirty five trillion dollars and
a GBT a gross domestic product GDP of about twenty
(22:55):
six twenty seven trillion dollars, and so that's dangerous areas
to be I I loved your call, but I really
got a run up gone on longer than I've gone
through the newscast almost. Hey, great call. Please continue to
call this program. It's a great call.
Speaker 11 (23:11):
Thank you great again.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I have a great All.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Right, we're gonna keep rolling here. I have one line
at six one, seven thirty. I have two lines at
five at six one, seven nine thirty. My question is
really simple, really simple. Everyone should be able to participate.
How is your economy? Ian just explained her economy like
an economist. You don't have to be that sophisticated. I
(23:37):
want to know how your economy is are you feeling good?
Are you feeling not so good? Back on night side.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
After this, you're on night Side with Dan Ray on
WZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All right, let's keep rolling here. We we're gonna go
next to Hey, let's go to Glenn and Brighton Glenn,
how's your economy? I know that you hurt in the
economy as a piano tuner, for sure.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yeah. By the way, before I get to that, my
heart goes out to that last color where she sounds
like a wholesome human being.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Excellent, she was.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Not only not only I love the way she.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Very intelligent, thoughtful, and clearly has done a lot to
improve her lot and everything has gone southward.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Right, it sounds like she went from riches to rags.
It's really sad.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I'm with you on that for sure. Thanks for making
that comment. That's very thoughtful. I hope she heard it.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Thanks you too. So it stinks, As I told you, screener,
I'm trying to be poite about it before. First of all,
the Yeah, the music store that I've been working for
since twenty thirteen is going out of business on September first,
and they're evicting the tenants and they're auctioning off everything
(24:57):
in the building and they're selling the building going yep,
I won't even get to say goodbye to my favorite
piano that's in the cat corner in the back of
the store.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
But that's that's terrible, really is terrible. Why are they
going out of business that.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
People not Well, that's what I'm going to get to.
Before the virus, I was working Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
three days a week, and we were selling pianos and
people were calling the store and they would drive me
out to tune them. But after, even though the pandemic
is over, people the economy is such people don't want
(25:34):
to pay that. People aren't wanting their pianos tone, they're
not wanting to buy that. We haven't sold anything. Nobody's
calling the store looking for a tuner. H And it
just got to the point where the wife and the
two daughters told the husband, look, we can't do this anymore.
(25:54):
The guy that owns it, the husband is a dieheart
acoustic piano person.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
But wall I want, I mean, have pianos gone out
of style?
Speaker 4 (26:05):
I mean, well, partially, I mean the digital pianos are
becoming more popular because they're easier to move around. They
never needed tuning. It's like the Maytag with paying me.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
What is a digital piano?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Well, it's not an acoustic. It's an electronic piano that's
pre tuned at the factory and it stays that way
through it. Because it's so it's.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
It's smaller, it's more portable, expensive, right, yes, yeah, but
it's not that.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Doesn't take ten men and a small boy to move it.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, and I'll hear you. I totally hear you. Yeah,
but there's nothing like having a piano in your home.
I mean, if you have to, and they're not. It's
not the most I mean, people can throw money away
in a lot of stuff, but a piano, as always
I thought was a pretty good investment because you're never
going to lose money.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
At the piano hand infect my hair goes off to
Morgan Way while you were vacation vacation, he had the
Winnikers on and he let me give my name and
number over the year if anybody wants here piano tune. Actually,
the Winnikers said, can go and give this. There was
their idea. I hope the program director doesn't get upset.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
But you did any business with I don't know not.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Yeah, it's not a single call.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Well, I'll tell you what what do you want to get?
I hasten to do that. You know, do you do
you have a website that people can go to.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
No, I'm I'm computer illiterate. I'm a tragodyte. My friends
call me troggy pooh.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Why don't I do this if anybody wants needs a
piano tuner instead of me having you put your number
out of the air, which can be dangerous. If anybody
is in need of a great piano tuner, Rob, you
can have them give them my phone number if they
want to call in my direct line and I'll tell
(27:54):
you what it is at six one seven seven eight
seven seven oh three three call me and I'll put
you touch with Glenn if you give me permission.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Glenn to give you a Yeah, you have my information. Fact,
I haven't heard from you in a while. I weave
you messages, but I thought you didn't love me anymore,
you know, I just.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Get back from Europe. Man, I gotta tell you, do
you have many messages? How many emails I got to
get rid of? I trust?
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
You know? And you know how many people call me
during the day and they'll they'll call up just to
kind of chat, and it's like, right, you know, as
much as I love all you guys, I try to
be a little a little fear.
Speaker 9 (28:31):
But it's just tough to spend, uh, you know, every
you know, I get, you know, probably twenty to fifty
phone calls a day and a couple of hundred emails
and emails a people who I don't know, and they're
looking for either advice I had. Yeah, well I'm legal
or financial and I don't do financial advice because I'm
(28:51):
not a certified you know, financial advisor.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
But I try to be polite. But you know, someone
like you, you know, if you call up and just
tell me a story about what's going on, I'm probably
not going to call you back and say, geez, Glenn,
that was an interesting story. If you call up and
you got a problem, that's a different story. So if
anybody wants a great piano tuner in the greater Boston area,
Glenn and Brighton does a great job. And if you
(29:16):
want and reasonable reasonable prices with Glenn, okay, but they
got that under the wire there. And if you have
a piano you want, how often do people get pianos.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Tuned well ideal, you should do it every six months
to maintain this. I mean if you do it a
year or a year and a half, that's fine. What
happens I wanted the stuff that hasn't been done since
nineteen seventy three, and they wonder why it takes me
five hours? And I tell them pianos are like teeth.
If you neglect them, they're going to let you know it.
I know because I neglected my beautiful teeth.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
And now I have situation but that you should charge
on a on a per hour basis as opposed to
a per job basis.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Yeah, I do by the job. Someone said I charge
it should charge one hundred bucks an hour.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Well, whatever I've come up with the number, maybe have
a minimum number of one hundred and fifty dollars an hour.
But if it's if it exceeds you, if it exceeds
two hours, charge him seventy five an hour. So if
it's four hours, it's three hundred dollars.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Years ago, very quick, A couple of years ago, Johnny
mutual friend, Johnny Volzio, got me two pianos to tune
at the Cattle Center and they gave me two hundred
and fifty dollars apiece, but they have since gotten rid
of the pianos. I don't know why what they all?
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Right, Glenn, we tried to generate some business that people
would like to have. Glenn, come in to me a piano,
reasonable price, great piano tuner, uh six eight seven, seven
oh three three, and I'll pass. They'll ban numbers along. Okay,
thanks Glenn, Thank you? All right, that quick break, coming
right back on Nightside, Bill, Mike Herschel, Warren, We got
(30:53):
you all coming up right after the break.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Now back to Dan Way live from the Window World
Nice Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Here Herschel, Herschel's in Boston. Herschel, how's your economy?
Speaker 8 (31:09):
Well, Dan, I have a particular view on all this stuff.
I'm just I'm gonna try and make it quick. Number one,
I personally don't believe whether the Trump, Bush, Reagan, Obama, Clinton,
(31:30):
Biden or Harris can fix the majority of our issues.
What happens is, as far as I'm concerned, each president
gets in, each administration gets in, and they tinkle with
certain stuff, and it seems like you're getting more money.
But at some point in time, you're gonna you're gonna
(31:51):
pay for what you're missing out on. Now, Okay, the
stockholders control the gas prices, so you're the president, and
the gas prices go down, you get credit for that.
But also when the gas prices go well, you take
the hit for that.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Well, I don't know about let me. Let me pick
a fight with you just a little bit here. If
all of a sudden things blow up in the Middle
East tomorrow, okay, uh, and let's say that the hoodies
are blocking you know, ships leaving for the Middle East.
I guarantee if gas prices are going to go up
because the supply, the gas supply will be reduced.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
And I agree with you there. I'm talking basic, everyday,
regular life. I'm not talking about extreme circumstances. Okay enough,
basically out of control.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Okay. Of one of the reasons that the gas prices
went down under Trump, and I will just say this
is because of COVID. Fewer people were using their cars,
So there are external factors that do affected.
Speaker 8 (32:53):
But go ahead, that's true. But you know, again, we're
talking about something extreme that's out of our basic everyday control. Okay,
food prices, how many how many people actually own the
major food stores across the country, like the Shaws, the
(33:15):
Stop and Shop, uh you know, and others tigli wiggly
roups out in Capable.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I think they're owned by big corporations. The Shaws is
now owned by Colbertson there right, you know, I means
is still a family owned business, but they're they're big corporations.
Speaker 8 (33:34):
Yeah, well, I would say, and why can't this see,
in my opinion, the things that the president can do
and they don't do because and this is a dirty
statement that I'm about to make, sometimes they really back
off some stuff. It's almost like I'm going to give
you part of this candy and I'm going to keep
(33:57):
the other half so that you'll want more. Okay, If
I was president, I would call all these corporations the
head CEOs on a zoom call. If they look, these
people out here are hurting. You need to fix it,
and I want each one of you to tell me
now on a zoom call, how you're going to fix it,
and I'm gonna hold you to that.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Yeah. Well, that's called job boning. That's called job boning,
and presidents have done that before. But I don't really
want a president calling supermarkets and tell them to cut
prices because I think that that. Look, I go into
supermarkets now, this stuff that I bought five years ago
that I will not buy because the price is twice
(34:38):
twice as expensive. Okay, it's as simple as that. Okay,
that's my decision. Now. If other fools are going to
go in there and spend eight dollars for cookies that
cost three dollars you know, five years ago, that's not
my problem. Good luck. Enjoy the cookies. They're not worth
it to me.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
You know what.
Speaker 8 (34:55):
Now, your statement just leads me to my next point. Okay, Okay,
Dad used to say this years ago. People do exactly
what they want to do, right, sure, And I look
at the football stadiums, I look at the basketball games,
the Olympics, yeah, women'ston tennis. These crowds are not lacking.
They're in there, so somebody's paying the price. And I
(35:18):
just feel people pay what they want to. Pray. Now,
when it comes down to a president again, I don't
believe a president has all the answers. I think people
vote for a president that has the charisma that they like.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, but we have a capitalistic system. What I'm saying
is if you and I want to go to a
Patriots game, Okay, we're gonna have to pay to get
a good seat. What now, two hundred bucks. I'm not
gonna pay two hundred bucks to go to a Patriots
game to get good seats. I'm gonna watch it on.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
TV, you know what. And I agree with you, But
somebody's gonna pay.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
My point is, yeah, and as long as there's somebody
paying two hundred bucks, keep charging two hundred bucks. That's
what's called capitalism.
Speaker 8 (36:03):
Right, I know what. And the two hundred well, I
don't have a problem capitalism. You know, get what you
can get. My thing is, if people are paying what
they want to pay, don't really complain too much because
that's what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, But at the same time, there are some people
out there who do not have that disposable income. You
heard Ian earlier herschel. I love your call. You first
time call her and know have you called before?
Speaker 8 (36:27):
I've called before, sir.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Do me a favorite. Keep calling, very thoughtful calling. I
want to try to get one more in here before
the break.
Speaker 8 (36:32):
Okay, no problem, you have a good day.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Personal YouTube. Appreciate the call. Coming back on night's side.
But let me get before that. We got Mike and Beverly. Mike,
you've been holding on the longest.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Go right ahead, Hey, Dan, goodding, Mike and the car Hawaii.
Can hear anybody?
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I could hear you find mikeel right ahead.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
The inflation, Dan, so listen, I'm in Beverly. I'm in
long time with Cavey. That call before the end. By
as far as the prices go, it'siculous. I'll lively either
homeless my car or I live in the room. Enough
now I can't afford a parma, Dan, And like I'm
hope with in an election, I want to move on
(37:11):
to Masters and move into Hampshire because I want to
go to a mobile home trailer park. There's something I
can afford because I'm fifty seven. Then I'll be fifty
eight in November. I can't afford a home and I
don't have kids on that sort of stuff then, And
this Masters is just too much money, too much money.
I can't I can't do it here. And it's just
(37:34):
crazy the amount of inflation. And it's still the yadd
I'll pay my tax, Dan, And it makes it hard
for myself to stay in recovery, and doing this sort
of stuff again. I see all those you know, Marty Healley,
giving them money away to free free people, and like,
why can't I get something of it? I pay my tax,
(37:57):
do all that stuff. It worked, and I still can't afford.
You're gonna make a hundred and thirty grand a year
to have a Massusetts.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I saw that statistic today. Yeah, and that's that's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That's it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah. Yeah, well I'll tell you I call him.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Today upon today, Dan, they want six you the credit score,
first class security, and that brokera fee. So if someone's
eight grand out fried just to get a key, who's
who's got that kind of money? I don't have it.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Yeah, there aren't that many people who have that that
amount of disposable cash, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
The cash is a credit score. I don't have a
perfect Credis score.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
I mean, you know, I don't. A lot of people
don't have a perfect score.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
When this, when was the last time you were were
renting an apartment? Because they think you've told me before
you live in your car oftentimes, right, Yeah, here's the
least time that you were renting an apartment.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I never had one.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Dan.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Okay, did you ever own a house?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Okay? Have you lived in your car? You said you're
fifty seven.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Yeah, I listened, Dan, I lived a homeless and a
car or a rooming house.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Dan. Okay, okay, all right, well and well I'll tell you.
You know, my heart goes out to you.
Speaker 8 (39:29):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
I just this is not this you know you should
be You should be living in one of the shelters
being paid for by the state, like the new folks
who are coming in, and you should be able to
work and build a little bit of cash and get
back on your feet. That is what the right to
shelter law was intended to do back in nineteen eighty three,
(39:50):
and it has been turned now into a boondoggle for
people who are just coming here illegally.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
I get it quickly for your counting off. Yeah, I
just want to say quickly. It gets time because so
you know what. Meanwhile, Henri Counry, I do my fine
mistay clean all this sort of stuff. But I got
to honestly, it gets hot, and I sometimes to do
life every day. Sometimes I don't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
Biden, Well, hang in there, hanging there, okay, and hopefully
it'll turn around for you. Mike, I gotta go because
I'm up in the eleven.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
I got you.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
You know what you two felt. Talk to you soon.
Hang in there, God, I love you. Take a break. Bill,
you stay right there. Mike and Attleborough, stay there, Warren
don fall Rivers, stay there. We got two lines open
six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven,
nine thirty. How is your economy back after this
It's nice time with Dan Ray. I'm telling you easy
Boston Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right now, Grippin appreciate it very much. So here's
what I'd like to do. With your permission and your cooperation.
I simply can suggest the topics you you can you
can decide to arise to debate or not. But I
know there's been a lot of talk and conversation about Bidenomics.
(00:30):
The stock market had a very good day today, and
apparently they said that because the the inflation rate dipped
by a tenth of a percentage point from last July
when it was three percent, and this past July, meaning
July twenty twenty four, it was two point nine percent.
(00:52):
That got the market going today. And of course many
people were going to try to say, hey, we just
proves that things are going great here. This was the
president yesterday when he was asked by someone in the
press pool if he had beaten inflation cut number one, Rob.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, yes, yes, I told you to have a soft landing.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
We're going to have a soft landing my policies and
work and start writing that way. Okay, all right, that's
pretty direct.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Of course, Donald Trump sees it somewhat differently. So this
is the former president in North Carolina yesterday cut number two.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
Rob Does anyone here phil richer under Kamala Harris and
Crooked Joe than you were during the Trump administration? Is
anything less expensive under Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And Crooked Joe.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I mean, we had inflation that I don't believe we've
ever had inflation like that.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You can go back a long way.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Are you better off now with Harris and Biden than
you were with a person named President Donald J.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Trump?
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Do you know him?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
He's a nice gentleman.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
So earlier today I believe it was No, I guess
it was yesterday. Jared Bernstein, who's the head of the
White House Council of Economic Advisors, in the wake of
yesterday morning's report of inflation again year to year being
down from three point zero percent to two point nine percent, That,
(02:27):
of course, is peggybacked on top of the previous year's
inflation up, which was as much as nine percent. Okay,
take a look at what you're paying in stores for
regular things. I mean a package of Oriole cookies, I
mean whatever you want, a gallon of milk. That's been
(02:48):
my experience. Maybe some of you can help me find
a better stores to work up. But Bernstein was asked
about the fact that voters may hear these these these analysis,
but they're not feeling it. So this was Jared Bernstein
(03:10):
yesterday cut number nine.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
When I talked to.
Speaker 6 (03:13):
Voters in the field, when my colleagues talk to people,
they still don't think the economy isn't a better shape
than it was when President Biden christ took office.
Speaker 7 (03:24):
Well, I don't know about that in terms of the
broader economic assessment of where the you know, the economy is,
because you know, I think people do know that the
job market's been strong. Sixteen million jobs, that's record job growth.
The unemployment rate has been historically low. GDP growth has
been strong. But I think your question is a valid one,
(03:47):
which is Okay, people, I think are aware of many
of those many of many of the elements of that progress,
but they're still discomforted by the high prices.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Uh yeah, I mean I agree with him there. I
think that a lot of the numbers of phony numbers.
And we lost millions of jobs because of COVID. Okay,
it was as simple as that. There were when you
think about it, there were restaurants that were closed. There
were stores that were closed. Those businesses laid people off.
(04:24):
They have come back, many of those restaurants, and many
of those stores have come back. Okay, there wasn't much
of a need for Walmart greeters. For example, when when
COVID hit, Birnsting went on to say, he was again
I think I think he added to this comment, this
is a comment nine A again the head of the
(04:45):
White House Council of Economic Advisors, trying to make it simple.
I guess you know.
Speaker 7 (04:51):
I have three words for people who feel the way
you just said, which is, we hear you. The President
hears you, the Vice President hears you. We will never
stand here and say, oh, no, you're wrong. Look at
the GDP statistics. You know that's not the way it works.
That's not President Biden's orientation. We believe that people are
the best arbiters of how they experienced this economy, and
that's why we're working so aggressively on agenda, on an
(05:15):
agenda to help them cut costs in all the areas
I ticked through before, to make investments in ki areas,
particularly in places that have long been left behind and
hollowed out by irresponsible trade policy.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Very nice words, but I don't know what they mean. Now,
maybe some of you can explain to me what they mean.
I just don't know what they mean. And then when
we hear the White House Press Secretary Caarine Jean Pierre,
she said this earlier this month, was on August sixth. Again,
(05:50):
she works for President Biden. I get it, she's not
gonna say anything that's negative, but this is a little
hyperbole here cut twenty four, please Rob, and we understand.
Speaker 6 (06:02):
What the President inherited when he walked in was a
you know, an economic economy that was in the downturn.
Speaker 8 (06:10):
He had to turn that around.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And that's what the president was able.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
To do, turn the economy around. Well, I don't know
about that, but that's what the that's what they say.
So my question is real simple, how's your economy? Are
you making more money these days? Inflation cumulatively over the
last four years is up around twenty percent? Okay, simple
(06:34):
as that most items are, on average, are going to
cost you twenty percent more. So that package of cookies
that was I don't know, two ninety nine in the
in twenty eighteen or twenty nineteen, Nile's going to be
man two three seventy five, three seventy nine or whatever
(06:57):
a gallon of gas. You know what you were paying
for gas? I mean, is it as bad as it was? No?
Is it gonna go down more? I'm not sure.
Speaker 9 (07:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
And there are factors over which we frankly have no control.
I mean, if if war breaks out in the Middle East,
you can blame, you can lay that, You can lay
that at the feet of a politician and say, hey,
you did a good job here, whatever. But I just
want to know how you're doing. Are you going out
to dinner as often as you did back in the
(07:31):
in the late teens? You know, essentially, when Donald Trump
was president, before COVID, obviously COVID, our world changed for
about a year and a half dramatically, and we're still
feeling consequences of it. COVID was not Donald Trump's fault.
COVID was not Joe Biden's fault. COVID was China's fault.
(07:56):
No matter how you cut that, folks, It's as simple
as that. And that is not an anti Chinese statement.
It came from China, whether it came from a lab
or whether it came from a what market, or whether
it came from some bat that, somehow someone ate. There's
all sorts of theories. But my question to you is
how are you doing? How are you doing? Do you
(08:19):
have more money in the bank, do you feel more comfortable? Obviously,
mortgage prices have gone up. My son was telling me
the other day that he back in I guess it
was I'm trying to think twenty eighteen, he was able
(08:40):
to refi at a two point seven five percent. I
mean he said, hey, you know, never find a mortgage
like that two point seven five percent today. So it's
really a question. It's a personal thing. And also will
it affect how you will vote? Will your economic circlemstances
(09:01):
push you to vote one way or the other. You've
got two choices and maybe it won't. Maybe you, irrespective
of how well you're doing or how poorly you doing,
you are going to vote Democrat or Republican. I just
want to know how we talk about the economy, talk
about the GDP, talk about the inflation rate, uh, talk
(09:23):
about the feder Reserve. Will they will they cut rates?
Will will rate stay the same? All of that stuff, okay,
which is what you'd call macro economics. That's what it's
called macro economics. Okay, the price of gas, you could
you could impact you. You can't impact the price of gas.
You can impact the way you drive your car as
(09:44):
opposed to doing five errands every day. If you have
the time, you know, drive to the to the to
the laundry, get your clothes, drive home, drive to the
to the grocery store, get your food, come back home,
drive to the post office, mail your letters, come back home. Oh.
The smarter way obviously, Uh. Perhaps less convenient is make
(10:05):
a list, pick them up, one two, figure it out
how you're going to go and save yourself some mileage.
So the question is, how is your economy working right now? Uh?
And if you want to give Joe Biden credit and
tell me that daidnomics has been the best thing that
you've ever experienced, that's great. If you want to tell
me it's all a bunch of whoy uh and that
(10:27):
you're worse off now than you were four years ago,
that's fine too. Six one seven thirty, triple eight nine
two nine ten thirty or six one seven, nine, three
one ten thirty. Your points of view are what makes
this program work because we get every night a variety
(10:48):
of callers, different callers last night, I think we had
four first time callers in a row. I haven't had
four first time callers in a row in a long time,
to be honest with you, because we have UH callers
who call infrequently, callers who call more frequently. UH. But
to get four first time callers in a row, that
was pretty good. I'd love to get some first time
(11:10):
callers tonight. But I want to hear from you, whether
you've called before or not. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine, ten thirty those
are the two best numbers. How is your economy working
in your household? Or are you? Are you just such
that you can buy whatever you want to buy? Open
it up, let's go. I want to hear your story
(11:33):
up close and personal. Coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Now, back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He's just talking to Rob. You're on the break. And
everyone is different, Everyone really is different. Single people, married couples,
married couples with kids, older folks who are looking to retire.
The economy, which of course again is the macroeconomy, effects
(12:03):
all of us differently. And I just let to get
a sense from you as to how your economy is going.
Let's start it off with Jim in Bridgewater. Jim, you
were next on Nightside, first this hour and night Side.
How's your economy, Jim.
Speaker 10 (12:18):
Dan, I've always been a frogo guy. I drive a
twenty year old car. I have a forty year old boat.
I've always been lucky enough to.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Fix and maintain those things good.
Speaker 10 (12:29):
But under Trump, I had extra money. We could go
out and use those things more we could use we
had money in the bank, we could go out to dinner,
you know. But now it's it's a paycheck to paycheck
like Style flarees, it's it's And I don't understand how
people are blinded and as soon as the other side
(12:52):
says something flowery and happy, they're like, oh, yeah, this
is this is the way it's going to be. Look,
look it's all turning around.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Well here's the.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Thing, here's the thing, and the reason I'm doing this
tonight is really simple. The average person, including me, gets
overwhelmed by the economists because just like you can get
at a criminal trial, you can get expert witnesses on
any side of the issue. You know, if you're doing
blood testing, if you're doing forensics there there are hired
(13:23):
guns out there. So when you hear a conservative economists
say oh, things are terrible and uh and we're heading
in the wrong direction, or then you hear Austin Goldsby
who will say, oh, this is great everything we're coming
around the president talking about it's a soft landing. Well,
I don't know if it's a soft landing. To be
(13:45):
really honest with you, I mean, it's that's all hyperbole.
And it comes down to how are we feeling? How
am I feeling? How are you feeling? You know, I've
I've been blessed to have a pretty good job for
a long time. Uh and and I've been pretty immune
to the ups and downs. But but not everybody is
(14:06):
that is that way, and that's why I'd like I'd
like to find out who who's happy who's not. So
you're not happy, Jim, right.
Speaker 10 (14:14):
And I'm not happy for my friends that I know
they can't fix things, and I know they have car
payments and mortgages, and I feel I don't even ask
them to come out because I know they can't afford
to come out. You know, it's just so upsetting.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So who's the one. Who's who's to blame for that?
Is it? Do you pin that on someone or is
that just the ebb and flow and the economy irrespective
of who's in the White House or who isn't.
Speaker 10 (14:39):
I absolutely blame the administration. It's one hundred percent. You've
seen it every day on the new not on the
news because they hide it constantly. But listening to people
that are intelligent and do things like you do, and
you know, stay in the middle as best you possibly
can with the facts.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
And well I always the fact.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah. Well, the thing that's great is that each one
of us have our own set of facts. I mean,
you know, no one you know, you're right when the
when the inflation number yesterday came out and said that
year to year, you know, July to July inflation was
only up two point nine percent, so it was under
this magic number of three percent. So that was good. However,
(15:26):
you know, your set of facts might be different than
my set of facts, and you are going to rely
when you go to the polls on your set of facts,
just like how we rely upon my set of facts,
you know. And that's what's beautiful. We all have within
When they talk about the American economy. We all we
all have an economy ourselves. That's the point that I'm
(15:47):
trying to drive home tonight, right that it really is
what your economy feels like. And I get at this
point you're not happy with your economy. Great college, Jim.
Speaker 10 (16:00):
Relationship also very impressful.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
No whole question about that. They say that when you
talk about married couples, the greatest problem, the problem that
most married couples have who have problems a financi is financial. Absolutely,
Sun Jim, great call, Thank you so.
Speaker 8 (16:19):
Much, have a good night, Thank you too.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Let's keep rolling here. Let me see who's next. They're
going to go to an in Boston. And the same
question for you, how's your economy doing.
Speaker 11 (16:29):
Well? I could say that twenty nineteen was definitely a
lot better two thousand. I'm in the service industry and
I was rocking. I mean I had so from two
thousand until twenty sixteen, I was helping somebody who was very,
(16:51):
very sick and died. And then after that I really
was able to work, and I worked really hard. I'm
a hard worker, and I was doing so well and
I was ready to buy a house. I was going
to buy a house up in New Hampshire, and nothing exactly,
you know, just I always live within my means. But
(17:13):
and then they shut us down March twenty, twenty twenty,
and I literally, in front of my eyes watched every
house that I had on railtor that I was just
so excited to look into more and more, just go
in front of my eyes, contingent, contingent, contingent, and they
(17:35):
basically shut I don't know who's responsible, if it's Baker
or Marty Walsh, but I don't believe it was President Trump.
I do believe that it was state. The decisions of
the state so on that I'm going to go with.
I don't believe it was Trump's fault. I just I don't.
(17:58):
But that being said, they shut me down for five months.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
When I went back, well, you say they shut you down.
Did you own a business or were you an employee
of a business.
Speaker 11 (18:10):
I was an employee, and just give me very very business.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You're just generically what were you doing?
Speaker 11 (18:16):
If I could ask, let's uh in the alternative health
business to put it that way, okay, and yeah, I
wouldn't be too specific.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I love that. I'm not gonna pry so alternative health
and things were going really well for you. But when
COVID hit, Yes, and look, Massachusetts was a fairly restrictive state.
I can remember you had to you had to wear
masks all the time and uh, and then we had
shortages and which was which was no one's fault? I
(18:51):
mean the fact that people went to stores and hoarded
toilet paper, for example. But the feeling that you had
in the summer of twenty nineteen when things were rolling
for you soon about the change, that feeling hasn't come back, right.
Speaker 11 (19:11):
No, So when we reopened, my client said, well, the
U haul truck just kept coming. So we decided to
move too, and you know, a lot of people moved
out of the city. And I worked really hard, as
a lot of people do in the city, building a clientele,
and then nine months later we ended up closing. And
(19:37):
so unfortunately, I had a feeling that was going to happen,
and Boston was very empty. I would walk around the
city and see, you know, retail space available, apartment space available,
commercial space. I mean it was frightening actually. So then
a lot of.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
That, by the way, still has not come back. Ye,
a lot of that has not come back.
Speaker 11 (19:58):
Go ahead, really neither have I. So I haven't really
been back to Boston. I'm from Boston, and I love Boston.
I think it's the greatest city in the whole country.
And I've been all over the country.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Where are you're working? Now, generally you don't have to
tell me exactly where you've been out in the suburbs,
somewhere up in New Hampshire. Where are you working?
Speaker 11 (20:19):
It's been difficult. So I decided not just yeah, I
decided not to go back to Boston. And I did
go up to New Hampshire and it wasn't the same.
It's just been very different. It's not the same busyness
that I've had. And I would say that my income
has gone down from easily the seventies to the twenties
(20:43):
and thirties. Huge job, and I've had to drive a
lot further which and gas has gone up, so my
cost of getting to work is higher. But I am single,
and I don't see like I have it at so
I also I decided to go to Florida to see
(21:05):
if that was a better economy, but actually I won't
go into that. But I wasn't happy with it down there,
so I came back and now I can't even find
an apartment. I'm actually I'm either staying with friends or hotel.
I can't find an affordable apartment. It has gone up
so high that I just it's impossible. And so that's
(21:32):
where I'm at. But I have saved. I am not
you know, I knew something was coming. And if I
can also say, I don't believe it's Biden, I don't
believe it was Trump. I think it goes back further.
I think it goes back to Obama. I think it
has to do with overspending. I think the Fetter Reserve
has something to do with it. I think printing, printing,
(21:54):
printing for many years. I think getting off the gold
and silver standard has a lot to do with it.
I don't think it's just one administration. I think it's
a very complex problem that we really need to learn from.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yeah, well I can tell you that that no matter
who gets elected, Republicans and Democrats. When when Bill Clinton
left office, we were we had a federal debt of
about five trillion dollars. When George Bush left office eight
years that federal debt had increased to about ten It
had doubled to about ten trillion dollars. When President Obama
(22:29):
left twenty sixteen, it was up to about twenty trillion dollars.
It also doubled, and Donald Trump pushed it up, and
Joe Biden pushed it up. Now, both Biden and Trump
could say, well, nobody else dealt with COVID, the world
shut down, but they both everything's gone up. We now
have a debt of about thirty five trillion dollars and
a GBT a gross domestic product GDP of about twenty
(22:55):
six twenty seven trillion dollars, and so that's dangerous areas
to be I I loved your call, but I really
got a run up gone on longer than I've gone
through the newscast almost. Hey, great call. Please continue to
call this program. It's a great call.
Speaker 11 (23:11):
Thank you great again.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I have a great All.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Right, we're gonna keep rolling here. I have one line
at six one, seven thirty. I have two lines at
five at six one, seven nine thirty. My question is
really simple, really simple. Everyone should be able to participate.
How is your economy? Ian just explained her economy like
an economist. You don't have to be that sophisticated. I
(23:37):
want to know how your economy is are you feeling good?
Are you feeling not so good? Back on night side.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
After this, you're on night Side with Dan Ray on
WZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
All right, let's keep rolling here. We we're gonna go
next to Hey, let's go to Glenn and Brighton Glenn,
how's your economy? I know that you hurt in the
economy as a piano tuner, for sure.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yeah. By the way, before I get to that, my
heart goes out to that last color where she sounds
like a wholesome human being.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Excellent, she was.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
Not only not only I love the way she.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Very intelligent, thoughtful, and clearly has done a lot to
improve her lot and everything has gone southward.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Right, it sounds like she went from riches to rags.
It's really sad.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I'm with you on that for sure. Thanks for making
that comment. That's very thoughtful. I hope she heard it.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Thanks you too. So it stinks, As I told you, screener,
I'm trying to be poite about it before. First of all,
the Yeah, the music store that I've been working for
since twenty thirteen is going out of business on September first,
and they're evicting the tenants and they're auctioning off everything
(24:57):
in the building and they're selling the building going yep,
I won't even get to say goodbye to my favorite
piano that's in the cat corner in the back of
the store.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
But that's that's terrible, really is terrible. Why are they
going out of business that.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
People not Well, that's what I'm going to get to.
Before the virus, I was working Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
three days a week, and we were selling pianos and
people were calling the store and they would drive me
out to tune them. But after, even though the pandemic
is over, people the economy is such people don't want
(25:34):
to pay that. People aren't wanting their pianos tone, they're
not wanting to buy that. We haven't sold anything. Nobody's
calling the store looking for a tuner. H And it
just got to the point where the wife and the
two daughters told the husband, look, we can't do this anymore.
(25:54):
The guy that owns it, the husband is a dieheart
acoustic piano person.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
But wall I want, I mean, have pianos gone out
of style?
Speaker 4 (26:05):
I mean, well, partially, I mean the digital pianos are
becoming more popular because they're easier to move around. They
never needed tuning. It's like the Maytag with paying me.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
What is a digital piano?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Well, it's not an acoustic. It's an electronic piano that's
pre tuned at the factory and it stays that way
through it. Because it's so it's.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
It's smaller, it's more portable, expensive, right, yes, yeah, but
it's not that.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Doesn't take ten men and a small boy to move it.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, and I'll hear you. I totally hear you. Yeah,
but there's nothing like having a piano in your home.
I mean, if you have to, and they're not. It's
not the most I mean, people can throw money away
in a lot of stuff, but a piano, as always
I thought was a pretty good investment because you're never
going to lose money.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
At the piano hand infect my hair goes off to
Morgan Way while you were vacation vacation, he had the
Winnikers on and he let me give my name and
number over the year if anybody wants here piano tune. Actually,
the Winnikers said, can go and give this. There was
their idea. I hope the program director doesn't get upset.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
But you did any business with I don't know not.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
Yeah, it's not a single call.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Well, I'll tell you what what do you want to get?
I hasten to do that. You know, do you do
you have a website that people can go to.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
No, I'm I'm computer illiterate. I'm a tragodyte. My friends
call me troggy pooh.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Why don't I do this if anybody wants needs a
piano tuner instead of me having you put your number
out of the air, which can be dangerous. If anybody
is in need of a great piano tuner, Rob, you
can have them give them my phone number if they
want to call in my direct line and I'll tell
(27:54):
you what it is at six one seven seven eight
seven seven oh three three call me and I'll put
you touch with Glenn if you give me permission.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Glenn to give you a Yeah, you have my information. Fact,
I haven't heard from you in a while. I weave
you messages, but I thought you didn't love me anymore,
you know, I just.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Get back from Europe. Man, I gotta tell you, do
you have many messages? How many emails I got to
get rid of? I trust?
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:18):
You know? And you know how many people call me
during the day and they'll they'll call up just to
kind of chat, and it's like, right, you know, as
much as I love all you guys, I try to
be a little a little fear.
Speaker 9 (28:31):
But it's just tough to spend, uh, you know, every
you know, I get, you know, probably twenty to fifty
phone calls a day and a couple of hundred emails
and emails a people who I don't know, and they're
looking for either advice I had. Yeah, well I'm legal
or financial and I don't do financial advice because I'm
(28:51):
not a certified you know, financial advisor.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
But I try to be polite. But you know, someone
like you, you know, if you call up and just
tell me a story about what's going on, I'm probably
not going to call you back and say, geez, Glenn,
that was an interesting story. If you call up and
you got a problem, that's a different story. So if
anybody wants a great piano tuner in the greater Boston area,
Glenn and Brighton does a great job. And if you
(29:16):
want and reasonable reasonable prices with Glenn, okay, but they
got that under the wire there. And if you have
a piano you want, how often do people get pianos.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Tuned well ideal, you should do it every six months
to maintain this. I mean if you do it a
year or a year and a half, that's fine. What
happens I wanted the stuff that hasn't been done since
nineteen seventy three, and they wonder why it takes me
five hours? And I tell them pianos are like teeth.
If you neglect them, they're going to let you know it.
I know because I neglected my beautiful teeth.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
And now I have situation but that you should charge
on a on a per hour basis as opposed to
a per job basis.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
Yeah, I do by the job. Someone said I charge
it should charge one hundred bucks an hour.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Well, whatever I've come up with the number, maybe have
a minimum number of one hundred and fifty dollars an hour.
But if it's if it exceeds you, if it exceeds
two hours, charge him seventy five an hour. So if
it's four hours, it's three hundred dollars.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Years ago, very quick, A couple of years ago, Johnny
mutual friend, Johnny Volzio, got me two pianos to tune
at the Cattle Center and they gave me two hundred
and fifty dollars apiece, but they have since gotten rid
of the pianos. I don't know why what they all?
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Right, Glenn, we tried to generate some business that people
would like to have. Glenn, come in to me a piano,
reasonable price, great piano tuner, uh six eight seven, seven
oh three three, and I'll pass. They'll ban numbers along. Okay,
thanks Glenn, Thank you? All right, that quick break, coming
right back on Nightside, Bill, Mike Herschel, Warren, We got
(30:53):
you all coming up right after the break.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Now back to Dan Way live from the Window World
Nice Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Here Herschel, Herschel's in Boston. Herschel, how's your economy?
Speaker 8 (31:09):
Well, Dan, I have a particular view on all this stuff.
I'm just I'm gonna try and make it quick. Number one,
I personally don't believe whether the Trump, Bush, Reagan, Obama, Clinton,
(31:30):
Biden or Harris can fix the majority of our issues.
What happens is, as far as I'm concerned, each president
gets in, each administration gets in, and they tinkle with
certain stuff, and it seems like you're getting more money.
But at some point in time, you're gonna you're gonna
(31:51):
pay for what you're missing out on. Now, Okay, the
stockholders control the gas prices, so you're the president, and
the gas prices go down, you get credit for that.
But also when the gas prices go well, you take
the hit for that.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Well, I don't know about let me. Let me pick
a fight with you just a little bit here. If
all of a sudden things blow up in the Middle
East tomorrow, okay, uh, and let's say that the hoodies
are blocking you know, ships leaving for the Middle East.
I guarantee if gas prices are going to go up
because the supply, the gas supply will be reduced.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
And I agree with you there. I'm talking basic, everyday,
regular life. I'm not talking about extreme circumstances. Okay enough,
basically out of control.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Okay. Of one of the reasons that the gas prices
went down under Trump, and I will just say this
is because of COVID. Fewer people were using their cars,
So there are external factors that do affected.
Speaker 8 (32:53):
But go ahead, that's true. But you know, again, we're
talking about something extreme that's out of our basic everyday control. Okay,
food prices, how many how many people actually own the
major food stores across the country, like the Shaws, the
(33:15):
Stop and Shop, uh you know, and others tigli wiggly
roups out in Capable.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I think they're owned by big corporations. The Shaws is
now owned by Colbertson there right, you know, I means
is still a family owned business, but they're they're big corporations.
Speaker 8 (33:34):
Yeah, well, I would say, and why can't this see,
in my opinion, the things that the president can do
and they don't do because and this is a dirty
statement that I'm about to make, sometimes they really back
off some stuff. It's almost like I'm going to give
you part of this candy and I'm going to keep
(33:57):
the other half so that you'll want more. Okay, If
I was president, I would call all these corporations the
head CEOs on a zoom call. If they look, these
people out here are hurting. You need to fix it,
and I want each one of you to tell me
now on a zoom call, how you're going to fix it,
and I'm gonna hold you to that.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Yeah. Well, that's called job boning. That's called job boning,
and presidents have done that before. But I don't really
want a president calling supermarkets and tell them to cut
prices because I think that that. Look, I go into
supermarkets now, this stuff that I bought five years ago
that I will not buy because the price is twice
(34:38):
twice as expensive. Okay, it's as simple as that. Okay,
that's my decision. Now. If other fools are going to
go in there and spend eight dollars for cookies that
cost three dollars you know, five years ago, that's not
my problem. Good luck. Enjoy the cookies. They're not worth
it to me.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
You know what.
Speaker 8 (34:55):
Now, your statement just leads me to my next point. Okay, Okay,
Dad used to say this years ago. People do exactly
what they want to do, right, sure, And I look
at the football stadiums, I look at the basketball games,
the Olympics, yeah, women'ston tennis. These crowds are not lacking.
They're in there, so somebody's paying the price. And I
(35:18):
just feel people pay what they want to. Pray. Now,
when it comes down to a president again, I don't
believe a president has all the answers. I think people
vote for a president that has the charisma that they like.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, but we have a capitalistic system. What I'm saying
is if you and I want to go to a
Patriots game, Okay, we're gonna have to pay to get
a good seat. What now, two hundred bucks. I'm not
gonna pay two hundred bucks to go to a Patriots
game to get good seats. I'm gonna watch it on.
Speaker 8 (35:51):
TV, you know what. And I agree with you, But
somebody's gonna pay.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
My point is, yeah, and as long as there's somebody
paying two hundred bucks, keep charging two hundred bucks. That's
what's called capitalism.
Speaker 8 (36:03):
Right, I know what. And the two hundred well, I
don't have a problem capitalism. You know, get what you
can get. My thing is, if people are paying what
they want to pay, don't really complain too much because
that's what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, But at the same time, there are some people
out there who do not have that disposable income. You
heard Ian earlier herschel. I love your call. You first
time call her and know have you called before?
Speaker 8 (36:27):
I've called before, sir.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Do me a favorite. Keep calling, very thoughtful calling. I
want to try to get one more in here before
the break.
Speaker 8 (36:32):
Okay, no problem, you have a good day.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Personal YouTube. Appreciate the call. Coming back on night's side.
But let me get before that. We got Mike and Beverly. Mike,
you've been holding on the longest.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
Go right ahead, Hey, Dan, goodding, Mike and the car Hawaii.
Can hear anybody?
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I could hear you find mikeel right ahead.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
The inflation, Dan, so listen, I'm in Beverly. I'm in
long time with Cavey. That call before the end. By
as far as the prices go, it'siculous. I'll lively either
homeless my car or I live in the room. Enough
now I can't afford a parma, Dan, And like I'm
hope with in an election, I want to move on
(37:11):
to Masters and move into Hampshire because I want to
go to a mobile home trailer park. There's something I
can afford because I'm fifty seven. Then I'll be fifty
eight in November. I can't afford a home and I
don't have kids on that sort of stuff then, And
this Masters is just too much money, too much money.
I can't I can't do it here. And it's just
(37:34):
crazy the amount of inflation. And it's still the yadd
I'll pay my tax, Dan, And it makes it hard
for myself to stay in recovery, and doing this sort
of stuff again. I see all those you know, Marty Healley,
giving them money away to free free people, and like,
why can't I get something of it? I pay my tax,
(37:57):
do all that stuff. It worked, and I still can't afford.
You're gonna make a hundred and thirty grand a year
to have a Massusetts.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I saw that statistic today. Yeah, and that's that's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
That's it's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah. Yeah, well I'll tell you I call him.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Today upon today, Dan, they want six you the credit score,
first class security, and that brokera fee. So if someone's
eight grand out fried just to get a key, who's
who's got that kind of money? I don't have it.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Yeah, there aren't that many people who have that that
amount of disposable cash, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
The cash is a credit score. I don't have a
perfect Credis score.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
I mean, you know, I don't. A lot of people
don't have a perfect score.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
When this, when was the last time you were were
renting an apartment? Because they think you've told me before
you live in your car oftentimes, right, Yeah, here's the
least time that you were renting an apartment.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I never had one.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Dan.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Okay, did you ever own a house?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
No?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Okay? Have you lived in your car? You said you're
fifty seven.
Speaker 3 (39:15):
Yeah, I listened, Dan, I lived a homeless and a
car or a rooming house.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Dan. Okay, okay, all right, well and well I'll tell you.
You know, my heart goes out to you.
Speaker 8 (39:29):
Man.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
I just this is not this you know you should
be You should be living in one of the shelters
being paid for by the state, like the new folks
who are coming in, and you should be able to
work and build a little bit of cash and get
back on your feet. That is what the right to
shelter law was intended to do back in nineteen eighty three,
(39:50):
and it has been turned now into a boondoggle for
people who are just coming here illegally.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
I get it quickly for your counting off. Yeah, I
just want to say quickly. It gets time because so
you know what. Meanwhile, Henri Counry, I do my fine
mistay clean all this sort of stuff. But I got
to honestly, it gets hot, and I sometimes to do
life every day. Sometimes I don't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
Biden, Well, hang in there, hanging there, okay, and hopefully
it'll turn around for you. Mike, I gotta go because
I'm up in the eleven.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
I got you.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
You know what you two felt. Talk to you soon.
Hang in there, God, I love you. Take a break. Bill,
you stay right there. Mike and Attleborough, stay there, Warren
don fall Rivers, stay there. We got two lines open
six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven,
nine thirty. How is your economy back after this
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