US Economy Powers Through Rate Hikes & Did Man City Cheat?

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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Neal Freyman (0:26)

Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

Toby Howell (0:29)

And I'm Toby Howell.

Neal Freyman (0:30)

Today, AI is misbehaving far more than we knew.

Toby Howell (0:34)

Then Manchester City kicked out of the Premier League. It could happen thanks to financial breaches. It's Monday, September 28th.

Let's ride.

Neal Freyman (0:49)

Good Monday morning. At least here in the stormy Northeast, it was a rough weekend for doing anything outside. So instead, everyone was debating a list of the top 100 TV shows of the 21st century. The New York Times just released. Going from five to one is Fleabag, Succession, Mad Men, The Wire, and in the top spot, Breaking Bad.

I don't think that exactly be my top five. Personally think Better Call Saul was better. Fleabag had all of 12 episodes, and Succession may be a case of recency bias. But Toby, as someone who doesn't watch a lot of TV, what's your take?

Toby Howell (1:23)

I felt really left out. I'm not going to lie.

The take I most aligned with was, where is the Sopranos? Like, how could you leave out the Sopranos? Well, it was made in 1999, so it wasn't part of the 21st century. Here is the list that I have the most respect for though. An ex-user, Robbie Pierce, ranked the best 100 shows of the century by how many times they've appeared as an answer in the New York Times crossword. Neal, can you tell me what the number one most mentioned crossword answer show is?

Neal Freyman (1:52)

Like a show?

Toby Howell (1:53)

It's a show on the list.

SPEAKER_4 (1:54)

I'm blanking. Amongst the list.

Neal Freyman (1:55)

Give me a hint.

Toby Howell (1:56)

It's four letters and it starts with L.

Neal Freyman (1:59)

I was going to say silo because that seems like it's pretty, I mean, that doesn't start with L, but it has very generic crossword letters.

What is this? Oh, lost, lost. There it is. You just need to talk it out.

Toby Howell (2:10)

You need to talk it out. It goes lost with 231 mentions, then house with 106 So loss is by far the most. Then Atlanta actually beef in Andor. You need those A's, you need those vowels. So that was the list that I most, you know, could relate to.

And now a word from our sponsor, Roku ads manager. All right, Neil, pop quiz. Where do people spend the majority of their screen time?

Neal Freyman (2:34)

I'd probably say social media.

Toby Howell (2:36)

Streaming TV is actually number one ahead of social media, with an average of three and a half daily hours spent watching.

Neal Freyman (2:43)

No wonder 70 percent of advertisers are increasing their streaming budgets in 2026, and a lot of that is being pulled straight from social.

Toby Howell (2:51)

Yeah, and many of those advertisers are bringing those budgets to Roku. At the top smart TV operating system in the US, the scale alone speaks for itself.

Neal Freyman (3:00)

Roku is offering a $5,000 match to first time spenders on Roku ads manager, just head to advertising.roku.com/mbd and use code Brew 5K.

Toby Howell (3:13)

Despite inflation, tariffs, high interest rates and ever rising treasury yields, the US economy's role simply cannot be slowed, like the American team in singles at the President's Cup. But while a hot economy sounds great on the surface, a hot economy next to two decade high treasury yields has economists nervous because it raises the possibility that the Fed will have to go full Boulder, Colorado and hike, hike, hike. The Fed's biggest tool for controlling inflation is raising interest rates. Higher rates are supposed to cool economic activity by making borrowing more expensive, discouraging business investment and big ticket consumer spending. But companies are so gung ho about AI and its eventual returns that they are continuing to build despite higher borrowing costs. Meanwhile, a string of economic reports show that instead of slowing down the economy, it appears to be accelerating. The jobs report showed hiring picked back up in August. While layoffs have remained low, manufacturers also had a very strong quarter. Those signs of strength mean interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer. So if you're asking investors to lock up their money in a treasury for 10 years, they demand a higher return to do it. Still danger looms. With that 10-year yield hovering over 5%, it means everything from mortgages to car loans are more expensive, putting consumers' metal to the test. Neal, we've got ourselves a robust economy, but right now, the stronger it gets, the harder it may be for interest rates to come down.