Politics and views in the United States.

The economy remains strong, despite increased tariffs. But experts warn consumers to expect higher prices, and less selection on Black Friday & Cyber Monday and child safety advocates also warn of the pitfalls of toys that use AI.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

The Trump administration's decoupling strategy by having such a broad spectrum of aggressive tariffs hasn't helped, but yet still our economic performance indicators are surprisingly strong.

Virginia Tech economics professor David Bieri says tariffs could have sparked inflation or slowed growth, but the economy seems to have remained resilient.

But he says consumers shopping for the holiday should still expect the administration's import taxes to raise the prices of toys, consumer electronics, and other items from China 3 to 5 percent.

According to the conference board, consumer confidence has dipped to the lowest level in seven months.

Surveys suggest that's rooted in worries about the job market, and Bieri doesn't link it directly to tariffs increasing prices on goods.

But price isn't everything.

Jason Miller, Michigan State Professor of Supply Chain Management, warns that shoppers Importers might not see as large a selection at stores this year, or products made of slightly cheaper materials, as companies work to keep costs down.

And that is because importers are being quite cautious and only bringing in their best sellers and/or the products that they make the most profit on per sale.

And the big reason for that is because of the tariffs.

Americans seem to be souring on President Donald Trump's use of tariffs.

A new Marquette University Law School poll found nearly two-thirds of voters disapprove, more than half see tariffs as hurting the economy.

A separate poll says people say they're making prices rise rather than fall, as Trump claimed.

Progressive and moderate Democrats rode waves of discontent on affordability, from groceries to housing, into decisive electoral victories in New Jersey, New York City, and Virginia.

Rapidly rising stocks seem to be stalling on concerns about a possible AI bubble and questions about the genuine long-term value of the technology.

Meanwhile, small businesses are hoping for a bump on Small Business Saturday.

Nearly 60 million Americans, almost half of all private sector employees, work for small businesses, which represent more than 40 percent of U.S. GDP.

Colleen Murray's guides development policy for Apex, North Carolina.

Supporting those businesses, it's not just about shopping local.

It's about investing in our community's future and the place and the people that make your community extremely special.

Child safety advocates are warning consumers shopping for the latest gizmos to avoid AI toys.

A growing number of action figures, dolls, and stuffed animals have embedded chatbots that use AI to communicate with kids, and some have no parental controls and can talk with kids about sexually explicit topics or offer advice on where to find matches or knives.

Rachel Franz with Fair Play warns they not only prey on children's trust, but could also record and analyze sensitive conversations, even when they appear to be turned off. of the AI toys that we've looked at are collecting a lot of different types of data and most of their privacy policies outline that they will sell them to third parties.

I'm Zimone Perez with Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.