Consumers Feel Broke, Inflation Shifts, and AI Changes Shopping, Episode 22

Joe McCaffrey and CIC CEO Louis Silva recap recent Small Business Intelligence episodes and then analyze 277 news articles from the past two weeks, noting a 63/37 positive-negative split. Using ChatGPT to theme the coverage, they discuss a contradiction between GDP growth and worsening consumer sentiment, selective spending shifts from products to experiences, inflation pressures moving toward energy/food/services (including rising gas prices and diesel concerns), housing stress and rising foreclosures, growing consumer and small-business credit strain, and the impact of uncertainty from geopolitics and tariffs. They also cover how AI is changing shopping and business discovery, highlight Connecticut speed-camera enforcement in work zones, discuss Wren Kitchen’s abrupt shutdown and Express Kitchens’ customer relief, and note U.S. debt exceeding 100% of GDP.