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About 15 million Americans collectively have $49 million in medical debt on their credit reports, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But a new proposed rule might remove these bills from their credit scores. We’ll explain. Plus, the domino effect of local elections being funded by national players. And, how Apple’s new AI features could change the language of emoji.

Here’s everything we talked about today:


“Vice President Kamala Harris On Sherri” from “Sherri”
“CFPB Proposes to Ban Medical Bills from Credit Reports” from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
“CFPB Finds 15 Million Americans Have Medical Bills on Their Credit Reports” from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
“Biden Proposes Dropping Medical Debt From Credit Reports” from The New York Times
“More parents are cosigning their kids’ mortgages” from Marketplace 
“Co-Borrowing Is on the Rise for First-Time Homebuyers” from Freddie Mac 
“Campaign donors hope money makes the difference in hotly contested states” from Marketplace
“Apple Intelligence in 5 minutes” from Apple
“Apple announces AI features” from Marketplace

Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We’ll have news, drinks, a game and more.

The job market is weakening, according to recent data. Higher unemployment is a good sign — if you’re the Federal Reserve and want to cut interest rates. It’s bad, of course, if you’re a job seeker. We tackle this paradox in today’s episode. Plus: Cities adjust their tech-hub dreams, improved hurricane forecasting saves billions in damage, and Black workers pay a high price in the clean energy transition.

Markets mixed; Tesla shareholders likely approve Elon Musk’s pay package; SCOTUS ruling could affect unionization; GameStop shareholder meeting overloads servers.

The producer price index in May fell 0.2%; jobless claims rise to 10-month high, but still at a healthy level; Federal Reserve signals just one interest rate cut in 2024; G7 leaders agree to $50 billion Ukraine loan backed by Russian assets.

Federal campaigns get much of the spotlight, but state and local races can be as consequential for residents’ lives. Funders know that. Today, we’ll trace some of this year’s campaign spending behind state elections, local elections and ballot initiatives. We’ll also hear about a G7 plan to use seized Russian assets to help Ukraine. Plus, inflation for wholesalers was negative last month. What’s a central bank to do with that?

Gay bars are often a fixture of queer nightlife and can help foster a sense of community. Yet across the country, gay bars have shuttered at an alarming pace, down around 45% between 2002 and 2023. But queer nightlife isn’t disappearing — it may just be evolving. We’ll hear more. But first: Interest rates are staying where they are, so where do we go from here?