Meghan Markle's $25 million podcast deal is sparking deeper conversations about power

Hi there! These are the money news stories from the U.S. economy that caught my attention this past week.

The U.S. economy

The big news this week in the U.S. economy is President Biden’s pathetic solution to the student loan crisis. He’s canceling $10,000 in debt for singles making under $125K and for couples making under $250K. The student loan payment pause will be extended one last time, with payments resuming at the beginning of 2023.

Women's rights were decided by an old white guy who couldn't get laid

ProPublica revealed that a 90-year-old white man billionaire funded the overturn of Roe V. Wade. Barre Seid, note the initials are B.S., donated $1.6 billion to a nonprofit run by Leonard Leo, note the double L for loser squared, who co-chairs the conservative legal group the Federalist Society. This is the largest donation to a political advocacy group ever. Leo used the money to build the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority by selecting the judges nominated and directing multimillion-dollar media campaigns to confirm them.

Meghan Markle's podcast explores the connection between money, sex, and power

Meghan Markle inked a $25 million podcast deal with Spotify and the first episode dropped last week. The show is called Archetypes and it investigates the labels that try to hold women back. Megan speaks with high-profile guests, historians, and experts to uncover the origin of these stereotypes and how they still play out today. Her first guest was Serena Williams and the next guest is Mariah Carey.

How might this apply to you? Celebrities impact culture and can give rise to various movements.? In contrast, Joe Rogan’s podcast gave rise to a group of men who chose to never work through their daddy issues, which has had a ripple effect on business, culture, and politics. I’ll be paying attention to how Meghan’s podcast impacts society. You may wish to as well.

Can green finance save us from ourselves?

This week I took a deeper dive into the Inflation Reduction Act, specifically the $27 billion provision for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The fund will provide resources to launch a National Green Bank. The National Green Bank will partner with the private sector and community lenders to invest in clean energy technologies.

I’m curious to see if this will help the tech companies addressing freshwater scarcity that are having a hard time raising capital. I talked about them last week. Side note, did you hear about Kourtney Kardashian exceeding her June water allotment by 101,000 gallons? Trash.

As an investor, pay attention to the National Green Bank because anytime there are government funds allocated to a particular industry, there will be a boost in opportunities. We saw this with the government support given to the microchip industry that paved the way for what Silicon Valley is today.

Rich people, where we at?

I have a question for all of you business owners in the luxury space. How are you marketing and acquiring new customers?

Marketing Brew published an article sharing findings that more and more affluent customers are buying out of ads on their streaming platforms. This is an issue for companies that try to market to them, because how do you drive sales when you can't bang someone over the head with ads?

Companies have had to get creative - wow, what a concept, marketing has to get creative - on how to reach them. Some companies are testing out direct mail. Hmmm, I guess it’s ok to go back to 1995? They are also testing product placements in the video.

Do you regret your home purchase?

This week I chatted with Lorie Konish from CNBC about a recent Clever Real Estate study on recent homebuyers. 72% of the 1,000 folks Clever surveyed regretted their home purchase. 30% of them said it was because they spent too much money. Thankfully, it looks like the market is balancing out and buyers should start to see the scale tip back in their favor.

If you are looking to buy a home, here are some quick tips:

• Don’t waive the inspection. A lot of folks did this during the frenzy so they could submit a competitive offer, but don't do it.
• Ask for sellers concessions. An example of this is asking the seller to do some repairs before you agree to buy them.
• Work with a great real estate agent. Your agent can make or break a deal. Be sure you're working with someone who knows the local area and can negotiate on your behalf.

Who wants to sip mimosas in France with me?

This story from Forbes is giving me all the life. It’s about Dior taking their spa treatments to the sea. In case you didn't already know, Dior has spas in hoteles like the H?tel Plaza Athénée and the new Cheval Blanc Hotel in Paris.

And now, darlings, we can do a spa day while sailing the River Seine.

The concept was inspired by The Bains de la Samaritaine, historic floating baths from the 19th century that were located along the Pont-Neuf, on the River Seine.

This story inspired the self-love money exercise this week, which is:

What does your ideal spa day on the sea look like? What services are you getting? What robe are you wearing? What are you sipping on? Is it a solo trip or with the girls? Let me know in the comments below.

See ya next week :)

Danetha

About: Danetha Doe is an economist and the creator of?Money & Mimosas. She loves to talk about all things money and power. Her favorite mimosa at the moment is pineapple.