Episode summary
Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - January 16th, 2026 | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 1 hr 16 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Summary
The weekend show centered on tariffs, market fragility, and the changing mechanics of speculation. Rick Waldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources and Hand to Mind, said the Trump administration’s tariffs disrupted supply chains, forced price increases, and cost his businesses more than $10 million in 2025. Bloomberg News Supreme Court reporter Greg Stohr explained that the case may not be decided quickly, and that even if the court strikes down the IEEPA tariffs, the president could try other tariff authorities.
Andrew Ross Sorkin then argued that a 1929-style crash is unlikely in the same form, but that leverage, debt, and policy mistakes can still turn a market shock into a broader crisis. He said modern safeguards, from faster information to bank capital rules, reduce some risks, but warned that private credit, short-term Treasury exposure, and a loss of Fed independence remain concerns. He also said humility, not just regulation, is the best antidote to irrational exuberance.
A later segment examined prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, where traders bet on everything from elections to celebrity outcomes. Bloomberg reporters said the industry is growing fast, but the line between forecasting and gambling remains blurred, with regulators worried about insider trading, manipulation, and weak oversight.
Key takeaways
- Rick Waldenberg said tariffs imposed under IEEPA cost his company more than $10 million in 2025 and forced a supply-chain overhaul.
- Greg Stohr said the Supreme Court could still delay its tariff ruling until late February if it does not issue opinions next week.
- Andrew Ross Sorkin said leverage is the recurring trigger for crises, not just bad actors or bad headlines.
- Sorkin said private credit, short-term Treasuries, and pressure on Fed independence are among the market risks he watches most closely.
- Bloomberg reporters said prediction markets are booming, but regulators still lack a clear framework for insider trading and manipulation.
Notable quotes
“the the imposition of these taxes on our company with no advanced warning and with seemingly no limit threw our supply chain administration completely uh out the window”
“It was a significant disruption in how we manufactured our product. Um and so we had an enormous diversion of labor in our office”
“Leverage is the match that lights the fire every single time”
“the playbook is to throw money at the problem. Maybe politically unpopular, but that is the lesson”
“2025 was the year of prediction markets. We had two big firms kind of dominate the space”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio.
Hi everyone, welcome to the Bloomberg Business Week weekend podcast. 2026 definitely off and running. It's about one week since we found out that one of the pillars of US economic governance was again under attack after Fed Chair Jay Powell announced that the central bank was served with a grand jury subpoena from the Department of Justice.
It's not the only time the US central bank was caught in the crosshairs of a president or investors for that matter. And on that and what we can learn from our financial past, return to the New York Times bestselling author of Too Big to Fail in 1929 inside the greatest crash in Wall Street history and how it shattered a nation. Andrew Ross Sorcin will join us.
All that to come. We begin though with the real world impact of tariffs nearly a year after they were imposed by the Trump administration. The Supreme Court did not rule on challenges to President Donald Trump's AIPA tariffs this past week for a second time, leaving the world to wait until at least this coming week possibly to learn the fate of his signature economic policy again.
Possibly it could be even longer before we get some kind of ruling from the Supreme Court on this.
Someone paying really close attention apart from us to that decision is Rick Waldenberg. Rick is CEO of Learning Resources and Handtomind. two educational toy businesses based near Chicago.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- business news
- finance news
- global technology
- politics
- economics
Watch the episode
Watch “Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - January 16th, 2026 | Bloomberg Businessweek” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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