Right About Now with Ryan Alford
BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS: The Rise of Trading Cards - Trump's address to Congress - Skype's Discontinuation
Fri, 07 Mar 2025
SUMMARYIn this episode of "Right About Now," host Ryan Alford and co-host Chris Hansen discuss key business news, including Donald Trump's address to Congress, the discontinuation of Skype, and the impact of tariffs on the U.S. economy. They reflect on the decline of Skype in favor of platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp, and explore the evolving job market influenced by AI. The conversation also touches on the importance of diversity in hiring, the benefits of entrepreneurship, and the volatile nature of cryptocurrency markets. The episode emphasizes staying informed and adaptable in a rapidly changing economic landscape.TAKEAWAYS Business news highlights and current events overview Key takeaways from Donald Trump's address to Congress Implications of tariffs on the U.S. economy Discontinuation of Skype and its impact on communication Political climate and its influence on business decisions Economic insights, including discussions on tax cuts Diversity in hiring practices and merit-based hiring The role of technology and AI in the job market The importance of entrepreneurship and brand building on social media The evolving landscape of communication platforms and their alternatives If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE. Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding. Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What are the key highlights from Trump's address to Congress?
Hey, guys, on today's episode of Right About Now, we've got your weekly business news highlights. We've got six big takeaways from Trump's speech to Congress. We'll call it a speech address, whatever you want. We've also talked about, hey, you guys heard of Skype? What's going away in May? Don't Skype no more.
Again, we're going to talk about tariffs, the impact to the U.S., the stock market, and all the latest hits here on Right About Now.
This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production. We are the number one business show on the planet with over 1 million downloads a month. Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes. You ready to start snapping necks and cashing checks? Well, it starts right about now.
Chapter 2: Why is Skype being discontinued, and what are the alternatives?
What's up, guys? Welcome to Right About Now. It's our weekly business news here on March 7th, 2025. Joined, as always, by my good friend, Chris Hansen. What's up, Chris? What's up, brother? How are you today? I am fantastico here on a Friday morning. It is. We're grinding through March already. February was a flash. March is here. Spring has sprung. And, hey, the news must be told.
Spring has sprung.
The spring sling. Yes. All the spring get-togethers, the outings, the 60 to 70 degree weather that's wonderful. Oh, you know, everything turned to green. We get rid of some of this gray around here. I need some trees to have some green back on them, you know?
I don't know how you do it. Everything's lush 24-7 like Miami. No, actually, we had a... We did have some overcast yesterday. We had one of those days yesterday where I couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or not. And I'll tell you, it's a dull vibe in the city when it's gray in Miami. People don't know what to do with themselves.
Yeah, I'm sure. It's supposed to always be sunny and hot and awesome in Miami.
Sunshine State.
Yeah. Well, you got all the people that move there for that and then the tourists and it's constantly coming through there. Like at any given time, I know you're kind of in a... quasi-neighborhood-y, you know. Not tourist area. Not tourist area, but you're around it enough. Like, does it always feel like 50-50? 50, or does it feel more tourist?
Oh, no. I think where I'm at, it feels like 90-10. People that live there? There's a few Airbnbs and, like, some hotels, but... Yeah, I feel like 90% is like more local.
You're in midtown, right?
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Chapter 3: How do tariffs impact the U.S. economy?
Yeah, exactly. One or the other. Yeah. That's how you can tell. Yeah. That's somebody, just some poor schlep that, uh, is a tourist falls asleep. He's got the red, you know, the skin ton. I always see that guy at the pool or whatever. My ties at fountain blue. Kicking them back. You know how it is. Oh, I know. I know how it is. Well, you appreciate everyone for listening or watching.
Go check us out on YouTube or you can always watch us on Spotify. We've got the full video versions. You can see Chris and his cool glasses. He's always got, you never know. You know, Chris is rocking that vibe. And, uh, Yeah, give us a little subscribe. We'd appreciate it. And if you enjoy the show, tell your friends, leave us a review, shoot us some DMs on social media. That's what we do this.
We appreciate you for listening. We know you got an option. So thanks for choosing us with your time and attention. We've got our weekly news here, Chris. We had Trump's address to Congress, which a lot of business impact from that, but I think it's two things are, you know, always interesting to me about that, about those, no matter what it is.
Like, okay, when it was Biden, the political theater that remains, even after, you know, the public has sort of told people that we're kind of over this shit and, you know, the politics of it all, But the whole theater, and I call it theater, and I call it entertainment to a degree because it's all very serious topics. We'll start there.
But then the whole polarization of the room, clapping or not clapping, based on party divide is –
It's so high school.
It's so high school. It's so juvenile. It's like grow up. And look, it goes both sides. This is not a... When Biden was in office, the Republicans did it.
Now that Trump's in office... I feel it's generational almost at this point. All of us are just like...
Everyone in the room is over 60 years old.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of tax cuts discussed in the podcast?
Yeah. I wonder why. Say why.
There actually was reasons. It was part of the way they grew up, but also the economy they grew up in. There was a study on basically how willing are you to leave money for your family? And it asked boomers, millennials, and Gen Zers. And millennials and Gen Z were like 50% plus, like, yes, I want to leave money. I want to help my kids.
Boomers were more like, I want to spend it before I die, like heavily, and like 70%. Oh, man. My parents are boomers.
I guess they're not going to leave me anything. Yeah.
I don't want to be mean. I see it in my folks. I see it in my folks.
I'm not really counting on it. Whatever. Make your own way.
It was a different time. Things have changed. But the theater of the whole thing is...
sad and is that are we gonna repeat history like are the 30 and 40 year olds gonna do the same shit 20 years from now can we just get to a better system and a less i get that you the two parties balance each other out you've got the yin and the yang and i i get why we developed the system
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Chapter 5: Why is diversity in hiring practices a topic of debate?
But that's just broken when you can't clap for the kid with cancer, like you mentioned, and just some very obvious things that should not be politicized. And it's just ugly. It's just – it's not even, I don't know, humane.
I don't even – It's barbaric. Yeah. It's not diplomatic. It's not – I don't even know if that's the right word. You know what I mean? It's just so... We need to clean it up and get it more professional again with respect and dignity, really.
Imagine if our kids did that. Like if they... The whole classroom was divided in two.
And only supported...
And half the class is like... Yeah, exactly. And would we support that? Would that be acceptable behavior?
No, it wouldn't be acceptable for children.
And these are elected politicians. So... Term limits.
Term limits.
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Chapter 6: What role does technology and AI play in the current job market?
We need them. Term limits and new ideas. And so... A lot of that was shared. I mean, the biggest part, I think, to me is like the taxes. Trump talking about tax cuts. And, you know, I'll say this. We've talked about a lot with the dosing and Musk. If you're going to give tax cuts, it's got to come from somewhere. At least we're starting with the cuts, you know, with finding waste, right?
And then, you know, like we can actually do some tax cuts if we can cut $2 trillion in waste, right?
Well, it's like I think about it on a micro level, right? In my own life, I had a conversation with a buddy about just credit card subscriptions, right? All these things we sign up for every month and we forget about. And there was one of these apps, I forget the name, but it'll tell you which ones you're paying for every month and you can cancel it or they'll do it for you.
That's essentially what we're doing. But if you want to budget, you're going to go for that first. Let's go for the waste. Where is the spending that I might not be completely aware of that's happening that isn't part of my daily life? It makes sense, right? We do it in our own life. Why is it so freaking crazy that we're doing it on the government level?
Yep. So we're cutting lots of DEI. I mean, that's a hot topic.
I didn't realize how much money you spent on it. Did you? I would have never guessed. Yeah.
They sneak it in those bills. Are we not further along than this that we need to pay homage to certain groups versus hiring who's best at the job? And I know that it can be polarizing for white male to say something like that, and potentially. But I'm just like, I don't look through that lens. I just look at my friends, my workers, whatever. You're either...
you know, worthy of my friendship or you're worthy of a job because of your merits. Like, I don't care what diversity or ethnicity. And I think most America, there's still pockets, but I think most people know how to judge like characteristics of people that are not their heritage or their skin color. And to set policies and continue to like go down these roads, I,
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Chapter 7: How can entrepreneurship thrive in today's economy?
I know it could be perceived as like, oh, it's easy for you to say that, but no, it's just, I just feel like that's the sentiment that I get being like attached to like small business, whatever, like.
I was going to say that's your lived experience and that's mine as well. That's what I was going to say is no part of me has ever cared what color, what country, what your first language is of anybody in any employment situation. I've worked with people in all types of jobs from all over the world. I don't give a shit. I've met awesome people from everywhere.
I like the people that do the work and do a good job.
You know, you are worthy of my friendship or, or I am worthy of yours. It's two way street. And same thing with work. If you can provide value to me, And vice versa.
Prime example. I have a great example of shipping. We're in social media, right? You have a digital marketing agency, tons of people, you know, in this game, how many people have part of their team in the Philippines, Vietnam, right? They've adapted, they learned a skill and they can do it at a competitive rate. It's as simple as that. Yeah. It's like,
You get good at something, people will come to you. Exactly. No part of me cares, oh, I want to go work with someone in the Philippines. I don't think you or I give a shit what country it is, right? It's like they do a good job and they do it for a good price.
Yep.
I don't care what color they are, what language they speak. Like, where's the DEI in that situation? No one twisted our hand to start working with companies in the Philippines at times, you know?
No, exactly. Like I love, we work with lots of people in the Philippines. Joel and his team helped our team for years. Most trustworthy, greatest. But honestly. I don't care about the first, the Philippine. All I care about, trustworthy, reliable. And does a good job. And does a good job.
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