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Permanent Temporary Tariff Regime

February 28, 2026·46 min·3 clips

Felix Salmon previews the Supreme Court's tariff ruling and Trump's new tariffs, explaining where we've landed.

Tariffs set the frame. Felix Salmon starts by sorting through recent tariff news, including what the Supreme Court and Donald Trump have and have not done. Then the excerpt turns into deal math. The liveliest stretch is about Warner Brothers Discovery, Netflix, Paramount, and the Ellisons, with the panel treating the drama as a pricing problem. Paramount needed a knockout bid. Instead, the final cash move in the clip goes from $30 to $31, which lands exactly as strangely as it sounds. The tiny bump still counts. Felix hears the number as almost ridiculous, while the others point to the rest of the deal terms and the Trump administration's hostility toward Netflix. Netflix comes out looking weirdly okay. The panel notes that it pushed Paramount to pay more, then stood to collect a $2.8 billion breakup fee. Ted Sarandos is the discipline example here: Netflix wanted the company at the right price, not at any price. That makes the failed bid feel less like a simple loss. Netflix may have made a rival overpay while refusing to chase the asset. Blue Owl sits next in line. The cold open teases a private credit segment on whether a big fund points to a major crisis, though the excerpt does not get there. The thrift savings plan also gets teased for Slate Plus, framed around whether it is useful enough to be available more broadly. Ads sit around the excerpt. The best part is between them, where the panel turns deal mechanics into a dry little fight over price, reserve prices, and who blinked.

As heard by us

A sharp, fast-moving Slate Money episode on tariffs, Warner Brothers Discovery deal math, and private credit anxiety.

Slate Money takes a busy two weeks of business news and gives it a clean, skeptical read: tariff uncertainty, the Supreme Court's role, Trump's maneuvers, Warner Brothers Discovery's deal fight, and whether Blue Owl says something larger about private credit.

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Why you'd press play

Tariffs, a $1 bid bump, and private credit worries all collide in one sharp panel hour.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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