The Decisive Podcast: Insights and analysis to empower confident decision-making.

U.S. consumers are unhappy about the economy, but they keep spending. With prices rising, savings falling and credit card balances growing, how long can that last? And what will this holiday shopping season tell us about the year ahead?
 
Last year's holiday shopping episode found consumers "following their wallets and not their fears." This episode checks how well that view held up. It starts with a look back at last year's outlook, then turns to what is keeping spending going now and the risks that could test it in 2027.
 
Host Kristen Hallam welcomes back Michael Zdinak, economics director, Consumer Markets at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Drawing on his recent talks at the HIRI Home Improvement Insights Summit and the National Association for Business Economics conference, Michael explains why U.S. consumer spending remains soft but steady—neither booming nor busting—and why he wouldn't bet against shoppers this holiday season.
 


More S&P Global Market Intelligence Content:
Global Economic Outlook: October 2026
Picture This: Why mid-cost metros are winning the US jobs race
US sees growth surge outpace rivals, but also reports higher inflationary pressures
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Inflation bites into consumers' Halloween purchasing power
Policy rate prospects
Credits:
Host: Kristen Hallam
Guest: Michael Zdinak
Produced By: Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun

AI and cloud computing are fueling a global wave of data center construction. But investment plans alone won't deliver operating capacity. Where can developers secure the power, water, permits and community support needed to bring projects online?

Our previous episode explored the AI data center expansion through three lenses: its contribution to US economic growth, the constraints on construction, and Europe's policy and security risks. This episode takes a deeper dive into construction, moving from that broader investment and risk picture to a closer look at regional building trends, project delivery challenges and developers' responses.
Host Kristen Hallam welcomes back Jeannine Cataldi, associate director of Global Construction at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Drawing on her team's new series of reports, Jeannine examines why construction growth is expected to slow—not stop—and how infrastructure constraints are reshaping the global data center footprint.


In this episode:
North America's construction surge: Why grid connections, equipment lead times and permitting could slow development, and how developers are pursuing on-site power and partnerships with energy providers.
Latin America's growth prospects: What makes São Paulo and Querétaro attractive, and how renewable energy, connectivity and government support are shaping opportunities elsewhere in the region.
Water and community acceptance: How closed-loop cooling, reclaimed wastewater and greater transparency can help developers address local concerns.
Europe and Asia-Pacific's delivery challenges: Why a completed building may still face a long wait for power, and how resource constraints are influencing site selection.
The shift beyond established hubs: Why secondary markets are attracting investment—and the trade-offs developers face when contractor pools and utilities are less developed.


More S&P Global Market Intelligence Content:
How AI Is Reshaping the Global Economic Outlook
Picture This: An Uneven AI Transition
Economies central to AI development drive global manufacturing growth
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Latin America's data centers policy
Data centers in Europe: Boost to construction, power and water constraints
Data centers in the Americas: Opportunities and challenges for the construction industry
Credits:
Host: Kristen Hallam
Guest: Jeannine Cataldi
Produced By: Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun

Data centers have become one of the most visible symbols of the global AI investment boom. But turning ambitious plans into operational capacity will depend on far more than demand for computing power.

In this episode of The Decisive, host Kristen Hallam speaks with three S&P Global Market Intelligence experts about the economic, construction, policy and security risks shaping the expansion of AI infrastructure. 
Jeannine Cataldi, associate director for Construction, examines the practical constraints facing data center projects, including access to power, water, land, critical materials and skilled labor. She explains how rising costs, regulatory scrutiny and community opposition could redirect investment from established hubs toward secondary markets with more predictable development pathways.
Bibianna Norek, principal analyst for Europe/CIS Country Risk, explores Europe's efforts to balance AI investment with regulation, sustainability requirements and local planning rules. She also discusses the growing importance of social license and the physical security risks facing data centers as they become increasingly important pieces of critical infrastructure.
Ben Herzon, co-head of U.S. Economics, assesses the AI investment cycle's contribution to US economic growth. Although AI remains a relatively small part of the overall economy, its rapid expansion has become a significant driver of business investment—and a potential source of broader market risk if expectations about future profitability are revised.
Listen to learn:
How infrastructure constraints may shift investment into new regions and secondary markets
How community opposition and geopolitical tensions are changing the security environment
Why a reassessment of AI company valuations could matter more to the US economy than a slowdown in construction

More S&P Global Market Intelligence Content:
How AI Is Reshaping the Global Economic Outlook
Picture This: An Uneven AI Transition
Geopolitical Risk Brief: September 2026
For S&P Global subscribers (login required):
SCENARIO: Uneven AI Transition
Data centers in Europe: Boost to construction, power and water constraints
Data centers in the Americas: Opportunities and challenges for the construction industry
Credits:
Host: Kristen Hallam
Guests: Jeannine Cataldi, Bibianna Norek, Ben Herzon
Produced By: Debbie Taylor, Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun

Higher sovereign bond yields are raising the cost of money across the global economy, with significant implications for emerging markets. In this episode of The Decisive, host Kristen Hallam speaks with Thea Fourie, Head of Middle East and Africa Insights and Analysis at S&P Global Market Intelligence, about the forces keeping borrowing costs elevated and why some economies are better positioned than others to withstand the pressure.
The conversation also explores the opportunities and transition risks created by artificial intelligence. Thea discusses how gaps in infrastructure, digital access, workforce skills and capital could widen the divide between economies—and what governments and businesses can do to improve AI readiness. She also previews El Niño as a key risk to watch in 2027, with potential consequences for growth, inflation, interest rates and government support.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why sovereign bond yields have reached multi-decade highs
How higher borrowing costs affect governments, businesses and households
What makes some African and Middle Eastern economies more resilient than others
Why electricity, digital access and workforce skills are central to AI readiness

More S&P Global Market Intelligence Content:
Picture This: Sovereign yields have risen to multi-decade highs in major markets
Picture This: Super El Niño Spurs Stagflationary Impulse in the Global Economy
Global Economic Outlook: September 2026
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Sovereign yield FAQs: Increases, implications and indicators of crises
Impact of super El Niño
Super El Niño 2026-27: Impact on Sub-Saharan Africa
Credits:
Host: Kristen Hallam
Guest: Thea Fourie
Produced By: Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun

A potential Super El Niño could be far more than a weather event. It could become a global supply-side shock, disrupting food production, energy systems, mining, transport and trade while adding to inflation and political instability. In this episode of The Decisive Podcast, adapted from a Sept. 9 S&P Global Market Intelligence client webinar, experts examine how extreme weather could compound existing pressures across Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the wider global economy.

Listen to learn:
Why a Super El Niño could produce a synchronized shock across agriculture, energy and logistics
Why food prices—especially rice, wheat, cocoa, vegetable oil and sugar—are a critical channel into inflation, household spending and policy intervention
Where drought, flooding and water stress pose the greatest risks to hydropower, mining, manufacturing and export infrastructure
Which markets warrant close monitoring
Which indicators companies should monitor over the next 90 days to judge whether risks are stabilizing or escalating
More S&P Global Market Intelligence Content:
Picture This: Super El Niño Spurs Stagflationary Impulse in the Global Economy
Geopolitical Risk Brief: September 2026
Global Economic Outlook: September 2026
For S&P Global subscribers (login required):
Impact of super El Niño
Super El Niño 2026-27: Impact on Sub-Saharan Africa
El Niño 2026–27: Agriculture, macroeconomic and policy implications for APAC
Credits:
Host: Susan Minio
Guests: Justin Valentino, Ahmad Mobeen, Martin Roberts
Produced By: Debbie Taylor, Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun