September 15, 2025· 44 min

The Cardboard Boxpocalypse and the State of the US Economy

Ryan Fox

Orality

Model

55%

Mixed oral/literate (blogs, casual essays)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,273 words)

M:29%

HostJoe Weisenthal(1,956 words)

M:94%

GuestRyan Fox(4,681 words)

M:29%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic25%

literally, completely, very

Engagement62%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, now, okay

Repetition100%

like (80x), about (75x), they (73x)

Parallelism65%

And I'm Joe Wasenthal...., And I would guess it's about I..., But, you know, now we're gonna...

Sound Patterns77%

74 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases4%

you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging7%

may, maybe, probably

Passive Voice5%

is often, are shipped, being measured

Abstract Nouns19%

investment, recommendation, business

Subordination8%

however, because, since

Sentence Length27%

Avg: 11.8 words/sentence

Word Complexity47%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers3%

according to

Impersonal Style38%

601 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style92%

literally, completely, apply

Description

Almost everything we buy nowadays has been in a box at some point. Goods are shipped in boxes. Products ordered online arrive at our doorstep in boxes. Boxes are so ubiquitous that some strategists use them as an unconventional macroeconomic indicator to gauge retail spending. Now, shipments of boxes are falling dramatically. At the same time, prices for boxes have actually been going up. So, what's going on? And what does it suggest about the health of the US consumer and the broader economy? In this episode, we speak with Ryan Fox, containers and packaging analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. We talk about the box industry overall, how companies choose their packaging, and what makes the perfect box. Read more: Lula, Xi Decry Tariffs and Urge BRICS Unity Amid Trump Threats What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Only Bloomberg - Business News, Stock Markets, Finance, Breaking & World News subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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