Marketplace

With an avalanche of tariffs to navigate, companies are facing a lot of uncertainty over how to plan ahead. Meanwhile, business is booming for trade consultants. We'll talk about it, but first: mortgage rates have hit a seven-year high, and Obamacare prices are dropping for the first time. What's going on? Plus, how nonprofits fund raise after scandal.

Roughly one in three people in the United States have less than $5,000 in retirement savings, but for those lucky enough to have some money stashed away, the cost of investing has been getting lower and lower. Management fees for mutual funds have dropped to fractions of a percent over the last decade, and some funds have no fees. So what's driving the fee wars? What do institutions get out of it? We'll talk about it. Then, a conversation with Ahmir Khalib Thompson, better known as Questlove of the legendary Roots crew, about deciding to accept his biggest job offer. Plus, what you need to know about this week's market turbulence.  

We're a couple weeks away from the midterm elections, and it's crunch time for voter registration. Political organizations and campaigns have spent millions on voter registration efforts targeting young and diverse voters, but will it work? Also on today's show: Amid trade tensions, the value of the Chinese yuan has been falling against the dollar, which has both the United States and China worried. Plus: How YouTube is changing parenting and the entertainment industry for children.

We hardly used ye. Google is phasing out its social platform Google Plus after a massive data breach. We look at how this could affect Google’s business model. Also on today's show, the International Monetary Fund predicted in its global economic forecast that trade disputes and turbulent emerging markets will slow global economic growth. And, are electric scooters all that bad, or are they a sign of where our transportation system is headed? A report on the electric scooter craze from Los Angeles. Plus, another installment of #HowWeChanged, the series exploring how the financial crisis changed people’s lives. This time we hear the story of a banker who left the chaos behind to live in a monastery.

Yale economist William Nordhaus, along with New York University’s Paul Romer, received the Nobel Prize in economics Monday. We look at the consequences of putting Nordhaus’ research on the economic impact of climate change to policy. Then, Romer's work connecting technological innovation to economic growth has been influential across the globe, but perhaps not as influential as he would like. Also on today's show, we speak with Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood about Facebook’s newest gadget release amid users’ security concerns. And the U.S. Census Bureau needs to hire hundreds of thousands of workers to complete the 2020 census. But with a tight labor market, that may be a lot harder than it was back in 2010.

Unemployment is at a 40-year low and wages are starting to tick up, but the number of people working multiple jobs hasn’t changed in more than a decade. Why? Then: Mattress Firm has filed for bankruptcy, citing poor sales. The sleep business has changed a lot in recent years, in part because starting your own online bed-in-a-box company is really, really easy. Plus, as always, we'll review the economic news of the seven days gone by on the Weekly Wrap.

Forecasts are predicting strong holiday sales this season, which means retailers, warehouses and other businesses are going to need more employees. But with a labor market this tight, we'll look at how companies are competing for seasonal workers. Then, more than a million children had their identities stolen last year, costing families $542 million. We'll look at what makes kids easy targets and what parents are doing about it. Plus, we'll take you to the world's biggest Elvis Presley festival. It isn't in Nashville or Graceland, but the seaside village of Porthcawl, Wales. 

Most of today's show is devoted to our conversation with Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase. We talked about what it was like managing the bank and tangling with the government during the financial crisis, and how he sees his role in today's economy. We also asked Dimon what keeps him up at night. President Donald Trump used the term "time value of money" to defend himself against a New York Times report debunking his self-made origin story and implicating him in tax fraud. But what does that actually mean?

Amazon will pay its American employees at least $15 an hour, the company announced today. With 250,000 employees and another 100,000 seasonal workers set to benefit all over the country, can the retail giant pressure its competitors to give out raises, too? We'll look at the potential macroeconomic effects, and what it's like to live on $15 an hour anyway. Then: The cosmetics industry is booming thanks to Instagram and YouTube, but makeup counters at department stores aren’t seeing more customers. How the new guard in makeup is replacing the old. Plus, how the new trade deal with Mexico and Canada will affect drug prices. 

The Trump administration has struck a deal with Mexico and Canada to revise NAFTA, now called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. We'll bring you the details and see how the deal is playing down on the farm. Plus: Elon Musk stepped down from Tesla's board this weekend to settle fraud charges, but he'll stay on as CEO of the electric car company. We'll talk about the reasoning behind that move. Plus: In the 20th century, rent strikes were a common tactic to protest living conditions. In 2018's crowded housing market, they might make a comeback.

Thousands of people in California live out of their cars. And for those people, the threat of parking tickets is also the threat of losing their home. But first: We'll look at the week in business and economic news, and tell you everything you need to know about Tesla and the SEC. Plus: 28,000 public service workers applied for student loan forgiveness, but only about 4 percent got it. What happened?

As the United States and Mexico finalize details of a trade agreement, the Trump administration has written a rule that Mexican auto manufacturers pay workers a $16 hourly wage or face a 2.5 percent tariff. But the extra taxes might be cheaper than raising wages. We'll look at what a deal could mean for labor in Mexico, plus give an update on the World Trade Organization and trade talks with Japan. Then: 70 mm film is making a comeback in Hollywood, and that means there’s a revival in the fading film projectionist workforce. 

According to the Federal Reserve, anyway. We'll play some of Chair Jerome Powell's statement from today's rate hike announcement and unpack how the central bank sees this economy right now. Then, with the NAFTA deadline looming, we'll look at how close the United States, Mexico and Canada really are to a deal. Plus, your tariff questions, answered by a customs broker.

Tariffs on more than 5,000 new Chinese products went into effect this week, and American importers are scrambling to catch up. The notice was so short that some shipments were on the water on the way to the United States when tariffs hit. We'll talk about how companies are dealing with the unexpected cost. Then: Why Arby's parent company wants to buy Sonic, and the dramatic drop in foreign investment last quarter. Plus, a conversation with Creative Artists Agency co-founder Michael Ovitz.

We're starting the week with two big mergers in the headlines: SiriusXM is buying the streaming music pioneer Pandora, and American fashion company Michael Kors is expected to buy Versace, the Italian fashion house. Those deals have more in common than you might think. Then, speaking of bilateral deals, Iowa's agriculture secretary wants the United States to "re-engage" in trade talks with China, Canada and Mexico, which are some of farmers' biggest customers. We talked with him about how his state is feeling the trade war. Plus: Why you should buy art from women.