Marketplace
Summary: Every weekday, host Kai Ryssdal helps you make sense of the day’s business and economic news — no econ degree or finance background required. “Marketplace” takes you beyond the numbers, bringing you context. Our team of reporters all over the world speak with CEOs, policymakers and regular people just trying to get by.
- Visit Website
- RSS
- Artist: Marketplace
- Copyright: Copyright 2024 American Public Media
Podcasts:
So far this fiscal year, the IRS has brought in about $2.7 trillion in tax revenue — $250 billion less than anticipated. That shortfall is part of what makes this week’s debt limit talks so urgent. Today, we sort through the tax receipts. Plus, why clawing back unspent COVID funds will hardly dent the deficit and why the banking bust may fuel the rise of “shadow banks.”
When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. stepped in to make depositors whole after recent bank failures, the agency’s insurance fund took a $15.8 billion hit. So who’s on the hook to replenish it? If the FDIC has its way, it’ll be the nation’s largest banks. Also on the program: smaller tax refunds, an alternative solution to bank runs and a potential boon to private prisons.
As the pandemic-era border policy Title 42 draws to a close today, an increasing number of migrants have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border. Whatever their reasons for leaving their home countries, immigrants are drawn in part to the United States because of the strong economy. Also on the program: what producer prices can tell us about where consumer prices are headed, and what to make of rising jobless claims.
Inflation is wearing consumers down, and it’s starting to show. We’re saving less, putting more on plastic and seeking out discounts. On today’s show, we dissect consumer fatigue. Then, we’ll hear what it’s like working at a rural hospital during a health care staffing shortage and examine how lenders that serve Native Americans are responding to proposed federal certification updates.
Unless officials in Washington strike an agreement to raise the limit, the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as June 1. Wall Street has been taking all this in stride, but will that change, and when? Also on the program: regional variations in inflation, a wet winter in the Corn Belt and the staying power of remote mental health care.
Last year, Marketplace met families of transgender children in Texas who were weighing their options when the state moved to restrict gender-affirming care. As more states target LGBTQ rights, we check back in with two families — one who moved and one who stayed — and tally the costs of both. Also, airlines go on hiring sprees, shipping companies reroute goods and high interest rates squeeze smaller hospitals.
Some aren’t saving for retirement, while others aren’t saving for or staying in college. Today we’ll hear from a handful of artificial intelligence true believers who think a revolution is inevitable and are preparing for a future — and economy — that looks radically different than the one we now live in. We’ll also examine why the U.S. has so many banks and why insurers are going on hiring sprees.
The shares of multiple regional banks slid today amid new tremors in the industry following the collapse of First Republic. But bank failures and consolidation are actually somewhat normal. So what’s a regional bank to do? And what are investors and depositors to make of all this? Then, how JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon became a banking industry heavyweight and why a bump in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage seems unlikely right now.
So many regulations came out of the 2008 financial crisis, and for a good while they seemed to work. Yet here we are with three bank failures in less than two months. What gives? Plus, we unpack what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell did (and didn’t) say about today’s rate hike and find out what happens to all the things people throw into recycle bins.
After three major bank failures, regulators and industry leaders are hoping all this turmoil fades in the rearview mirror. But there’s still likely to be curves on the road ahead: new regulation, industry consolidation, branch closures and loan scarcity. Today, we’ll map it out. Then, how brands like Victoria’s Secret stage comebacks and an exploration of work requirements for welfare, courtesy of the Marketplace podcast “The Uncertain Hour.”
Banking giant JPMorgan Chase is taking over the failed First Republic Bank, but not without some guarantees. Turns out the deal was sweetened by the FDIC agreeing to be responsible for certain First Republic losses. Plus, what small banks are making of the turmoil. Then, FTC Chair Lina Khan on AI regulation and taking on powerful companies.
First Republic Bank stock is down 97% in 2023, and this afternoon a takeover by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. looked imminent. Thing is, short sellers have made more than $1 billion betting that First Republic would fall. Is that good for financial stability? Plus, we’ll look into the “We buy ugly houses” business and discuss how new economic data will influence the Federal Reserve’s next move.
That’s the trillion-dollar question right now. Gross domestic product expanded by 1.1% in the first quarter, continuing a downward trend. Consumers are still driving growth, but inflation is wearing on them. So where does the American economy go from here? And later, private equity’s outsize impact on the economy and the vital role of seasonal foreign workers in landscaping.
On today’s show, Lael Brainard — the former vice chair of the Federal Reserve and current head of the National Economic Council — sits down with us to chat about fiscal policy, inflation, banking regulation and the looming debt ceiling crisis. We’ll also tackle durable goods spending, a blocked tech merger and the school superintendent pipeline.
Congress passed billions in funding for semiconductor manufacturing last year. Today, we’re joined by Gina Raimondo — the woman in charge of distributing those funds — to dig into what is at stake. And later: Treasury proposes new regulations on nonbanks, leisure travel roars back and more strikes loom in the U.K.