Marketplace All-in-One

With the government shutdown officially over, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is back at work after a 43-day hiatus. But all that missed data can’t be recreated — and catching up while understaffed will be difficult. In this episode: What reports will BLS prioritize and what’ll be left behind? Plus: Solar projects rush to finish before a tax credit deadline, Disney stops reporting its streaming subscriber numbers, and businesses strategize for a world without pennies.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Congress may have ended the shutdown (finally), but it’s still entangled in a power struggle with the Executive Branch. Kai Ryssdal has thoughts. On the show today, Kai and Kimberly get into what comes next in the shutdown’s wake, how the Trump administration’s tariff arguments went over at the Supreme Court and what the sliding balance of power in the federal government has to do with the health of the U.S. economy.Here’s everything we talked about today:"Court appears dubious of Trump’s tariffs" from SCOTUSblog"Trump floats $2,000 tariff rebate checks: Here's what you need to know" from CNBC"Trump claims tariff loss would force $3 trillion ‘unwind'" from Axios"If SCOTUS strikes down President Trump's current tariffs, he has plenty of other options" from Marketplace"How Congress Gave Up Its Own Power" from Time"Senate sinks measure to block military action against Venezuela" from PoliticoJoin us tomorrow for “Economics on Tap.” The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

The longest government shutdown ever ended last night when President Donald Trump signed a stopgap bill to keep federal agencies going through Jan. 30. But the shutdown deal also included spending bills funding military construction, the legislative branch, the Agriculture Department, and the VA. We went through the lesser-known provisions so you don't have to. Also: the state of Canada's energy exports and potential limits to the power of proxy advisory firms.

By now, you know that the House passed legislation last night to reopen the government. But you might not know about a provision that would completely change the way hemp is regulated. It was tucked into the new farm bill, which was also approved last night, and funds the Agriculture Department through September. We'll hear more. Plus, are government institutions shifting resources away from the working class? Professor Clara Mattei argues that's the case.

From the BBC World Service: India’s government has approved a $5 billion credit line to support its struggling exporters, as Indian workers across sectors like textiles, jewelry, and seafood face major potential job losses. Then, attendees of COP30 are hoping for a U.N.-backed deal to impose a levy on emissions for large ships. Research also presented at the climate summit warns that global carbon emissions from coal, oil, and gas are set to reach a record high in 2025.

Tech firms are racing to develop robot assistants that can take over our dreaded household chores. But teaching machines to perform these deceptively simple tasks is tedious. They need to observe the actions thousands, sometimes millions of times. And there's a cottage industry springing up to provide this training. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Ayanna Howard, roboticist and dean of Ohio State University’s college of engineering, to learn more.

Consumers may have revved up their spending in October, but spending more doesn’t mean getting more — prices are also up this holiday season. In this episode, why most shoppers feel like they're doing less with more. Plus: Auto loan delinquencies rise, mortgage applications heat up during an often-chilly season, and Kai explains the price-earnings ratio of the S&P 500, which is at a decades-high.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

President Donald Trump and Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte have floated the idea of a 50-year mortgage as a potential way to make homebuying more affordable. The president has said that longer mortgages would lower borrowers’ monthly payments, which is true — but at what cost? And later, 47 economists filed an amicus brief in Trump's tariffs case before the Supreme Court. We'll unpack what they said.

After 43 days, the government shutdown could end today. But there are still lingering questions: When will food stamps be distributed to beneficiaries? When will government workers receive paychecks? As for all of the economic data we missed while government agencies were closed? It won’t be released immediately once the government reopens — far from it. Then, the shuttering of the IRS' Direct File program and climate talks in Brazil.

From the BBC World Service: Australia is increasingly vulnerable to "high-impact sabotage" from hackers backed by China, according to Australian intelligence official Mike Burgess. He told business leaders in Melbourne that there had been multiple attempts to hack into transportation, telecommunications, water, and energy networks. Plus, a multibillion-dollar natural gas platform off the coast of Senegal promised to bring economic prosperity, but fishermen there say the development has caused disruption and unemployment.

Throughout the season, we asked you all what questions you had about food, solutions and climate change, and you did not disappoint! In this episode, we find answers to your most pressing questions, like whether grass-fed beef is more nutritious than grain-fed, if cell-cultivated meat is considered an ultra-processed food, and we find out what’s going on with insect protein (of course, a taste test is involved). Plus some tips for reducing food waste.

Combatting climate change will likely require a multi-pronged approach to renewable energy generation. After all, it's not sunny or windy everywhere all the time. Geothermal energy, which harnesses the natural heat generated by the earth, can significantly shrink the carbon footprint of heating and cooling buildings. Those systems are currently just a small part of the HVAC market. But the Department of Energy wants to accelerate production by 10% a year. Rae Solomon at KUNC in Northern Colorado reports on how one geothermal project in the municipality of Hayden is progressing.

Business owners aren’t too optimistic about the labor market, according to an NFIB survey. About a third are struggling to fill an open position, and around a quarter said labor quality was their most pressing issue. In this episode, we scrape together a picture of today’s labor market, sans government data. Plus: Cities issue bonds at a record pace, we explain the consequences of Trump’s proposal to back 50-year mortgages and one report shows real wage growth has slowed to 2%.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

It’s Singles Day in China: a retail holiday that runs circles around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By comparison, single Americans are an untapped market according to Peter McGraw, behavioral economist and host of the podcast “Solo: The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life.” But as the single population grows in the United States, will that change? We’ll get into it. Plus, the realities of the “singles tax.”Here’s everything we talked about today:"Singles’ Day is a $150B holiday in China. Here’s why I think ‘11/11’ will catch on in the US" from The Conversation "The rise of singlehood is reshaping the world" from The Economist"The rise of the ‘solo economy’ is driving new consumption patterns" from Futures Platform "The ‘singles tax’ means you often pay more for going it alone. Here’s how it works" from The Conversation We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

The Trump administration is moving to levy tariffs of over 90% on popular Italian pasta brands on “anti-dumping” grounds. We look at how the move could impact grocery prices for the pantry staple. Plus, even though we don’t have a government jobs report this month due to the shutdown, private sector numbers give us an idea of the state of the labor market. And, as New Mexico moves to provide free childcare, a look at how daycare benefits businesses.

From the BBC World Service: A Chinese woman will be sentenced in London later for her role in a Bitcoin scam worth billions of dollars. Qian Zhimin was convicted of trying to launder more than sixty thousand bitcoins, now worth around six-and-a-half billion dollars, following Britain's largest ever seizure of cryptocurrency. We hear from some of the investors who were scammed as part of the fraud.

The Senate passed a deal last night to end the record-setting government shutdown. But that hasn’t yet translated into relief for the beleaguered air travel industry, which has seen thousands of canceled flights in response to air traffic controller shortages. Plus, we talk with economist Peter Atwater, one of the economic researchers who first helped popularize the “K-Shaped” economy concept, about inequality in post-pandemic America.

Some AI companies are turning to nuclear power to meet demand for electricity. But traditional nuclear plants can take decades to bring online. Now some tech companies are partnering with startups trying to build small, modular nuclear reactors, designed with speed in mind. One such company, Kairos, has a deal with Google to build a fleet of modular reactors. To do so, it’s relying on a technique first developed in the mid-20th century: molten-salt cooling.

It’s karaoke night for Bridget and Ryan, but something stops them from belting their favorite tunes on their podcast: the law. It’s the perfect setup to answer a question from Garrett, who wants to know about copyright, trademarks, and royalties. We all know people deserve to be paid for their creative ideas. But how does it actually work? Together, we’ll find out how creators protect their ideas and make money from them. Plus, will Ryan be able to turn what he’s learned into a lucrative musical career?If your family is interested in learning even more about today’s question, check out our website. We’ve got conversation starters and a tip sheet!This episode is sponsored by Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com/million.

Despite expectations surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs, inflation doesn’t seem to be speeding up — though it’s hard to say for sure without all that reliable federal data. You can thank cooling services inflation (where most consumer spending goes) and a softer labor market, which has reduced some companies’ ability to raise prices. Also in this episode: Corporate earnings look bright and sunny, Visa and Mastercard reach an agreement with merchants over credit card fees, and retailers revive physical holiday catalogs.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.