❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now
Marketplace for Thursday, August 16, 2012
Aug 16, 2012

Marketplace for Thursday, August 16, 2012

HTML EMBED:
COPY

Farmers in Colombia struggling to make money off of cacao are returning to an old standby commodity: cocaine. A popular restaurant in Los Angeles is paying its diners to turn in their phones at the door. We look into the world of "fun consultants." College students are getting their tuition refund checks, but what are they spending them on? There's an international convention for crime fighters going on in San Antonio, Texas. Kai Ryssdal talks to economist Michael McDonough about an unlikely economic indicator: trash. And our series on China's Street of Eternal Happiness continues with a look into the life of a tattoo artist making a living on Shanghai's Changle Road.

Segments From this episode

U.S. carbon emissions hit a 20-year low

Aug 16, 2012
A hint of optimism about climate change.

A discount for a cell-phone-less meal?

Aug 16, 2012
One restaurant in Los Angeles tries something new to get patrons to turn off their phones: a 5 percent discount on their meal.

Falling cocoa prices hurt Colombia's war on cocaine

Aug 16, 2012
Some farmers who took up cocoa farming in place of coca are returning to the crop from which cocaine is made.

For financial gumshoes, tech is the new focus

Aug 16, 2012
The top fighters of financial crime are gathered in San Antonio this week, and it's not just gumshoes. Merchants, credit card companies and banks are well represented.

It's refund time on college campuses

Aug 16, 2012
The beginning of the new semester means that many students receiving financial aid can look forward to large "refund" checks from their grants or loans.

Office fun is serious business

Aug 16, 2012
Trust falls, scavenger hunts, outdoor team-building -- these are activities best left to the professionals.

The Street of Eternal Happiness: The Tattoo Artist

Aug 16, 2012
Among the street's many noodle shops and fashion boutiques, one artist's tattoo store represents a changing China.

Tracking the economy and GDP through trash

Aug 16, 2012
How does our garbage relate to our GDP? Economist Michael McDonough has worked out the GDP-to-trash economic indicator.

Farmers in Colombia struggling to make money off of cacao are returning to an old standby commodity: cocaine. A popular restaurant in Los Angeles is paying its diners to turn in their phones at the door. We look into the world of “fun consultants.” College students are getting their tuition refund checks, but what are they spending them on? There’s an international convention for crime fighters going on in San Antonio, Texas. Kai Ryssdal talks to economist Michael McDonough about an unlikely economic indicator: trash. And our series on China’s Street of Eternal Happiness continues with a look into the life of a tattoo artist making a living on Shanghai’s Changle Road.

Music from the episode

Sunday - Instrumental 9th Wonder, Keisha Shontelle, Chaundon
Dame Agua Captain Planet
Sweet Surrender Sarah McLachlan
Sweet Surrender Sarah McLachlan