Erika Soderstrom

Associate Producer

Erika works with a group of extraordinary producers to chase business and economic stories heard on “Marketplace Morning Report.”

Latest from Erika Soderstrom

Mar 12, 2021
Asia’s tech giant Grab could be the biggest SPAC so far
Charly Two/AFP via Getty Images
Grab, based in Singapore, started out as a ride-hailing app. It’s grown to become one of Southeast Asia’s best-known tech businesses. Plus, what makes people truly happy at work, and what can we learn from them?
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Mar 12, 2021
Sen. Warren on taxing the ultrawealthy
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. joins the show to discuss the wealth tax she introduced last week, which would impose a 2% tax on individual net worth above $50 million and an additional 1% surtax on net worth above $1 billion. Plus, COVID relief payments could hit bank accounts as soon as this weekend. And, China’s antitrust regulator fines some of the country’s largest tech giants.
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Mar 11, 2021
Early signs of hiring to come this spring?
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Weekly jobless claims numbers are moving in the right direction after a decline in initial unemployment benefits applications last week. Does this foreshadow more hiring in the weeks and months to come? Plus, what’s in the COVID relief package schools. Also, inequities in Black representation in film and TV. And, high school basketball through the frame of wealth and poverty. We revisit the 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams.”
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Mar 11, 2021
“Hoop Dreams”: A lesson on money and basketball
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Our Econ Extra Credit documentary selection for March is about wealth, poverty and basketball. Plus, what the COVID relief package provides in terms of making health care more affordable. And, Mexico makes progress on legalizing recreational marijuana.
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Mar 11, 2021
Mexico could become one of the largest legal cannabis markets
Claudio Cruz/AFP via Getty Images
If lawmakers in Mexico pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, thousands of small farmers could be brought into the formal economy. Also, European central bankers are set to discuss whether mounting levels of debt could push up inflation. And, the race among central banks to mint new digital currencies.
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Mar 10, 2021
What the COVID relief package allocates for vaccines
Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
There’s about $14 billion to speed up the distribution and administration of vaccines across the country, and $46 billion to expand COVID testing and to enhance contact tracing capabilities. Plus, the Nasdaq’s correction this week and wider trends about where investors are putting their money and why.
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Mar 10, 2021
$40 billion for child care
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We break down where funding in the COVID relief package is directed, including aid for child care and money for restaurants. Plus, Black-owned businesses in Nashville, Tennessee, hope to capitalize on tourist foot traffic in one of the city’s most iconic business districts.
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Mar 10, 2021
WTO considers calls to suspend COVID vaccine patents
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From the BBC World Service: More than 100 developing countries support the proposal, which would permit more drugmakers to manufacture COVID vaccines. Plus, a new bridge between India and Bangladesh aims to boost trade ties. And, appealing to the spending power of the “purple dollar” by including more people with disabilities in advertisements.
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Mar 9, 2021
Could the U.S. get back to pre-pandemic economic growth soon?
Mario Tama/Getty Images
The OECD calculated that the world economy will grow by a brisk 5.6% this year and that the new stimulus, if approved, could add 3% or 4% to U.S. economic output in its first year. Plus, new data on how the COVID relief package is expected to significantly reduce poverty rates. And, vaccine manufacturers meet to discuss global supply chain issues.
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Mar 9, 2021
Policymakers try to turn the page on this pandemic economy
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The Federal Reserve is extending one of its pandemic lending programs through June, even as some of its other programs expire. Plus, an update on PPP loans, which over the last two weeks have been limited to firms with fewer than 20 employees. And, for people getting tax refunds this year, they could come at the same time more pandemic relief checks hit.
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