Marketplace®
Every story is an economic story

Stacey Vanek Smith

Reporter, Marketplace

Stacey Vanek Smith is a former senior reporter for Marketplace.

Latest from Stacey Vanek Smith

  • Fast Eddy Aki'a of Hawaii smokes a joint as thousands gathered to celebrate the state's medicinal marijuana laws and collectively light up at 4:20 p.m. in Civic Center Park April 20, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.
    Marc Piscotty/Getty Images

    You know who doesn't like legalized weed? The drug cartels. And the federal government.

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  • A slow and steady recovery? Good economic news from China.

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  • The implant in Lee's ear.
    Courtesy of Rich Lee

    Does having a computer chip embedded in your brain sound like science fiction? Turns out, it's happening now and companies are figuring out how to cash in.

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  • Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.
    U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images

    Freddie Mac just posted its second largest profit in history. The offshore-drilling giant Transocean is tied in with BP in the public imagination because of its involvement in the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe but is stronger than ever today. And, with limited maternity leave, many teachers try to have their babies during the summer break.

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  • The Freddie Mac offices on August 11, 2010, in McLean, Virginia
    PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

    The government-backed mortgage lender just posted its second largest profit in history.

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  • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who is the new owner of The Washington Post, at a press conference on September 6, 2012 in Santa Monica, California.
    David McNew/Getty Images

    After a long winning streak, the price of gold has been going down. Why would an internet mogul like Jeff Bezos buy a fading journalistic institution like The Washington Post? And, when it comes to cars, there are brands for rich people and there are cars for people of more modest means. But just as many people at the bottom of the income ladder buy Jeeps as people at the top.

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  • A lot of new data point to a steady, but unclear future for the economy. Walgreens and CVS both announce earnings this week. Company results will reflect the run-up to Obamacare. And, there's a proposal in Congress to let the taxpayer-backed mortgage giants die, and Marketplace's economics guy says we should all get behind it.

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  • Nodding donkey pumping units work at one of the oil wells at the BP-operated Wytch Farm site.
    Matt Cardy/Getty Images

    Four of the world's biggest oil companies — Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP — reported smaller quarterly earnings compared to a year ago.

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  • Former Goldman Sachs bond salesman Fabrice Tourre heads to his civil-fraud trial with his lawyers on July 30, 2013 in New York City.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    The SEC has scored its first court victory related to the financial crisis. A federal jury found former Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre liable for defrauding investors in a subprime-mortgage securities deal just before the housing market collapsed.

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  • Want Equifax to fix your credit score? Take them to court
    Alan Alfaro / Creative Commons

    A federal jury ordered Equifax to pay an Oregon woman $18.6 million after her two-year fight to correct her score.

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