Week of September 18th, 2017

Alison Green answers your questions on being overqualified and credit checks.

Rapper and author Gucci Mane takes the Marketplace Quiz.

Marketplace Weekend digs into the issue of tax reform, plus, a look at taxes as a tool for social engineering.

Why bears lose their lives for the sticky stuff.

A roundup of this week's business and economic news.

The ubiquitous use of the language in Germany is prompting a backlash.

The news that former Patriot Aaron Hernandez suffered advanced brain disease will do little to hurt the business.

This week, we’re talking tax reform with former Sen. Bill Bradley, we’ll answer your job-related questions with Ask A Manager’s Alison Green and head out with a makeup artist to check out Rihanna’s new Fenty Beauty product line. Plus, rapper Gucci Mane takes the Marketplace Quiz. As always, we want to hear your stories and opinions. We’re at weekend@marketplace.org, hit us up on Facebook or tweet at us, @MarketplaceWKND.  

Fenty Beauty boasts 40 shades of foundation. Fans say it gives women of color something they can't find elsewhere.

GOP lawmakers consider eliminating it as apart of a tax-reform plan.

Like, that its economy is actually growing.

When Senator John McCain announced he’d vote no on the latest GOP replacement for Obamacare, he said: “The specter of September 30th budget reconciliation deadline has hung over this entire process,” and he’s right. We keep hearing about how Republicans need to get something done by the end of the month, and we’ll start today’s show with the health care drama and the legislative mechanism driving it. Then: Aaron Hernandez’s autopsy result showed severe brain damage, and it’s just the latest in a string of injury revelations for the NFL, but what effect will they really have on the league’s $14 billion business? Plus, the latest bad news for Uber.  

The cryptocurrency has been blocked by a handful of countries.

(Markets Edition) Facebook is turning over more than 3,000 Russia-linked ads to Congress, which is investigating possible interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. On today’s show, we’ll look at how Mark Zuckerberg plans to handle political ads in the future. Afterwards, we’ll talk with Chris Low — chief economist at FTN Financial — about the Fed’s plans for interest rates, and then examine why credit card delinquencies are on the rise.

The long gap is part of the perfume-making process. But it's also a business strategy.

(U.S. Edition) Brexit talks are not going well. Part of the problem: the amount of money Britain will need to pay as part of this divorce settlement. We’ll chat with the BBC’s Theo Leggett about the tight rope U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May needs to walk. Then, we’ll look at some of the innovative methods that groups are using to help out in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Harvey. In Texas, the USDA is rolling out Disaster SNAP (a version of food stamps geared toward natural disasters),  while the Red Cross is using drones to try to speed up the recovery process. 

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service …U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will outline her plan for Brexit during a speech in Florence, Italy. We’ll tell you how much she might be willing to pay in exchange for a deal to keep her country’s access to the single market. Afterwards, we’ll discuss an announcement from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg that his company will share with U.S. investigators details of 3,000 Russian-linked political ads. Then, a round of positive economic data from Eurozone countries out on Friday showed the economic situation is improving in the region. The figures come just days after S&P upgraded Portugal’s credit rating to investment grade. We’ll tell you what it means for European investment opportunities there.

The Red Cross has been using drones in Texas to help steer relief efforts to those places that need them most.

Let's define the jargon.

There are whole new systems of money being traded in the digital world. Companies can create their own cryptocurrency and sell it to the public in an initial coin offering. But these offerings are unregulated and risky. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks to Kevin Werbach from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School about how initial coin offerings work.

How much does a flight on a private jet cost?

The SEC believes "illicit trading" might have occurred after the breach.

It can take a long time before government funds reach people in need.

The drip-drip-drip of news about Russia and the 2016 election continues today. A week or so ago, Facebook said it sold about $100,000 worth of ads to a so-called Russian “troll farm.” Today, the company announced it would show the ads to the government. Meanwhile, the company is working to improve its advertising process after ProPublica revealed users could target ads with anti-Semitic keywords. We’ll start today’s show by explaining all the fires Facebook is fighting. Then: all of Puerto Rico is still without power today, and it could take months to restore service. The utility was already $9 billion in debt. Plus: Google’s latest hardware play.

Frankfurt hopes to draw London bankers post-Brexit but some residents have concerns.

How effective are the platform's methods?

Trump has signed an executive order that would enable the U.S. to sanction individual companies and institutions that finance trade with North Korea.

Photographer Amy Davis talks about her photo book on the fate of historic movie theaters.

(Markets Edition) The Fed didn’t raise interest rates at its meeting yesterday, but it looks like it just might in December. But is that the best choice given the series of natural disasters that have been hitting the western hemisphere lately? Diane Swonk from DS Economics shares her thoughts with us. Afterwards, we’ll look at whether the Fed will take any enforcement action against Wells Fargo following the bank’s fake accounts scandal. Plus: We chat with Edwin Melendez, director of CUNY’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies, about the challenges Puerto Rico will face in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

We all order things online. Here is one person (and a bunch of robots) behind those orders.

But people may be taking some risks more seriously.

(U.S. Edition) Yet another cyber breach has been disclosed. The Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that hackers got into one of its computer systems last year. We’ll look at how they could have used the information they accessed to make illegal stock trades. Afterwards, we’ll discuss a possible merger between T-Mobile and its rival Sprint, and then talk about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political comeback. 

It may have provided the basis for some illegal trading.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … A deal between HTC and Google might help the U.S. tech giant compete better against its rival Apple in the smartphone market. But we’ll tell you why the agreement is not all downside for the Taiwanese company. Afterwards, we’ll report on why the Dutch economy is growing at its fastest clip in a decade despite a lack of government. Then, we’ll take you to India where Mother Teresa’s charity has trademarked her iconic sari to prevent her reputation from being exploited.

As the demand for online retail grows, so do warehouse and fulfillment centers. But most of us who order stuff online don’t actually know what goes into getting a product off a shelf, into a box and to our door. On today’s episode of Marketplace Tech, we follow Veronica Mena, a warehouse supervisor for the online store Boxed to see what goes into packing your shipments of bulk toilet paper and how automation is changing the industry.

A strong economy bodes well for longstanding German leader.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave an update on the economy today, and we’ll start the show with the highlights and translated Fed-speak. Then: the latest — and likely last, but who knows anymore — Senate attempt at repealing Obamacare is the Cassidy-Graham bill. It takes the money the federal government spends on Obamacare, and gives it directly to the states to do what they want with it. It’s called a block grant, and it sounds simple enough, but it’s not. We’ll look at how they’ve worked in the past. Plus: Checking in with a family of Syrian refugees, one year later.

A reporter from The Washington Post decided to try every pumpkin spice product she came across. She shares her verdict.

The Graham-Cassidy health care bill means less funding for states, according to a new analysis.

A university program arms school leaders with business skills.

A family of six adjusts to life in the Connecticut suburbs.

Monica Pope, a Houston chef, has seen the food community in her town unite in recent years.

(Markets Edition) Yep, the effort to repeal Obama-era health care reform is back. We’ll talk about a new bill from Republican Senators Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham that’ll get rid of the mandate requiring you to buy health insurance. Afterwards, we’ll take a brief look at the major stock indexes this morning, and then discuss how women are faring in the global workforce. Plus: A conversation with Americares’ vice president of emergency response, Garrett Ingoglia, about how the nonprofit prepares in the event of a natural disaster.

Hurricane Maria has already starting bearing down on Puerto Rico.

Is this a sign of a stronger job market?

(U.S. Edition) Though much of Puerto Rico was spared from Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria is now bearing down. We’ll take a look at the efforts the territory is making to shelter evacuees. Afterwards, we’ll discuss a new report that shows nearly 9 out of every 10 U.S. students have adequate internet bandwidth in their classrooms — a huge increase from four years ago when less than 10 percent did. How’d the digital divide get narrowed so quickly? Plus: We interview Gillian Thomas, a senior staff attorney with the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU, about the push to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A vote in Berlin on September 24 will decide the fate of the old Tegel airport, located six miles outside the city.

Under the Obama administration, health officials not only invested in an ACA media blitz, but also in measuring its efficacy, according to the former chief marketing officer for the federal health insurance exchange HealthCare.gov.

The nonprofit Lambda Legal Defense Fund has filed an appeal on a case of discrimination based on sexual orientation that could go to the Supreme Court.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to bolster the nation’s steel industry but we’ll tell you why a merger between two giants suggests that pain in the sector are global. Afterwards, we’ll take a dive into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s assessment of the world economy, which suggests the global growth outlook might be brighter, but it doesn’t necessarily mean sustained growth just yet. Then, we’ll take you to Bavaria and detail the connection between beer and elections as we chat with a small business owner about the local economy ahead of this weekend’s German elections.

"Next year, I might be affected. Twenty years from now, my kids might be affected. We don't know."

Some 143 million people had their personal information stolen in the Equifax data breach. And that has a lot of us asking: How did we get here? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks to Nancy Kim, who teaches internet studies at California Western School of Law, about why regulating data collection is so hard. And we hear from a few New Yorkers about their data security worries — or lack of them.

Ever heard the one about the frog in a pot of boiling water?

The Federal Reserve has been backstopping the American economy for almost a decade with its $4 trillion pile of bonds and mortgage-backed securities it bought up during and after the financial crisis. The idea was to keep borrowing costs low and goose the whole economy. It’s widely expected that the Fed’s going to start unwinding its balance sheet tomorrow, letting the economy work a little more normally. So what’s going to happen? Then: FEMA says fewer than 20 percent of the homes affected by Harvey carried flood insurance, and that makes recovery all the more difficult. Plus: A new study from Yale University says Americans, mostly white Americans, are just plain out of touch with how economically unequal this country is.

A new study from Yale suggests some Americans are more blind to economic inequality than others.

New rules can help those with high student debt still qualify for a mortgage.

Patrice Banks was a failure analyst and a self-described "auto airhead" when she become a mechanic, then opened an auto repair center aimed at women.

(Markets Edition) Toys ‘R’ Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means it’s going to try to restructure the business instead of shuttering its operations. We’ll look at how the company has struggled with debt since 2005, when private-equity firms took over in a $6.6 billion buyout. Next, we’ll talk about a possible upswing in the seasonal job market, and then discuss how Macy’s fulfillment centers could be an opportunity for the tens of thousands of retail workers who lost their jobs this year. Finally, we’ll report on the major stock indices, which are mixed this morning.

(U.S. Edition) Toys ‘R’ Us is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, meaning it’s going to try to reorganize in order to pay back its $5 billion in debt. We’ll take a look at how the toy giant ended up in this jam. Afterwards, the head of Bridgewater Associates — Ray Dalio — joins us to discuss the unconventional methods his hedge fund uses to evaluate employees and their ideas.  That includes a system where employees rate each other, in real time, during meetings.

The toy retailer is struggling with $5 billion in debt.

When a city becomes a tech hub, it usually also becomes a bubble: a housing bubble, a pay bubble and an industry bubble, to name a few. The tech world talks about these bubbles like they’re inevitable. But what if they aren’t? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks to Seattle-based Glenn Kelman, who is the CEO of the real estate site Redfin, about tech employees’ stock payouts and how reporting them properly could distribute wealth more evenly throughout the country.

Some say his method is ruthless. He says it's honest.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … Toys R Us, the largest U.S. toy chain, has filed for bankruptcy protection. We’ll explain what it means for the retailer’s global stores and the future of bricks-and-mortar toy selling. Afterwards, we’ll chat about how the People’s Bank of China’s consideration to open its capital markets to foreigners could be a negotiating tactic with the U.S. Then, ahead of this weekend’s elections, we’ll take you to a city in east Germany that is struggling to compete with the capital might of the western part of the country.

Glenn Kelman, CEO of the tech real estate site Redfin, believes reporting stock payouts properly could better distribute wealth.

Washington is getting all hot and bothered about health care again, but we’re gonna keep our eye on the ball and start our show with the Fed, which is meeting this week. There’s going to be a tea leaf reading, and some dot plot reading too. Then: We’ve been reporting a lot lately on hate groups and where they find homes online. Since Charlottesville, there’s been more awareness of these groups, and they’ve been expelled from a lot of services, but that hasn’t stopped other businesses from filling in the gap. Plus: In LA’s gentrifying Boyle Heights neighborhood, mariachis struggle to pay rent near a plaza named for them.

Alternative crowdfunding site Hatreon is among the niche platforms that don't care if their users are neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

The breach might have been stopped with a system update. But it won't be the last big hack.

(Markets Edition) We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the stock market is not the economy. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on Friday, and it’s up this morning, along with the Dow and Nasdaq. But economist Julia Coronado, founder of Macropolicy Perspectives, joined us to discuss how these trends don’t mean the economy is equally booming. Afterwards, we’ll look at the Senate’s scheduled vote on a bill that lays out America’s spending priorities. One of them: countering threats from North Korea. And finally, we’ll talk about Germany’s upcoming election, and how the Rhineland region in particular is pulling in two directions.

A new ebook wants to transform how you learn about the economy.

(U.S. Edition) Boeing is accusing the Canadian company Bombardier of selling its planes too cheaply, and wants the U.S. government to impose tariffs on them. We’ll discuss why this is a problem for both Canada and the U.K. Afterwards, we’ll talk about Facebook’s decision to turn over records of ads purchased by Russian-linked accounts to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And finally, we’ll look at how one ebook-based course is trying to change the way students learn about economics. 

It sounds like science fiction, but companies are putting real work into finding metals floating around on frozen rocks.

When we think space, we often think about observation — watching the skies and figuring out what’s out there. But some people are already thinking about how to put the assets up in space to good use. One way to do that? Asteroid mining. It may sound like science fiction, but established companies such as Caterpillar and startups such as Planetary Resources are putting real money into it. Our two resident space nerds, Molly Wood and Kimberly Adams, talk about this to kick off our series looking at the economics of outer space.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … the U.K. and the U.S. have touted their special relationship, but we’ll tell you why a dispute with a Canadian plane manufacturer is leading to tensions on both sides of the Atlantic. Afterwards, we’ll discuss why Snapchat is making headlines after agreeing to block Qatari-backed news organization Al Jazeera from its platform in Saudi Arabia. Then, we’ll take you to Rhineland, home to thriving cities but struggling mining towns where German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief rival is also struggling ahead of a key vote this Saturday.