Week of February 12th, 2018

We take a look at the Republican Party's flip-flop on debt.

The financial holdings of the Trump administration, our national ethics laws and whether these things matter. Plus, what the gender wage gap sounds like, a chat with the designer of Michelle Obama’s portrait dress and emojis.

How cable networks are cashing in on diverse audiences.

Things turned out a little differently though. That’s how we’ll start today’s episode, reflecting on the week in deficits, inflation and immigration. Then we examine the growing trend of online retailers expanding to brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon’s doing it, and now Warby Parker announced plans to bring its number of stores to about 100 by the end of the year. Plus, what you need to know about esports.

Cashing in on smiley faces … or animals, vegetables, dancers…

A new study says they help employee retention, but not employee health.

The gown, with its graphic print, shows the former first lady's "intelligence, her realness," says Michelle Smith.

We have short-term focus but a long-term problem.

Ethics experts are alarmed at the drumbeat of revelations about travel, business holdings and investments, warning that public trust and reliable government are at risk. A former ethics official asks: "If the boss doesn't care, why should you, then?"

(Markets Edition) Foreign countries hold about $6 trillion of the $20 trillion worth of Treasury bills, notes and bonds that the U.S. government has issued. China is one of them, but it turns out that U.S. debt is becoming less attractive to China and other countries. We’ll talk to Chris Low — chief economist at FTN Financial — about why they’re starting to back off. Plus: How one Seattle nieghborhood is fighting airplane noise.

Professional gamers are drawing in the crowds as esports phenomenon spreads.

Olympic athletes are now free to dance to music with lyrics, but it's not free.

The planes are so loud in this Seattle neighborhood some residents say it feels like a war zone. They want the federal government to do something about it.

(U.S. Edition) A group of Chinese-based companies has been trying to buy the Chicago Stock Exchange, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has finally given an answer and it’s…no. On today’s show, we’ll look at why the SEC is putting a halt to the deal, and what the Chicago Stock Exchange’s parent company could do next. Afterwards, we’ll discuss the state of the housing industry, and then find out how figure skaters at this year’s Winter Olympics are getting the chance to skate to pop songs. Who pays for the rights to use them?

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … Young buyers have long been considered the “lost generation” when it comes to home buying. But we’ll delve into new figures out this morning that show that while that might be true in Britain, the trend has actually started to reverse in America. Then, the growing economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has led to tens of thousands of residents to flee to the north of Brazil. We’ll explain why authorities there are now declaring a state of social emergency to cope with the high number of immigrants. Afterwards, how was your commute this morning? Any coffee spills, late trains, or traffic jams on the route? For some in Sweden, none of those are things to fear because, as we’ll explore, rather than hopping in a car or boarding mass transit … they ice skate to the office.

Feminista Jones on what the social forum has accomplished.

How Black Twitter is influencing the American conversation.

Twitter has the power to shape global conversation. And it’s become a way for marginalized communities to garner attention for the issues that matter to them. Case in point: Black Twitter. According to Pew Research, young black Americans use Twitter more than any other platform. And they’re discussing topics like racial injustice, police shootings and representation in entertainment. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with the author and activist known as Feminista Jones about the cultural significance and influence of Twitter as a platform for black activism. 

Ad tech firms worry innovation could be stymied.

A report from Reveal looks at racial discrimination in the mortgage business and the legacy of redlining.

What’s that saying? You can’t manage it if you don’t measure it? Everybody’s got their own answer about how to stop mass shootings, but nobody has substantive data. That’s because there’s effectively a ban on spending federal money for research on gun violence. Then: We know the National Rifle Association spends big on lobbying, but thinking of the NRA as just a Washington powerhouse lobbyist obscures its actual impact in this economy. Plus, what you need to know about Google’s new ad blocker.

The facilities could save at least $2 million a year by reducing expensive ambulance rides, emergency room trips and hospital visits, the city says.

(Markets Edition) Amid all the hubbub about the Consumer Price Index’s inflation figures yesterday, retail sales were looking a little low. Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm Grant Thornton, joined us to explain why and what tax refund delays may have to do with it. Afterwards, we’ll talk to Stephan Richter — editor in chief of the publication The Globalist — about the cheap costs of living in Germany. 

(U.S. Edition) Cyril Ramaphosa will take power as South Africa’s president after Jacob Zuma stepped down amid corruption allegations. On today’s show, we’ll look at Ramaphosa’s political experience, along with the type of economy Ramaphosa will inherit. Afterwards, we’ll discuss how people who own cryptocurrencies aren’t disclosing their gains on their tax returns. Plus: A conversation with New York University law professor Barton Beebe — co-author of a study called “Are We Running Out of Trademarks?” — about how new companies are having an increasingly hard time finding good names to call themselves.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … After months of pressure to resign, embattled South African president Jacob Zuma will leave office today. We’ll tell you what’s next for the nation and how its new leader will try to revive the battered economy.  Then, Iranian authorities have arrested nearly 100 currency traders and shut foreign exchange bureaus – all aimed at trying to stop the Rial falling in value amid concerns the nuclear deal with the U.S. could collapse. Afterwards, custom-tailored clothing is nice to have, but can hit your wallet hard. But thanks to the Internet, some European companies are offering bespoke items at a lower price tag. 

And that's a problem for people naming new businesses.

Google Chrome’s built-in ad blocker is set to start blocking some of the most annoying ads — pop ups, automatic players and the like. But while ads can be irritating, ad-tracking software might actually be worse. To get a closer look at this kind of tracking and why it should matter to consumers, Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood speaks with Casey Oppenheim, co-founder and CEO of the privacy software company Disconnect. 

Saadia Zahidi’s new book examines the powerful cultural and economic transformations taking place as millions of Muslim women enter the workforce.

We hate days like this, when there’s been a shooting in a school or at a concert. There’s no economic angle right after a tragedy like this. It’s not our story, but we can’t ignore it. So we’re gonna acknowledge it, trust that you’ve had your fill of it elsewhere and turn to our news of the day. It came this morning with a much-anticipated but kind of underwhelming report on inflation. It’s up a bit, but nowhere near as drastic as we’d all expected it to be. Nevertheless, it’s one more data point for policymakers to consider as they figure out how to steer this economy. As it happens, we have one of those policymakers on the show today: Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed. Plus, the cost of uncertainty at the White House and Netflix’s latest big moves. 

Robert Kaplan says fiscal policy should bring less debt and focus on economic fundamentals.

Katrina Lake on sexism in Silicon Valley.

(Markets Edition) It turns out inflation is running higher, based on new data from the Consumer Price Index. We’ll talk to Susan Schmidt, senior portfolio manager at Westwood Holdings Group, about whether we should worry about these figures and what we should expect from the Federal Reserve. Afterwards, we’ll look at allegations that the VIX Index, a measure of the stock market’s expectations of volatility, is rigged. 

US core consumer prices up 0.3 percent, most in a year

Inflation is up more than expected, according to the consumer price index.

(U.S. Edition) We’ll get a reading on inflation today with the release of the Consumer Price Index, which looks at the prices on goods including food, gas and clothing. Let’s dive into the causes of inflation and how it’s affected the markets. Afterwards, we’ll take a look at how Trump’s infrastructure plans calls to boost workforce training programs, and then we’ll chat with Brad Grossman — creator of the Zeitguide, a periodical that gives advice to C-suite leaders — about why employers are starting to put a greater emphasis on employee satisfaction.

In honor of the holiday, we're bringing you two interviews from the archives featuring CEOs whose businesses ramp up this week.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service… Japan notched its eighth-straight quarter of growth – the longest such streak since the 1980s. Though it was a slower pace than earlier in 2016, we explain what’s propelling growth forward. Afterward, in the wake of Hollywood’s Harvey Weinstein scandal, the British film industry is setting out new guidelines to tackle sexual harassment and bullying in the UK entertainment industry. Then, French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed through key labor and corporate tax cuts. Now, he’s pushing a new online marketing drive urging investors to “Choose France.” 

Companies are making the shift from customer satisfaction to employee satisfaction.

Tech, like a lot of other industries, is dominated by men. Women get $3 in venture capital for every $4 that men do, according to tech site Crunchbase. And only 17 percent of startups have a woman as their CEO. Katrina Lake, the founder and CEO of Stitch Fix, has experienced that sexism first hand. In 2017, she was the only female CEO to take a company public in the U.S. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Lake at the Makers conference in Los Angeles about navigating Silicon Valley’s sexist culture.  

The housing market is turning around.

Data shows a decision to visit a museum is more often a question of lifestyle than of finances.

With a lack of financial data to assess creditworthiness, citizens are being rewarded for honesty and punish misdeeds, which are digitally archived.

Critics of the program have likened it to an Orwellian creation or an episode of the TV series "Black Mirror."

(Markets Edition) The Trump administration wants to roll back Obama-era climate emission regulations, which could result in companies drilling on federal lands to let more methane get out into the atmosphere. We’ll look at the potency of the gas, and the Trump administration’s pursuit of energy dominance. Afterwards, we’ll look at the amount of money the 2019 presidential budget is allocating to combat the opioid epidemic, and then discuss how countries around the world are racing to implement a 5G wireless system.

These type of jobs are most likely to be offered with small companies.

(U.S. Edition) Point72 Asset — the investment firm of billionaire Steven Cohen — is facing a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination. On today’s show, we’ll look at the claims and discuss how Wall Street banks have ways of keeping issues like these quiet. Afterwards, we’ll look at the possibility that Unilever — one of the world’s biggest advertising spenders — will pull its ads from sites like Google and Facebook, citing racism and sexism. Plus: Our conversation with Bob Roth — CEO of the David Lynch Foundation and author of “Strength in Stillness” — about the merits of transcendental meditation. 

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … After a marathon session, South Africa’s ruling ANC party decided to recall President Jacob Zuma, giving him 48 hours to respond or else launch a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Then, Iraqi officials estimate the country needs about $88 billion to rebuild after it was seized by the Islamic State in 2014. We’ll take you to a donor conference taking place in Kuwait and explain where the money is likely to come from and how it could be spent. Afterward, a trip to Sierra Leone where the peace diamond was one of the largest gems ever discovered in west Africa. But how is the poor village where it came from faring after the rock sold for $6.5 million? 

If it's good enough for Ray Dalio …

Facial recognition software has made huge advancements in accuracy, but it has a long way to go — specifically when it comes to recognizing people of color. Commercially available software can tell the gender of a person using a photograph. According to researcher Joy Buolamwini, of the MIT Media Lab, that software is correct 99 percent of the time when it’s looking at a white male but is less than half as accurate when looking at a darker-skinned female. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Buolamwini about her research and the human biases that creep into machine learning. 

"Data reflects our history, and our history has been very biased to date," MIT researcher Joy Buolamwini says.

The structure in Pyeongchang is painted with what its maker says is the darkest man-made substance, a material that absorbs 99 percent of light.

The Environmental Protection Agency is looking to keep food waste out of landfills. One entrepreneur in rural New Hampshire is pinning her business to that goal.

The fiscal year 2019 budget the White House released today isn’t what you might call an “operative” piece of fiscal policy. Congress hammered out a two-year spending plan just last week, after all. But the budget is still worth a read for some of the assumptions the Trump administration’s making — like a decade of economic growth at 3 percent or more. We’ll start the show by unpacking that and the White House’s new infrastructure plan, and the math issues therein. Plus: Purdue Pharma, which makes the blockbuster opioid painkiller OxyContin, said it’ll no longer send sales reps to doctors to sell them on opioids. For a drug company known for its aggressive marketing, that’s a big deal. Our podcast The Uncertain Hour has been investigating Purdue and the regulatory roots of the opioid epidemic, and producer Caitlin Esch is back to talk us through the news.

We want to hear from you.

The massive infrastructure plan’s path through a polarized Congress isn’t clear.

(Markets Edition) President Trump is releasing his 2019 budget proposal today, which will call for $4 trillion in spending. We’ll take a look at where the White House is allocating some of this money. Afterwards, we’ll talk to economist Julia Coronado from MacroPolicy Perspectives about this week’s upcoming temperature reading on inflation, and then discuss  China’s social credit system, which punishes people who engage in behavior deemed “anti-social.”

Here is why.

(U.S. Edition) Now that Congress has struck a budget deal and passed a tax bill, President Trump is moving on to infrastructure. We’ll look at where the White House plans to get the money for its projects and why it’ll be tough. Afterwards, we’ll discuss the billions that this flu season could cost in lost productivity, and then talk to five people named Jerome Powell about their thoughts on the economy.

This flu season could cost businesses at least $15.4 billion in lost productivity, according to one employment consulting firm.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … Australia’s biggest banks, among the world’s most profitable, are being accused of exploiting customers and corporate fraud. We’ll explain what a landmark inquiry is looking into. Then, the latest developments after a World War II-era bomb discovered in the River Thames brought London’s City Airport – frequented by European business travelers – to a standstill this morning. Afterward, how migration and the rise of the far right have become big issues for Italians heading to the polls for national elections next month.  

A new technology aims to make the cryptocurrency work faster and use less computing power.

A little perspective for the Federal Reserve chair as he starts his term.

Buying and selling things with cryptocurrencies is hard. Every time you make any transaction, it’s recorded in the blockchain, a digital ledger. That takes up a ton of resources, such as hard drive space. But a new technology called the Lightning Network could offer a way to speed up the process. It’s a huge change in how cryptocurrencies could work. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke about it with Timothy Lee, a reporter at the tech news site Ars Technica.