Week of March 19th, 2018

It was a busy week in Washington.

The platform's data is a treasure trove for companies.

How’s the internet policed? Who decides what can and can’t happen with our data? Plus, why more schools want school shooting insurance and how to be a lighting designer. Also, a sit-down with three women working different jobs in the gig economy.

The $1.3 trillion spending bill doesn't include a permanent solution for people brought into the country illegally when they were children.

A recent Marketplace-Edison Research Poll found that only 39 percent of gig workers are women.

After threatening to veto it this morning, President Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion plan to fund the government through September. Where did it leave DACA? Nowhere. The spending bill doesn’t include a permanent solution for people brought into the country illegally when they were children. We follow up with a few young undocumented immigrants who remain in limbo. Also on today’s show: tariffs. Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on more than $50 billion worth of Chinese imports has brought a swift and firm response from China. But there’s also been talk of possible trade compromises. And steel and aluminum tariffs go into effect today, except for European Union nations. They are temporarily exempted, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be tariffs in the future. We also run through the week’s news with Rachel Abrams of the New York Times and Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post.

Steve Lieberman has designed light displays for Coachella, Lollapalooza and Electric Daisy Carnival. Here's what it takes to do the job.

(Markets Edition) Congress recently approved a $1.3 trillion bill, but this battle isn’t over yet. President Trump just tweeted that he might veto the measure, shortly before the stock market opened. We’ll talk to Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, about how the markets are doing. Afterwards, with news that Toys R Us is closing its stores, we’ll look at how its decision to file for bankruptcy has affected suppliers and workers. 

But an unusual glitch arose when Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, wanted to remove a provision to rename a forest in his home state.

(U.S. Edition) The banking giant Citigroup has announced new retail business clients will have to put restrictions on gun sales. We’ll look at some of their requirements and whether these rules will affect existing clients. Afterwards, we’ll discuss how survivors of last month’s deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida, organized a march in support of stricter gun control laws. Plus: Why Trump’s trade policies may resurrect COMECON, an old communist trade policy. 

Multibillion-dollar retailers are enormous machines, with a complex network of suppliers and tens of thousands of workers around the country. Chapter 11 puts them in limbo.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … it’s a sea of red in global markets amid escalating concerns about a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. We’ll tell you what’s next for China after the U.S. said it will impose new tariffs on imports from the country.   Then, how long will it take you to commute today? Twenty minutes on the subway? An hour in the car? In Sao Paulo, Brazil, many workers sit for three hours in mad traffic. We’ll take you there and explain how some are battling back with a new high-flying commuting method.  

Many Facebook users are deleting their accounts, but that may be hard for others.

Facebook has seen better days when it comes to its public image. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is the latest public relations disaster to befall the tech giant, and in response, some users are deleting their accounts. But is that realistic? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about why quitting Facebook is a privilege that not everyone can afford.   

David Carroll is using a British law to try to force Cambridge Analytica to send him the data it's gathered on him.

It's not a pipeline problem, she says, but a "broken doorbell problem."

The latest on developments in financial markets.

A New Jersey casino gambling case before the Supreme Court could open the door for more legal sports gambling.

Early last year, before Cambridge Analytica was making headlines for their use of Facebook data, Parsons School of Design Associate Professor David Carroll filed a legal claim in the United Kingdom against the company. He used a British data protection law to request the data that Cambridge Analytica had gathered on him. Though he received some data from the company about a month later, he says it was incomplete. Now, Carroll is suing Cambridge Analytica; we ask him why. Also on today’s show: We talk to television writer, producer and director Nell Scovell about her new book “Just the Funny Parts” and about giving women a seat at the table in Hollywood.  Plus, our last installment of Kai’s interview with Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner.  You can catch the full interview in a bonus episode by subscribing to this podcast!

(Markets Edition) The Fed has decided to officially raise interest rates. With Jerome Powell, the new head of the Federal Reserve, meeting with the media yesterday, what impression does he give off? Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, joined us to give her evaluation. Afterwards, we’ll discuss how rising house prices are becoming beneficial for sellers, but hurting buyers.

Everything you ever wanted to know about inflation.

(U.S. Edition) The Trump administration is getting ready to announce how it will punish China for the way it handles the trade secrets of U.S. firms. On today’s show, we’ll take a look at how China may retaliate. Afterwards, with Friday night the deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill, we’ll talk about the major Gateway infrastructure project included in the bill, which is critical to the northeast. Plus: We’ll discuss whether more large tech companies will start going public after Dropbox’s IPO today.

The market is good if you're selling, but challenging if you want to buy.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … The White House is set to unveil sanctions against China today after finding it encourages theft or transfer of intellectual property. But China’s threatening to fight back … so is a trade war just over the horizon? Then, how’s this for irony: A French company is poised to win a contract to make Britain’s passports in a post-Brexit world. We’ll hear from the U.K. company that’s set to lose out on the production. Afterward, a trip to a business with a unique take on how to tackle the problem of throw-away plastics. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to hear what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has to say in person about how the company let Cambridge Analytica harvest users' information without their permission.

Two U.S. senators are asking the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee to get Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress. They want Zuckerberg to explain how Facebook handles our personal information and how it let the political data firm Cambridge Analytica harvest detailed information on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. The last time Facebook was asked to appear before Congress, Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sent their legal team instead. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Republican Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, one of the senators who penned a letter asking Zuckerberg to testify, about what he’d like to hear from Facebook.  

Your regular episode of Marketplace is coming later today, but for now we have something special. It’s an interview a decade in the making: Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, and President of the New York Fed Tim Geithner, who later served as Treasury Secretary under President Obama. In 2008, they worked together to coordinate an unprecedented response to the financial crisis, often racing to do so against the clock and public opinion. For the first time they’ve been together in public since crisis, Bernanke, Paulson and Geithner sat down with us to discuss Bear Stearns, the government takeovers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman weekend and the fear they felt as they struggled to stop the financial crisis spreading from Wall Street to Main Street. They talked about their biggest regrets and why they wished they’d done a better job explaining their actions to the American people. Then, they looked ahead to talk about our ability to fight the next financial crisis and why a functioning Congress is so important to solve crises before they start. This interview is part of Marketplace’s coverage of the ten-year anniversary of the financial crisis called Divided Decade, a year-long project exploring what happened, why it matters now and how the aftermath will continue to have an impact on Americans’ economic future.

The new guy on the monetary policy block had his first press conference today. His first rate hike, too. Jay Powell’s been in the big chair at the Federal Reserve six or seven weeks by now. Job No. 1 today was to not upset the economic apple cart. He didn’t, and the economic news helped. That’s where we’ll start today. Then: Facebook. First we’ll get an update from Marketplace Tech’s Molly Wood about the latest turn in the site’s data privacy controversy, and then we’ll look at what the rest of us can do about it. Delete our accounts? Not so fast. Plus, more of our conversation with the first responders to the economic crisis.

The Fed also increased its estimate for rate hikes in 2019 from two to three, reflecting an expectation of faster growth and lower unemployment.

(Markets Edition) President Trump wants to use a multi-million media campaign to help combat the opioid epidemic. But do public health campaigns actually work? We’ll look at some previous advertising efforts to steer people away from drugs. Afterwards, we’ll discuss how Pittsburgh’s plan to green up the city may leave low-income residents behind.

Pittsburgh's plan to green up the city may be leaving low-income residents behind.

When it comes to Facebook, that is the question.

(U.S. Edition) Facebook has launched an internal investigation into what it sees as the misuse of its data by the U.K.-based firm Cambridge Analytica, which the Federal Trade Commission is also looking into. And this isn’t the social media giant’s first run in with the FTC. On today’s show, we’ll look at their complicated past. Afterwards, we’ll explore how “opportunity zones” are trying to draw private investment by providing tax incentives, and then talk about the advantages of buying electric cars in Norway.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … Aleksandr Kogan, the Cambridge Analytica academic who created the Facebook app that harvested data from millions of users, told the BBC this morning he’s been made out to be a scapegoat. You’ll hear from him why he believes the accuracy of his data has been “extremely exaggerated” and why he doesn’t think it could have swayed the 2016 presidential election. 

Norway says it will stop selling gas and diesel cars altogether by 2025.

Music licensing fees make it almost impossible to turn a profit in streaming.

If you’re not Apple, Google or Amazon, the music streaming business is tough. Last week, iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Pandora moved to renegotiate its costly deals with record labels last week, and Spotify is reassuring investors that it can turn a profit as it prepares to go public next month. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Paul Sweeney, media analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, about why it’s so hard to make money in streaming.      

In the first part of our conversation with Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner yesterday, we talked about how Bear Stearns was saved, at first, by the Fed and JPMorgan. That was 10 years ago this month. Today we’ll pick up with another bank that wasn’t so lucky: Lehman Brothers. We’ll also talk about the politics of managing a crisis like the one we faced in 2008 and why, at least according to Geithner, these three men “saved the economy but lost the country.” Then: The head of the World Trade Organization said recently that if it weren’t for the WTO, a trade war would already have begun. We’ll unpack that a bit. Plus, the latest on Facebook’s misused data.

In the wake of yet another school shooting, a conversation about students’ rights.

Kids these days. They don't shop at the stores like you used to.

(Markets Edition) Cambridge Analytica’s decision to harvest the info of millions of Facebook users has jittered the markets, but investors may be worried about more than the story at hand. Max Wolffe, chief economist at the Phoenix Group, joined us to explain why. Afterwards, we’ll look at what the interest rate forecast for the year looks like prior to the Fed’s meeting today, and then discuss the latest updates with the Takata airbag recall. 

(U.S. Edition) The U.K.-based data firm Cambridge Analytica continues to be embroiled in scandal. We’ll look at how investors are reacting to reports that it used Facebook data to manipulate voters on behalf of the Trump campaign, and then talk about the release of a video showing Cambridge’s CEO claiming his company was able to entrap foreign politicians. Plus: A look at why some states are pushing back against pharmaceutical coupons for branded drugs. 

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … British regulators are turning up the heat on Facebook, demanding answers from CEO Mark Zuckerberg and access to databases and servers of data firm Cambridge Analytica, which is accused of using personal information from 50 million of the social media giant’s users in the run up to the 2016 U.S. election. Afterwards, there’s a problem with plastics washing up on beaches in the Philippines. Now, businesses are taking matters into their own hands – one is even enticing beach goers to swap a basket of litter they collect for a free beverage they can enjoy while sunbathing. 

With enough data, could a company predict what you want? That’s the idea behind psychographic advertising: A company builds a profile of each customer and uses it to manipulate their emotions through marketing. This type of advertising is at the heart of a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, which used Facebook to get this type of personal data. But how far can this type of advertising go? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Alexandra Samuel of the Harvard Business Review about what psychographic marketing really is and what its limits are.   

The fragmented system is one reason why the 2008 crisis was so bad, experts say.

Insurers are pushing back on manufacture coupons for expensive drugs in the hopes that it will pressure drug companies to lower prices.

That is, former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner, former president of the New York Federal Reserve and former Treasury secretary. We sat down with all three of them at Yale University last week to talk about what they saw 10 years ago as the economy collapsed, and what worries them now. We’ll bring you bits of that conversation throughout today’s show, with even more in the coming days. Then: Facebook shares dropped 6.77 percent on the big news from this weekend that Cambridge Analytica hoovered up data on 50 million Facebook users and used it to aim messages favoring Donald Trump. As lawmakers call for testimony and regulation, we’ll look at how this could affect Facebook’s business model. Plus: The latest on tariffs. 

NEW YORK (AP) – A sharp loss for Facebook is dragging technology companies lower Monday as U.S. stock indexes skid. The social media company is facing new criticism related to privacy issues following reports that a data mining firm working for the Trump campaign improperly obtained and then kept data on tens of millions of […]

But only for home improvements.

A look at one of the federal regulations erased with a rarely used tool.

(Markets Edition) Jerome Powell is set to chair his first interest rate meeting at the Federal Reserve this week, and you can expect rates to go up. We’ll talk to economist Julia Coronado from MacroPolicy Perspectives about how the possibility of interest hikes — and America’s new trade policies — is making the markets nervous. Afterwards, we’ll look at how companies use coupons for name-brand drugs to steer customers away from purchasing lower-cost generics. Then to cap off today’s show, we’ll share a portion of our interview with Henry Paulson, former Treasury secretary, on some of the economic problems he sees plaguing America. It’s part of a longer conversation with Timothy Geithner (former president of the New York Fed) and Ben Bernanke (the former head of the Federal Reserve) available on marketplace.org right now.

(U.S. Edition) AT&T’s bid to buy Time Warner in an $85 billion deal is heading to court today. We’ll look at why AT&T wants to make this move — and what some of the consequences could be if this deal goes through. Afterwards, we’ll preview part of our interview with Timothy Geithner, former president of the New York Fed, about whether the government was right to rescue big banks back during the financial crisis. It’s a part of a longer conversation with Henry Paulson (Treasury secretary under President Bush) and Ben Bernanke (the former head of the Federal Reserve) available on marketplace.org right now. Plus: How city fees and service charges are rising around the country.

How Cambridge Analytica may have impacted our elections and how Facebook helped.

(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … China today named a new central bank governor, but it’s another appointment that’s garnering attention. Liu He, who has been tapped as vice premier, believes his country’s economic growth model, which relies heavily on debt, is posing a fundamental issue of security. We’ll tell you what it means for China’s future economic policies. Then, Russian President Vladimir Putin will lead his country for another six years, but what will the nation’s continued saber rattling mean for U.S. sanctions and economic stability? Afterward, we’ll take a look at the construction industry and the problem plastic waste poses for the planet. 

The former officials coordinated the nation's response, one they say would be a challenge in today's political climate.

The game industry is reacting after scrutiny from the White House.

There’s more scrutiny around violence and video games at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. After the mass shooting at Parkland High School in Florida last month, President Donald Trump called the game industry to the White House and suggested that violence in video games could lead to real-world violence. However, research hasn’t found a link between the two. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Kate Edwards, executive director of Take This, a mental health nonprofit, to find out how game developers are thinking about this in their work.