Week of June 17th, 2019

Marketplace has a brand-new podcast: “This Is Uncomfortable.” Every Thursday, host Reema Khrais tells stories about life and how money messes with it. This week’s episode is all about the baggage that comes with crying at work, and it features a certain Marketplace host. Listen to that episode here, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Most online sales were exempt — until the justices said they weren’t.

Plus: The new Sears concept stores and the case for hiding “likes” on Instagram.

When it comes to women in chief executive positions in the beauty industry, smaller brands are leading the way.

The remittances business is getting crowded, and customers have more options.

Critics say kids’ drive for validation and popularity on services like Instagram can lead to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.

Sears Home & Life stores are smaller and hope to attract “young, forming families.”

The move carries risks but takes the burden of annual reviews off relatively smaller banks.

The U.S. trade war with China has grabbed the most headlines, but the Trump administration’s relationship with another key economic partner, India, is also growing rockier.

U.S. tensions with Iran, a major oil exporter, are spooking bond markets. The Fed exempts almost 20 big banks from its “stress tests.” What do kids’ picture books have to do with tariffs?

There are many reasons people cry at work. Business owners sound off on tariffs.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are rising. What’s the view from Tehran? European leaders fail to reach a climate change agreement. We look at India’s huge diaspora.

A fourth round of tariffs on Chinese imports could make tech production more expensive.

Driscoll’s president talks about what it took to create Rosé Berries, one of thousands of variations the California-based company breeds.

A PwC survey found American companies will spend 6% more in 2020.

“Fiscal implications: To be determined,” an official summary of the bill reads.

Be honest — researchers might be watching. Plus: Why employers are projected to spend more on health care and the politics of crying at work.

“This is a really exciting time for the garlic capital of the world,” says Ken Christopher of Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, California.

What happens when work is the thing that’s making us cry … at work? And Reema asks her old boss an awkward question.

Canada’s Prime Minister is in DC Thursday talking trade and the “new NAFTA”.

At the root of the trend is a need for companionship and, in an expensive state, financial support.

Italy returns Iran’s oil. The Fed holds off on interest rates cuts. The elderly are having to find roommates to afford rent.

The Fed signals it will lower interest rates soon. Canada readies the approval of the “New NAFTA.” The median age in the U.S. goes up to 38.

With zero emissions and water as a by-product, are hydrogen-powered trains the future? A British court rules U.K. arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful. We look at global barter trade.

China is using forced technology transfer to advance local firms.

It can take a while to understand the real effects of such a major change, but in the last few days, we’ve learned a little about how the nation’s tax law is playing out.

So what’s so special about 65? Today, we talk to a few folks who are 65 (or 65 at heart) about the magic number. Plus: YouTube preps big changes to kids’ content and everything you need to know about the Fed.

Searching for kids’ videos can turn up some not-very-kid-friendly content.

A single word can indicate the central bank’s attitude toward interest rates.

A new pension system doesn’t provide as much security.

The 56-year-old American retail company made its name in the catalog business. In the digital age though, it’s had to adapt.

The origin story of 65 can be traced back to the 30s, when President Roosevelt sought to make retirement available to everyone.

When it fears inflation might be getting too high, the Federal Reserve typically raises interest rates.

Facebook says sending money over its network will cost next to nothing. Remittance companies will be watching closely.

Canada legalized production, sale and consumption of recreational cannabis last fall, the second nation in the world to do so after Uruguay.

“Vaccine hesitancy” is listed as one of the World Health Organization’s top 10 threats to global health.

Generous Giving is urging a move away from doctrine to appeal to a wider donor base.

The Fed convenes on interest rates. Trust in vaccines is down in more-developed countries. A Christian group shows young people the “joy” of giving to charity.

A House subcommittee is marking Juneteenth with a hearing on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act.

“Market dynamics” cut into steel company earnings. Anemic legal weed sales are harshing Canada’s mellow. A House panel hears the case for reparations.

A crisis of confidence in vaccines. Oxford University in England receives its biggest ever donation. Do rent controls work?

The social media giant announced the cryptocurrency Libra this week, but why?

Slack, the instant messaging company, is about to go public. Opinions on using it at work seem strongly divided — let us know how you feel.

Here’s a look at some of the agencies that may police the digital currency.

As the list of proposed tariffs grows, so do the number of people wishing to testify, says Lisa Trofe, one of 300 witnesses at public hearings this week.

In the past two weeks alone, polymers have shown up in branded pasta sauces and chicken products.

Rising home prices and changing demographics are boosting demand.

Libra season? Already? Plus: Why food recalls are on the rise and “How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World.”

The New York Times’ Neil Irwin has spent some time trying to figure out exactly that.

Aside from her spouse, that is.

San Francisco banned government agencies from using facial recognition last month, citing civil liberty concerns. It’s a baby step in regulating technology that could make some aspects of life safer and more convenient, but comes with a host of unintended consequences for surveillance, profiling, discrimination and so on. But the recognition tech is already out […]

The FOMC meets this week to set interest rate policy, and it faces a slowing economy with inflation falling.

One of Arthur Laffer’s enduring contributions was the Laffer Curve, an economic theory to do with the relationship between tax rates and tax revenue.

Facebook says users will be able to buy things and send money using its new coin and wallet app.

There is demand for new homes, but a lot of it is among first-time home buyers who can’t afford them.

You no longer have to be passenger to eat beyond the security checkpoint.

Europe is about to lower interest rates ahead of the U.S.’s own decision. The housing market is just weird right now. Airport food isn’t just for passengers anymore.

Airplane makers go green at the Paris Air Show. Arthur Laffer gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom… because taxes. Who needs a “gig” when you can get a “real job”?

Will anybody trust Facebook’s answer to Bitcoin? Electric cars are the future, but a lack of charging points is just one of several roadblocks facing the industry.

With access to major computing power, the Chesapeake Conservancy can better manage the watershed.

Plus: The future of headphones could be augmented reality, and are we headed for an … Ital-exit?

And how its customers are thinking about supply chains.

The man, money and method behind WeWork, the highest valued start-up in the U.S.

The move is aimed at rural online shoppers.

It seems more and more people wear headphones all day. Now tech companies are working on ways to feed directions, notifications and, yes, advertisements into our ears.

Could a proposed Italian government bond turn into a parallel currency … and replace the euro?

In 2017, the child poverty rate was 18%. Go back nearly three decades to 1990: also 18%.

India hit the U.S. with some retaliatory tariffs of its own, a response to U.S. steel and aluminium penalties levied on many countries.

Manufacturing in the U.S. is way down. Puerto Rico might deal its way out of debt. Entire Spanish “ghost towns” are up for sale, and they’re pretty cheap.

One real estate company has made a business out of assisting struggling rural towns.

Okra, eggplant and mulberries: Atlanta hopes a food forest will provide residents with fresh produce.

India retaliates on tariffs. There’s been little progress on child poverty in the U.S. over the past 30 years. A “food forest” in Atlanta fills the the quality produce gap.

Huawei’s boss warns that production will be hit hard by the US.. ban. Why the Paris air show is more about safety than sales for Boeing. How Adidas and Nike are turning ocean plastic into active wear.

Uber and Lyft are making traffic worse, recent studies show.