Week of March 23rd, 2020

Plus, we’ll talk about Instacart’s workers strike and Crocs, which is giving shoes to medical professionals.

Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan joined us to discuss the many challenges ahead.

A surge in demand during the pandemic has Amazon, Walmart, CVS and others scrambling to add thousands of new workers.

With sporting events cancelled, fans are spending their money and time playing sports apps and video games, and watching re-runs.

Plus: the new economies of Canadian border towns, retailers’ rush to staff up and a conversation with the president of the Dallas Fed president.

Some businesses seeing fewer customers from the other side of the border.

Many have already laid off their entire staff.

Some Americans will see $1,200 checks and expanded unemployment benefits.

As people see workplaces close, big layoffs and stock market uncertainty, they fear for their financial security.

The Dow has been up big the last couple of days, but history shows us there are occasional bull moments in bear markets. Some automakers are hoping to re-open factories in April. Does increasing unemployment compensation incentivize not working?

One east London cafe might be closed during the city’s lockdown, but its co-owners are still cooking to serve the more vulnerable members of their community.

“We would love to have a nationwide moratorium on all utility shut-offs, but every day, turn-offs are happening,” Sherrilyn Ifill says.

The House is scheduled to vote today on a third coronavirus relief package. An update on consumer confidence during COVID-19. Concerns about utilities like electricity or water being shut off in parts of the country.

Living paycheck to paycheck is common in countries like Kenya. Migrant workers in India struggle to access financial aid. A Portuguese cafe in east London is lending a hand with a hot meal for those in need. 

Economists say generous benefits historically can give people an incentive not to look for a new job. But those benefits also stabilize families, and could keep people at home now when social distancing is required.

And while we wait for a COVID-19 vaccine, let’s figure out how to make more face masks, she says.

Today we hear listeners’ stories of pay cuts, layoffs and telling employers they’re putting people at risk.

We’re steering straight into the dark place today.

Dependence on global supply chains can be useful in a crisis only if countries don’t set up export barriers like some are now with medical supplies.

But the difficulty of balancing work and family predate this crisis.

In a historic move, gig and freelance workers will qualify for unemployment benefits.

Tech companies and universities are trying to use mobile devices to get a handle on the spread of COVID-19.

The hotel industry has been decimated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Plus: the new lifestyles of working parents and the non-traditional workers being hit especially hard by this crisis.

More than 3.2 million people across the country filed for unemployment last week, as the economic ripple effects of the coronavirus pandemic spread.

About 282,000 Americans filed claims the week before.

To continue performing, a group of Irish musicians have taken to Facebook Live and other online platforms.

We got the worst spike ever recorded in the number of people signing up for unemployment. And the data from government agencies might not be capturing the full scope of the damage. Virus relief bill passes in the Senate.

We’ve compiled a list of FAQs here that we’ll update regularly.

The statistics the government uses to measure unemployment are likely underreporting the results of the pandemic.

Cases of the disease have been reported in a handful of air traffic control sites around the U.S.

A Nobel laureate offers a prescription for managing COVID-19 while phasing the economy back in. Today’s first-time unemployment claims number will be the largest in U.S history.

World leaders prepare to debate a global action plan to tackle the pandemic. Seychelles is ahead of schedule with a pioneering marine conservation plan. Musicians make ends meet by moving festivals online.

Nobel laureate and NYU professor Paul Romer says there’s a path forward that limits the spread of the virus while letting most people get back to work over time.

Some tech companies might want to see this as an opportunity to up their new tech that is needed right now.

Today: that $2 trillion relief bill, national debt and the enormous work-from-home broadband load.

The bureau is using workers people know or can identify with for house calls.

Ashley Nelson wasn’t forced to stop working, but she decided to anyway.

And if Beijing reciprocates, U.S. farmers might get a boost from rising exports to China.

Los Angeles mortgage broker Vivian Gueler is expecting a drop in the value of real estate.

The majority of Americans get employer-sponsored health insurance so what happens when that goes away?

More than one million Americans are expected to have filed for benefits last week, with more on the way.

Plus: What a 90-day tariff deferral would do for the people paying (that’s us).

From bidets to delivery boxes, the global pandemic has boosted some businesses.

Relaxing restrictions might make the economic contraction less severe, but not by much, economists say. And we’d see an escalation in infections.

Most individuals can look forward to a $1,200 check from the government. The Dow surges more than 11% on Tuesday. Day 1 of a three-week lockdown for India.

The urgently needed pandemic response measure is the largest economic rescue measure in history.

Congress and the White House have hammered out an economic stimulus package deal for more than $2 trillion. The details on loans for small businesses. Forbearance on mortgages.

Transport is resuming across the Hubei province, except in Wuhan. U.S. lawmakers strike a $2 trillion stimulus deal. India’s daily-wage workers worry as the country goes into lockdown. Britain’s motorsport industry answers the call to make ventilators.

Renters could also get a break if their landlords seek assistance.

It’s not likely the protections are the same as at the office.

As Kai says, we have a lot of pre-existing conditions, here.

“If we’re believing some of the forecasts coming out from a lot of the banks, we might see numbers in the millions,” said Tara Sinclair of George Washington University.

Hanes. The fashion designer Christian Siriano. And lots of small apparel companies are getting into the mask-making business.

Plus: this week’s unemployment claim numbers, how the repo market works and the nationwide mask shortage.

Offers include seven-year interest-free loans and no payments for six months.

Loading up passenger planes with cargo is not an easy thing to do, physically or economically. But it’s happening.

The distinction matters for your personal economy and the economy at large.

Through wars, recessions and possibly even today’s pandemic, crossword puzzles serve as an escape from hard times.

Americans get hope that the economy won’t be shut down for months or quarters. What life is like for grocery store workers right now. Contingency planning for airlines. The Summer Olympics get pushed back to 2021.

Both the states and federal government are lowering the barriers to physicians and nurses practicing in other states.

Using the street view on Google Maps, her own photos and extensive knowledge about London, one tour guide walks people virtually through the city.

Amateur athletes are struggling with facilities that have been closed and qualifying meets that have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stock futures rally sharply now even as Congress continues to argue over balancing aid to people versus aid to companies. How health care professionals get licensed. A partial lift of the virus lockdown in Wuhan is ahead.

Grocery store employees are working under difficult conditions.

As Britain tightens its lockdown, one tourist guide has a novel approach to working from home. Share buybacks face criticism as governments and banks provide emergency supports for companies.

Some data collection may help health officials, but once we grant access, what happens when the urgency has passed?

On this daily Make Me Smart, we’re talking about changing guidance, why the markets are staying open, and N95 masks.

For the first time, the central bank will buy corporate and municipal bonds to keep money flowing.

While Aziz Rubakovic’s jobs shut down, his search for a new apartment had to continue.

Plus: what an economic “restart” looks like, small businesses in China are still under pressure and encrypted social platforms’ struggle to fight COVID-19 misinformation.

Demand will come back after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, but how much demand? And for what?

The app is impossible to search for conspiracy theories in order to stop their spread.

Pork seller Ma Qiang sold $35,000 worth of pork to restaurants ahead of the Lunar New Year and expected to be paid after the holiday. Then COVID-19 hit.

Democrats have blocked an aid package for the second day running.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed has to do what it can to limit the damage caused by the coronavirus.

The central bank’s all-out effort has now gone beyond even the extraordinary drive it made to rescue the economy from the 2008 financial crisis.

Haima Marlier, a former senior trial counsel for the SEC, says recent trading suspensions show the SEC is “very much paying attention.”

The Fed says it will buy as many bonds as it takes to prop up credit. Britain’s finance minister has pledged to pay up to 80% of paychecks. PG&E pleads guilty to criminal charges in 2018 Camp Fire.

Most apparel companies aren’t in a state of emergency … yet.

It’s hard to find a babysitter when you’re working with coronavirus patients in the ER.

If you are getting a tax refund, which more than 70% of Americans do, you can still file your taxes now and get your money.

NYSE says it has run tests and is fully capable of operating electronically.

Software will temporarily take over for the New York Stock Exchange so human traders don’t have to come to work. Tax Day moved to July 15. The SEC is watching out for insider trading during the pandemic.

As stores on main street close indefinitely, garment workers in Bangladesh are at risk of losing their jobs. The OECD chief says a quick recovery is “wishful thinking.” Is France’s $370 billion emergency pot enough to support the economy?

States and cities have the ability to expand that access, but there are lots of laws that make it complicated.