Week of May 18th, 2020

The UC system, one of the SAT’s largest source of customers, is phasing out the exams. How will that change the business of standardized tests?

At least, not if you’re trying to get into a University of California school.

The federal relief loans can be forgiven if businesses spend 75% on payroll within eight weeks. For some businesses, that’s a problem.

Britain weighs the economic cost if charities go bust.

Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke with NYSE President Stacey Cunningham ahead of traders returning to the floor.

Reformers hope the lack of an economic growth target means policymakers can move beyond short-term thinking toward longer-term priorities.

It’s been eight weeks since the CARES Act became law. Will the economic crisis it was meant to combat get as bad as the Great Depression?

Plus: China abandons GDP targets, Americans settle into working from home for the long haul and we chat with the president of the New York Stock Exchange.

We check in with three people adapting to their new work environments. Zen attitudes about pantsless kids in video chats helps.

Companies like Kroger and McDonald’s have been using terms of gratitude to describe extra pay for hazardous duty.

The Hong Kong stock market took a dive today after China signaled moves to tighten Beijing’s control over the territory. The Fed’s pessimism. The average gas price is $1.90 a gallon, but who’s driving? The 40th anniversary of Pac-Man.

Also making news: China’s premier Li Keqiang broke from tradition and did not announce an economic growth target.

States that rely heavily on tourism, including Nevada and Hawaii, are seeing some of the biggest increases.

Travel could fall to record lows this holiday weekend, despite some of the cheapest gas in nearly two decades.

Hard-won regulations that protect consumers in the analog world have not caught up with the digital marketplace.

Hong Kong’s status as a global business hub could be under threat. There are growing concerns over China’s plans to impose a new national security law on the city. What could MLB learn from South Korea’s baseball league? 

We speak with the president and CEO of Consumer Reports about, among other things, holding social media accountable during COVID-19. Plus, in a break from tradition, no new target for economic growth in China.

Creator Toru Iwatani wanted to make a mass-market product that nongamers and girls would love, too.

Some cities are cracking down on app fees, limiting them to 15%

Plus, Big Tech’s new work-from-home reality check and some useful euphemisms for “President Trump lied.”

Property owners who list on platforms like Airbnb are shifting to offering more medium- and long-term stays.

The man who leads Priceline, Kayak and other sites spoke about collapsed demand and winning the war against the virus.

Plus: how emerging markets are faring in this crisis, why evictions could surge in Texas and a conversation with the CEO of the travel company Booking Holdings.

Eviction can ultimately lead to damaged credit, difficulty finding another place to live and homelessness.

Capital has fled emerging markets on a massive scale. Currencies are down, debt burdens are rising and people are falling into poverty.

What is Sephora without the makeup testing stations and facials?

Cape Cod to Ocean City, tourist towns wonder what summer will look like in the age of COVID-19.

When you’re 17 or 18, you make choices that can dictate the course of your life. Making those choices during a pandemic is even harder.

The difference between initial jobless claims and overall continuing claims is an important one.

The speed at which governments are having to decide which companies to offer assistance to has echoes of the 2008 financial crisis.

The bill is intended to compel all foreign companies to allow U.S. regulators access to their accounting.

It’s now 39 million people that have filed first-time unemployment claims since the lockdowns started. Mortgage loan delinquencies skyrocket. Marketplace’s podcast “The Uncertain Hour” has a new episode out about the wealth and poverty history of quarantines.

April saw the biggest one-month jump in U.S. home loan delinquencies ever.

Another 2.2 million sought aid under a new program for self-employed, contractor and gig workers.

The arrangement would allow minority-owned lenders to take PPP loans off of their balance sheets.

The Senate has unanimously passed a bill that could force some foreign companies off American stock exchanges. Citi announced it will buy up Paycheck Protection Program loans. Toward the bottom rung of California’s housing market, conditions can be unsafe.

Mark Zuckerberg insists Facebook will only remove content that risks real imminent harm. Airlines race to get travelers back in the sky. How can governments help companies at risk of financial collapse?

One group of California tenants say they feel stuck in dirty, dangerous accommodations.

Hospitals have had to rely on manufacturers for repair information. Now, there are free guides to medical technology online.

Don’t get your hopes up.

Many restaurateurs realize that their industry, built on socializing in packed rooms, needs to reduce tables, shrink menus, and increase technology to survive.

Bonuses for many essential workers is being rolled back this month. And high unemployment could push wages down, even for risky jobs.

The executive director of the Texas Workforce Commission said they’re making some allowances so people who choose not to go back to work keep receiving benefits.

The owner of a plumbing company won’t serve clients who are ill, and both plumbers and clients must wear face masks.

Plus: How Americans spent their relief checks, the coming wave of farm bankruptcies and the fight over hazard pay.

The central bank is already buying bonds to keep money flowing, but it has a few more tools in its kit.

Economists at four universities studied the spending habits of about 1,600 middle and low-income consumers who got $1,200 direct payments. The money was spent on necessities like rent and food.

American farmers were struggling because of the U.S.-China trade war long before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

The restaurant industry faces a huge challenge: not just how to reopen safely, but how to make customers feel safe.

Long gone are the days of the government sending your family fennel sausage, cheese and wine to make it through.

The CBO forecasts the U.S. economy will shrink at a 38% annualized rate this quarter. Small upticks in ticket sales for summer travel. Which colleges will reopen this fall? An appeal for France’s city dwellers to help out on farms.

Location is a big factor. And closing down this semester cost universities billions.

Business advocates say that’s a sign smaller businesses are finally getting the loans they applied for.

Researchers analyzed the risks and rewards of opening different businesses right now.

MIT researchers have created a framework to assess the “cumulative risk” of opening various businesses and public spaces. Johnson & Johnson says it’ll stop selling the talc-based version of its baby powder. The SBA says PPP loans are getting smaller.

Venezuela’s central bank is taking legal action to get its bullion back. Will Spain extend its COVID-19 emergency measures for a fifth time? An extra public holiday could boost global tourism.

People who were confined at home in cities are signing up to help pick fruit for minimum wage.

The latest round of acquisitions, including Facebook buying Giphy, may be enough to prompt agencies to react.

Some of it will be watching us to keep everyone healthy. It might work. Or it might be public health “theater.”

Senators brought up issues they’ve seen with the government’s small business loan program.

While companies are looking for breaks from their rent, Home Depot says sales are up, and animation is about the only entertainment production still working.

“Our volume has increased by about 100% over the past eight weeks,” Purple Carrot CEO Andy Levitt says.

Some fear the apps will pass fees on to consumers, who might balk.

Commercial leases are typically hard to break, but many landlords are willing to defer or discount rent right now

Home Depot reported a 6% increase in sales and True Value says paint sales are up more than 20% as Americans use lockdown to clean up, paint up, and fix up.

As the coronavirus has exposed weaknesses in supply chains, efforts are renewed to bring manufacturing back to the United States.

More pedestrian only streets, and outdoor dining areas, could be part of the post-COVID-19 future.

Oil companies raced to digitize during the last downturn. COVID-19 is pushing the industry to embrace remote working technology even more.

No need for actors to socially distance when they can record from home.

Housing starts in April fell by more than expected last month, a 30% drop. President Trump’s threat to the WHO. Home improvement sales hold steady. The complicated rules that businesses with PPP loans have to follow to get them forgiven.

Trump has accused the WHO of lacking independence from China based on a review his administration has carried out.

Dan Rosensweig, CEO of educational tech company Chegg, predicts COVID-19 will dramatically change higher education as we know it.

The new application form for the forgiveness program offers some clarification on significant points.

Electric car sales will be down this year, but not as much as sales for combustion engine cars. Local meat producers are having a moment. Prince Charles calls for British people looking for work to help with the harvest.

As people spend more time at home because of COVID-19, they are thinking about how they can improve those spaces.

President Trump issued a 30-day ultimatum to the World Health Organisation over its handling of COVID-19. China sticks 80% tariffs on Australian barley imports. Britain oulines its post-Brexit tariff plans.

Local producers are seeing an increase in online and over-the-counter sales.

The Chinese telecom manufacturer sells a lot of the complex hardware needed for 5G. But what if there were a way to build the networks that didn’t depend on Huawei?

A “W”? A “K”? A Nike swoosh?

Workers lost $80 billion in pay in April due to the pandemic, but only got $48 billion in unemployment benefits, according to the Hamilton Project.

Plus, we’ll dig into the auto supply chain, examine how banking has changed and get a preview of the new season of “The Uncertain Hour.”

As U.S automakers restart operations this week, they’re pressuring critical suppliers in Mexico to fire up the assembly lines as well, despite significant pandemic risk.

The Googleplex is emptied out, so why pay Silicon Valley housing prices?

J.C. Penney becomes the latest in a line of major retailers to declare bankruptcy. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message to the government on COVID-19 relief. Walmart earnings and how our shopping habits have changed.

Experts say these companies were already in trouble before the pandemic.

It may take until the end of 2021 for the economy to recover, Jerome Powell said Sunday.

Among the steps General Motors says it will take: providing additional protective gear, and taking workers’ temperatures when they arrive.

There’s more to onboarding than just training. The social component is more difficult right now.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell thinks it might take until the end of 2021 for the economy to recover. Auto companies take steps to protect workers as car factories reopen. What’s it like to be hired remotely during this pandemic?

Will a $1 trillion stimulus be enough to spur Japan’s economic recovery? Seventy percent of India’s hotels could close due to COVID-19, as economic forecasts worsen. Airlines struggle to deal with the impact of quarantine measures.

Walmart reports earnings this week, and is expected to show big gains in e-commerce amid the pandemic.

Tech-enabled iBuyers hit pause as the market got riskier during the pandemic. Now they need to figure out how to move forward.