Week of January 29th, 2024

Discount card companies negotiate directly with pharmacies or pharmacy benefit managers, the powerful brokers that control drug prices.

Plus, please don’t microwave your fish.

Plus: We explain the TikTok Shop and do the numbers on where all the new gambling taxes are going.

Here’s what you can expect from our new season Plus: Leo Aquino from Queer & Trans Wealth defends their splurge.

How it looks from both sides. Plus, why the U.S. economy needs immigration.

A Malibu mansion and a more modest home in a middle-class neighborhood have something in common: net-zero carbon emissions.

Population growth helps stabilize the economy by providing workers we need.

Stocks rise; professional and business services jobs increase; unemployment rate holds steady; consumer sentiment increases.

For applicants, the interviewing can seem endless. For employers, the pool of workers is small and the future may feel uncertain.

New Jersey’s new telemarketer law isn’t the only example of lawyers taking inspiration from the TV sitcom that aired in the 1990s. 

It may have all started in a galaxy far, far way, but buying and selling vintage “Star Wars” merchandise is now a huge and growing market, worth millions of dollars.

Some 353,000 more people were on payrolls in January — nearly double what economists expected.

Job gains were better than expected, as the labor market continues to surprise; Big Tech companies report strong Q4 results; Exxon-Mobil and Chevron saw lower quarterly profits amid price declines; federal regulators upgrade investigation into Tesla loss of steering reports.

At a recent ocean biodiversity summit, federal officials touted the plan to quantify the country’s natural assets and the services provided by healthy ecosystems, like tree canopies that can cool urban areas or kelp forests that prevent coastline erosion.

More than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 are incorporated in the First State, but Texas is gunning for a share of that.

Roughly two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, and it’s big business for the First State.

From the BBC World Service: El Salvador’s bitcoin president, Nayib Bukele, is widely expected to be returned to power.

Anita Ramaswamy of Reuters Breakingviews joins Marketplace’s Lily Jamali to discuss the biggest tech stories of the week.

“I consider esports the cheat code,“ says Davin Jackson, owner of Alpha eSports and Technology.

The video platform and the music company couldn’t agree on terms for renewing their contract. Some of the fallout will hit video creators.

Universal Music Group pulled its songs from TikTok this week.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that 2023 saw a pullback in labor cost growth. That may keep the downtrend in inflation going.

The Associated Press uncovered a workforce of prisoners producing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of agricultural products and goods by popular food brands.

Rising productivity makes possible rising living standards over time.

Stocks rise; worker output outpaces hours worked; manufacturers receive more new orders; unemployment claims rise.

Plus, RIP Ingenuity, the first Mars helicopter.

A strong job market alongside cooling price gains has economists debating a key model, Bloomberg’s Enda Curran reports.

In the season premiere of “This Is Uncomfortable,” an intimate conversation between Reema and her father about his childhood in Gaza and what the future holds for their family.

A.G. Gaston was a Black entrepreneur who invested millions of dollars into the Civil Rights Movement and Black America.

E.U. leaders overcame objections from Hungary; Medicare beginning price negotiations on 10 prescription drugs; Shell reports $28 billion profit for 2023; initial jobless claims inch up to 224,000.

A record number of Chinese migrants are using the established South American trail to reach the U.S. border.

We’ll discuss the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates steady yesterday, as well as pressure on the central bank to address housing costs.

There’s a push to convince colleges and universities to extend their admission deadlines to give students — and schools — more time.

The results from FAFSA won’t be released this year until March.

From the BBC World Service: The decision comes after Hungary’s leader Viktor Orbán initially blocked the funding.

Journalist Mihika Agarwal says the new industry brings with it privacy, ethics and cultural concerns.

As the sober curious movement grows, mocktails allow people to drink socially without feeling self-conscious. The concoctions are getting more creative — and expensive.

The cost of buying a home has increasingly led more Americans to prepare to rent forever.

Plus, a newsy and overcaffeinated rant.

Many artificial intelligence tools were trained on freely-available digital content. That might be legal, but is it ethical?

They plan to rent forever because they can’t afford to buy or they like the renting lifestyle.

Stocks fall; Federal Reserve says lowering rates too soon runs the risk of more inflation; wages rise in 2023; private sector employment picks up.

For cyclists, navigating town is a complex equation of infrastructure, hills, barriers and more. Apps like Google Maps are still figuring it out.

“As a result of me being a homeowner … if I need to take money out, I can do that,” says Monique Coleman of West Virginia.

“We want to see strong growth and a strong labor market,” said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Why department stores struggle to retain relevancy.

The employment cost index advanced at a slower pace in Q4 of 2023; Boeing lost $30 million in last quarter, before Alaska Airlines accident; judge rescinds Musk’s compensation deal with Tesla; Red Sea shipping disruptions to continue for months, Hapag-Lloyd says.

A judge has struck down Elon Musk’s compensation package at Tesla. Let’s unpack the case.

Whatever the reason, shareholders seem to love hearing that jobs cuts are coming.

Global shipper UPS announced that it’s cutting 12,000 jobs over the next few months — most of them in management.

From the BBC World Service: Top United Nations officials are warning that the aid system in Gaza could collapse.

Ernest Scheyder, author of “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives,” explains the promise of these substances and the challenges of tapping their energy.

The problems plaguing America’s aviation giant and what it means for the future of the commercial aerospace industry.

With a 120% debt-to-GDP ratio, the U.S. owes a record amount of money. Plus, all eyes on the Federal Reserve’s FOMC.

The committee that sets interest rates is meeting this week, and the big question is whether — and when — they’ll start cutting.

Our U.S. debt is bigger than our economic output. Consequences include ballooning interest payments and potential trust issues.

Many investors see big companies as healthy and want to get into the market before the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.

Stocks close mixed; quits rate falls over the last year; UPS revenue declines; IMF says global growth will pick up this year.

The Conference Board’s measure reached its highest level in more than two years.

A detailed look how a food trend starts in China’s financial hub, Shanghai.

Global GDP forecast improves to 3.1% growth; job openings top 9 million in December; consumer confidence improves in January; home prices are up 6.6% compared to last year.

Toyota reported Tuesday that it’s held onto its title as the world’s best-selling car company.

And investors will be hoping for more good news on that front when the company announces quarterly earnings.

Advertisers are using people not having enough money for some things — college, a house — to encourage them to spend on other things — chicken wings, anybody?

Despite its successful tech deployments, Microsoft’s position as a leader in AI isn’t guaranteed.

From the BBC World Service: After a two-year wait, could Northern Ireland get a working government again?

Unless more people sign up to be EV mechanics, drivers in the UK might find themselves with an electric vehicle they can’t get fixed or afford to insure.

The jobs that keep offices running saw a bit of growth in 2023. Plus, Chinese property firm Evergrande is set to liquidate.

“About 37% of teens worked last year,” says Abha Bhattarai of The Washington Post. “These teens are really excited,” employers tell her.

Plus, have people lost their minds?

Unwinding the debt-burdened company will likely create large losses among creditors and could trigger some capital flight.

Jobs in this kind of work — the work that makes offices and buildings run, makes them nice — grew about 2.6% last year. It’s growth but it’s not huge growth.

Stocks rise; investors eager for corporate bonds as rates fall; Amazon abandons plans to acquire iRobot; labor market data due this week.

Firms that import goods are returning to pandemic-era strategies to brace their businesses against delays and higher shipping costs.

The city hopes the technology behind cryptocurrency can streamline transactions. It’s part of a proposed plan to address blight.

Subscription offers are everywhere these days. But can they work when paying later is the whole point?

Alaska and United Airlines over the weekend resumed some 737 Max 9 flights; U.N. agency aiding Palestinians faces funding cuts; White House sets new rules for pay equity; Ikea stores aiming to bring prices back to inflation-adjusted prepandemic levels.

Some buy now, pay later platforms are testing out a new model: subscription plans.

An outbreak of bedbugs sparked anxiety around Paris Fashion Week in October and could pose a major — and expensive — problem ahead of the Summer Olympics.

Delinquencies are up, especially for people with lower incomes and multiple types of debt, according to the New York Fed.

More people are swiping their credit cards, but delinquencies are up too. Does that spell trouble?

From the BBC World Service: A judge has ordered the liquidation of the debt-laden real estate giant. We dig in to the decision.

Catherine McKenna, former Canadian Minister for environment and climate change, says carbon capture has been used an excuse to avoid a faster transition to renewable energy