Week of March 25th, 2024

The average salary is about $60,000, but pay can vary widely, just like in other fields.

The car industry is watching.

Plus: Weight discrimination expert Virgie Tovar defends her splurge.

Plus: There’s an eclipse coming up! In this week’s issue we do the numbers.

Jay Powell says he doesn’t expect rates to return to “very, very low” pre-pandemic levels. Plus, why central bank independence is important.

Another CEO at Boeing is out after its planes have faced a series of safety-related issues. Experts say flying is still safe, but the company culture needs an overhaul.

Stocks close mixed; year-over-year inflation steadily ticking down; Fed chair Jay Powell says data in line with Fed’s expectations; consumer spending rises.

Powell discusses how monetary policymakers arrive at consensus, the value of transparency and the issues that influence interest rate decisions.

Core PCE rises 0.3% in February; wholesale and retail inventories grow; the U.S. trade deficit expands; feds send first emergency funds for Baltimore bridge.

One outcome of the “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) box will be a clearer picture of economic conditions in Arab American communities.

Baltimore’s port could be closed for months, keeping people out of work and leaving freighters looking for places to route their loads.

So far, President Joe Biden is far out-raising former president Donald Trump, but that doesn’t always translate into election wins.

As part of a live event, we break down the medical debts that some Americans owe and the shame, guilt and uncertainty that can come with it.

On the 2030 U.S. Census, Arab Americans will have their own box to check for the first time ever.

From the BBC World Service: Thousands of tourists usually flock to Jerusalem and Bethlehem during Easter, but there’s been a massive drop since the war in Gaza.

Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal, joins Lily Jamali to discuss these headlines for Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

And how much does it really matter in the Biden vs. Trump matchup?

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what the numbers say if voters believe something else. Plus, clearing the wreckage of the felled Baltimore bridge will be dangerous and difficult.

Containers carrying hundreds of tons of hazardous materials were on the ship, complicating the monumental cleanup.

Some vending machine owners make hundreds of dollars a month, says Joe Pinsker, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal.

The home improvement company is buying SRS Distribution, a roofing, landscaping and pool construction supplier, for $18 billion.

The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index, or PCE, will be released Friday. Experts say there are other clues the Fed is looking for, too.

In 1992, voters’ perception that an improving economy was actually a bad economy contributed to Bush’s loss to Clinton. Could the same thing happen to Biden?

Stocks close mixed; people less anxious about inflation; pending home sales rise; initial unemployment claims fall.

These bots send out job applications in high volume for a fee. Reporter Aki Ito at Business Insider tried a few and reported the results.

Lindsey went into medicine to help people. She never expected her weight to get in the way.

Experts say 3 million people in the U.S. have more than $10,000 in medical debt each.

Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unraveled with the collapse of FTX, the massive crypto exchange.

GDP was higher in the fourth quarter than previous estimates; consumer sentiment holds steady; insurance claims from Baltimore’s bridge collapse could near $4 billion; Home Depot courts more professional builders.

Sports betting has had a surge of popularity in the U.S., even as star athletes have been implicated in gambling scandals.

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is already impacting supply chains, as well as the jobs and livelihoods of folks in the region.

Tennessee, home to the capital of country music, became the first state to target the unauthorized use of AI to replicate musicians’ voices.

Regions that depend on it are having to look to other sources of energy — which can cost more.

Seven of the largest U.S. sportsbooks are launching a trade group to promote responsible gambling.

From the BBC World Service: Australian wine producers will no longer face tariffs from their largest trading partner, China.

Matt Perault, now at the University of North Carolina, recounts that the persuasion efforts were routine, bipartisan, and made him wonder about First Amendment protections.

How women who break through the glass ceiling are often set up to fail.

Cargo ships have grown since the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built. Collisions have greater impact, physically and economically.

Latin American immigrants are among the workers most likely to die on the job. Plus, business school grads find a fast track to the CEO seat.

Japanese autos have not dropped in price and U.S. exports now become more expensive.

Latoyia Smith started by painting secondhand desks for remote students. Then their parents wanted her to beautify their own furniture.

Mexican and Central American workers have been the lifeblood of the Baltimore economy, but they’re also part of the “lowerarchy.”

Stocks rise; Secretary Buttigieg says government is starting the process of releasing funding for Maryland; Fitch warns about bank multifamily loan exposure; Japanese yen falls.

Raising “search funds” to find a business to buy may be an answer to a challenging startup landscape.

Voters’ views on the economy don’t always match their own situation or national trends. The gap can color their views of candidates.

Authorities have recovered the black box from the container ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge; some automakers say they are being impacted; Trump Media shares soar in market debut; Disney adds Hulu content for Disney+ subscribers.

Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America. How did we get here?

Almost a third of all working adults in the United States are carrying some kind of medical debt — that’s about 15% of all U.S. households.

The people purchasing stock of the Trump Media and Technology Group are likely buying shares out of loyalty to the former president rather than faith in it as a good long-term investment, argues the University of Florida’s Jay Ritter.

They say programs designed to help low-income families are only reaching a fraction of those eligible.

The latest government funding bill included a $1 billion boost for programs focused on child care and early childhood learning.

From the BBC World Service: One in five people in China are over 60, making it the largest elderly population in the world.

Megan Iorio of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and NetChoice’s Carl Szabo discuss what they think the ideal federal law to protect minors online would look like.

Builder incentives like interest-rate buy-downs and the relative affordability of the area are big draws for prospective buyers.

It’s paralyzed the city’s port, an important link in the U.S. supply chain. Plus, CHIPS Act funding is giving new life to a 1950s-era manufacturing plant in Vermont.

And there’s no telling how long it’ll take to reopen the port. Other East Coast ports will have to handle some of the shipping traffic.

And why they’re still sticking with Trump.

Consumers replacing devices bought early in the pandemic and enthusiasm for AI capabilities partly account for the healthy figures.

Larry Fink, head of the largest money manager in the world, suggested in an investor letter that the retirement age should be higher because of longer life expectancies. But is that realistic?

Stocks fall; supply chains scrambling to absorb capacity after Baltimore port shuts down vessel traffic; home prices fall in January; durable goods orders rise.

The pandemic shut down some Native gaming and tourism enterprises. But federal contracting has been growing.

A Vermont facility built in the 1950s is getting a shot at making semiconductors for smartphones and electric vehicles.

“Haiti is now facing the prospect of living without any traces of a recognizable state for the first time in a long time,” says MIT’s Malick Ghachem.

Consumer confidence was essentially unchanged in March, with consumers still worried about higher inflation in the months ahead; container ship destroys Baltimore bridge; home prices rise 6% in January; Trump Media and Technology Group debuts on Nasdaq, shares soar.

Portions of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship early Tuesday.

Nine years of unpublished data show that American Indian and Alaska Native households report greater financial stress and less security.

Darden Restaurants, which owns chains like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, had its first same-store sales decline since the pandemic.

Shares of former President Donald Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, start trading Tuesday.

From the BBC World Service: The U.N. agency UNRWA reports that it is being blocked from delivering food to northern areas of Gaza.

The number of gamers in Africa has doubled in recent years, but many gaming platforms require users to pay for subscriptions or make in-game purchases. That’s a problem for users who don’t have credit cards, but some fintech companies think they have a solution.

While most older folks would prefer to age in place, home sharing — like that featured in “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó” — could offer more older Americans the ability to stay in their homes while reducing the risks of social isolation.

We get into the logistics of Biden’s clean energy transition plan. Plus, homeownership remains out of reach for many.

In its new “Economic Report of the President,” the White House dedicated a chapter to accelerating the clean energy transition.

And, finding allies in unusual places.

When you take mortgage rates, housing prices and incomes into account, homes are 44% less affordable than they were two years ago.

The funding aims to cut the cost of cleaner manufacturing in industries like food, paper and chemicals.

Passing AI regulations wasn’t easy for the EU. Finding people to enforce it may be even harder.

Stocks fall; Energy Department funding targeted at industries that are hard to decarbonize; new home sales fall in February; Boeing CEO to step down.

As Californians deal with rising rents and a housing shortage, one group of mobile home park residents in Fresno County secured affordable housing for themselves by purchasing the land from the park’s corporate landlord.

The Energy Department says the largest-ever such investment will target heavily-polluting industries, such as steel and cement manufacturing.

The embattled aircraft manufacturer is facing major shake-ups on multiple fronts.

There’s news that department store chain Nordstrom is looking to go private, after a previous attempt failed.

SPAC stands for special purpose acquisition company. It’s how the parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform is planning to go public.

CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year following a series of mishaps from the plane maker.

The financial logistics behind Trump Media & Technology Group’s fast track to public trading. Plus, why a company might want to reverse its move to go public.

From the BBC World Service: The effects of reshoring on global supply chains, and a rental crisis for workers in Ibiza.

Reporter Eli Tan explains how economic conditions led many Filipinos to farming cryptocurrencies and why there’s a resurgence in interest.