Week of April 1st, 2024

Plus, introducing “Kai’s Absinthe”

The government will route $20 billion through community lenders and nonprofits that are geared to clean energy and climate solutions.

That’s basically what Treasury chief Janet Yellen is telling Chinese leaders this week. Plus, wages outpaced inflation last month.

Plus: A textile expert defends her splurge, what we’re reading about fashion and a guide to free tax filing in this week’s newsletter.

Plus, we do the numbers on California’s new minimum wage law in this week’s newsletter.

That’s good for workers, who have been experiencing positive real wage growth since May 2023.

The booming U.S. economy is giving her leverage on trade as Western economies try to prevent a wave of cheap Chinese goods hitting the market.

Ship crews are used to a life in motion. Now the mostly international workers could be stuck in port for weeks.

Stocks close higher; average pay continues to outpace inflation; unemployment rate ticks down; consumer credit rises.

Welders are needed to build and upgrade roads and bridges, energy infrastructure and chip foundries. But the profession has an image problem.

For $197,000, in today’s dollars, a design firm revamped IRS tax forms in the ‘60s. That included the creation of a new symbol representing an eagle.

Private and public employers added 303,000 jobs in March; average wages increased 0.3% between February and March; engineers expect to increase vessel access to Baltimore’s port by the end of the month; Yellen, in China visit, points to manufacturing overcapacity.

A survey finds that nearly half of corporate execs expect to employ fewer people because of new artificial intelligence tools.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse left eight cargo ships and crews stranded indefinitely. The port’s chaplain is offering chocolate, wi-fi hotspots, and rides to the shopping mall.

For many immigrants, the support of extended family can be critical when it comes to navigating a new home.

$20 billion in grants and loans will be forthcoming from the Biden Administration. It’s hoped this will attract private investment too.

We tag along with a port chaplain who’s helping care for stranded crew members, some of whom lack visas and are unable to go ashore.

From the BBC World Service: McDonald’s is buying back all its stores in Israel following criticism over providing free meals to Israeli soldiers.

Marketplace’s Lily Jamali and Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, discuss these headlines and more on Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

Work has been disrupted for tens of thousands of people.

What if you didn’t have to answer after-hours calls from your boss? Like, legally?

The numbers are sending positive and negative signs, making the future of inflation, and the timing of Fed interest rate cuts, uncertain.

A bill in the California legislature would make the state the first in the nation to offer what’s already law in France and about a dozen other countries.

Stocks fall; imports of consumer goods, food and vehicles increase; Cleveland Fed president wants to see a couple more months of data; unemployment claims rise.

Women, including CEOs, are sometimes hit harder by unfavorable economic conditions.

Nearly 250 campers had to be airlifted out of the Sierra Nevada mountains after the fire trapped them at a lake.

Part of denim’s staying power comes from its ability to adapt to the trends of each generation.

Plastic packaging helps food be transported and extends its freshness. But it contributes to climate change and clogs our waterways.

Spending too much on clothes you never wear? Yeah, us too.

Disney CEO says password crackdown coming in June; Boeing pays Alaska Airlines $160 million for Max problems; Kiss sells catalog to virtual concert creator; initial jobless claims rise to two-month high, but are still historically low.

At Disney’s annual shareholder meeting this year, an unusually bitter and public battle played out. We unpack.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to safeguard his intellectual property before his death. Now, his family continues to protect his works and impact.

United and Southwest have also paused hiring because of the delivery delays. Higher airfares could be on the way.

Thursday marks 56 years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. How is his family safeguarding his legacy?

From the BBC World Service: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is to meet officials in China for the second time in less than a year.

Sites that churn out spam death notices exploit tragedy for profit and have raised concerns about the reliability of search engines. Mia Sato of The Verge investigated the situation.

That includes longshoremen who unload container ships, warehouse workers who store the goods and restaurant servers who feed them all.

Venture capital investments are down to a near five-year low and large cashouts have slowed. Plus, how campaign ads shape our economic views.

Plus, dynamic pricing strikes again!

Venture capital investments fell in the first quarter of this year. And that’s after the worst year for startup funding since 2019.

Judy Nunez, owner of Tails on Trails in Jersey City, New Jersey, says dog walking made her feel “like a functioning person.”

Stocks close mixed; leisure and hospitality sector adds most jobs; service sector expands at slower pace; Powell says the Fed remains on track for rate cuts.

In a landmark settlement to several lawsuits, the National Association of Realtors could require agents and buyers to have a written agreement.

Campaigns and advocacy groups may spend up to $17 billion on ads in 2024. Many pitches will focus on the local and the personal.

From EVs to changing your diet, there’s no topic too big or small.

U.S. car sales soar in Q1; Tesla sales plummet; Disney shareholders to vote on proxy battle; Intel’s production unit loses $7 billion.

E-commerce platform Temu’s products are often cheap and unbranded — but those low prices could be coming at high costs.

From 1971 to 2021, the number of people living in multigenerational family households in the U.S. quadrupled to nearly 60 million people.

A consulting firm’s report says more than 70% of workers haven’t had training on managing remote workers or the best way to do so.

A lack of affordable housing has reinvigorated the concept of multigenerational housing in America.

From the BBC World Service: A joint report from the United Nations and the World Bank suggests it would cost $18 billion to rebuild Gaza.

TikTok’s sister app, Douyin, has more than 700 million users in China. But why did ByteDance, the company behind both apps, create similar but separate products in the first place? Jennifer Pak, Marketplace’s China correspondent, explains.

Funding will likely come from a variety of sources, including the federal government and insurance agencies.

What Fed rate cuts would mean for high-yield savings accounts and CDs. Plus, how a TikTok ban could affect beauty and fashion brands.

So government stats on job openings may not be telling us much.

The Baltimore disaster may become the largest marine insurance loss ever. About 100 insurance companies are reportedly involved.

Many companies have focused on building more expensive SUVs and fewer affordable compact cars. That’s causing a mismatch with current demand.

A lot of brands don’t seem to have a backup plan, says Jordan Holman of The New York Times. The platform is where “they need to be.”

Stocks fall; job openings down from peak two years ago; GM sales fall; factory orders rise.

With the Federal Reserve signaling it plans to cut rates up to three times this year, interest payments, and interest charges, are likely to drop.

Today, an episode from “How We Survive.”

GE completes yearslong breakup as final two divisions trade as separate companies; job openings remain elevated at 8.8 million; millions could lose broadband internet subsides unless Congress acts; officials working to open second temporary channel in and out of Baltimore’s port.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes ticked up sharply this morning, and stock investors seem to be in a cautious mood.

Posing as a bank or other trusted institution to cheat the public will be outlawed and the agency will get new tools to go after scammers.

A federal program that helped pay for more than 23 million low-income households’ internet access runs out of money soon.

A new Federal Trade Commission rule went into effect this week that gives the FTC more tools to go after scammers.

From the BBC World Service: India is likely to experience more heat wave days than normal between April and June.

Listen to the trailer now!

Marketplace’s Lily Jamali and Kimberly Adams discuss video deepfakes and whether the intent behind them outweighs their overall impact.

On its 20th birthday, Google celebrates 3 billion Gmail users — and a privacy lawsuit settlement.

Sales of these expensive vehicles peaked in 2021, decelerated by more than 50% last year, and are starting to turn up again. That can tell us something about the economy overall.

We’ll discuss the knock-on effects of California’s new fast-food minimum wage.

For better or worse, the email service has become a personal archive for many millions of users.

More than 15,000 people work directly at the port, and more than 140,000 additional jobs are connected to it.

Stocks close mixed; manufacturers lose jobs as output expands; construction spending ticks down; labor market reports due this week.

Tech companies may have over hired in the pandemic. Now, AI and other economic forces are creating a shrink in the tech sector.

At least 12 states have proposed cutting payments that thousands of families rely on. The Dewitt family in Indiana is one of them.

From fully booked hotels to eclipse-themed weddings, the celestial event spreads economic opportunity along its path.

The temporary channel will be open to some vessels; Texas judge blocks Biden administration’s efforts to expand fair lending rules; UPS to become USPS’s primary air shipper; Nippon Steel says U.S. Steel purchase would be beneficial.

Yes and no. Patients have avoided millions of surprise bills, but a plan to cut wider health care spending has seen mixed results.

The “No Surprises Act” has yielded mixed results when it comes to overall health care spending.

A whopping three quarters of the river’s water that is used by humans goes to irrigation for farms and livestock, according to the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Public schools’ funding partly depends on how many pupils are enrolled. Also, parents leaving the public system may be less willing to have their taxes pay for it.

Some public school districts are considering closing schools due to enrollment declines, a new Cato Institute report finds.

From the BBC World Service: Factory output in China is up slightly for the first time in six months.

The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource is President Biden’s plan for getting the government in the AI game. Critics warn that Washington’s ambitions mean investing taxpayer dollars in Big Tech companies.