Week of August 10th, 2026

Ej Dickson, senior culture writer at Wired, gives us a look into why sellers are leaving Etsy, which has been inundated with mass-produced and AI-generated products.

Retail sales fell 0.6% in July as consumers tightened their belts. Plus: Etsy’s “flop era,” Canadian border businesses, and Candy Crush.

A look at new inflation data, a narrowing K-shaped economy, and the rest of the week’s economic news.

Border businesses in Minnesota and North Dakota say fewer Canadian visitors are cutting into sales, forcing some to reduce hours, staff and spending.

Retail sales fell 0.6% in July, a bigger drop than expected and a sharp reversal from June's modest uptick.

Alanna Okun, a writer and game designer, said the game has become a stand-in for a “thing people do when they are messing around on their phones.”

The U.S. Post Office and private shipping companies like UPS and FedEx are grappling with inflationary pressures.

This morning: The American consumer finally starts to lose steam.

Credito Emiliano accepts wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano as collateral. A warming climate is putting that unusual system to the test.

The U.S. has already surpassed its 2025 budget deficit with about a month and a half left to go in its fiscal year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the government is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion in fiscal year 2026.

It’s the first wave of terminations under new federal work requirements. And it may portend what’s to come for the rest of the country.

This morning: what’s driving the ballooning national debt.

Plus, Claude-generated text will be watermarked, and federal regulators order Kalshi to continue to operate in NY state. Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino on this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

The government is selling 30-year bonds with interest rates at a quarter-century high. Plus: the Producer Price Index, coal’s decline, a water crisis, and solar energy.

Amid severe drought and water rationing, a restaurant tries to make do.

Energy prices remain elevated, which affects costs of transportation, materials, and power.

Electricity is getting more expensive and less reliable. Local power, like solar panels and batteries, helps solve those problems, but they’re expensive. That’s why Ann Arbor, Michigan, is installing them on homes for free.

Prices are up for consumers, and the stores where they are buying goods are seeing some cost increases, too.

Utilities see more upside in relatively cheap solar cells than expensive new coal-burning plants. That’s despite the Trump administration’s efforts to boost coal as a source of electricity.

On today show’s: Quarterly earnings reports show big numbers and even bigger hopes for the AI trade.

The Biden-era regulation was intended to prevent money laundering, but critics said it was overly onerous.

Today, what the Trump administration’s rollback of a Biden-era rule intended to prevent money laundering means for small businesses.

Critic and journalist Sophie Haigney argues taste is a distinctly human quality that even the best AI can’t replicate.

TikTok creator Kiki Rough shares lessons (and recipes) that she learned the hard way.

The average household’s buying power slipped 0.1% over the last year, new data shows. Plus: Fractional homeownership, refined oil, and book sales.

Despite a major international conflict, markets have remained strong. There’s historical precedent for that.

Companies like Jubilee Homes can offer a more affordable path to homeownership, with some big tradeoffs.

Experts say there's not enough refining capacity to go around while geopolitical conflict drags on, leading to a supply squeeze.

The net result is that the average American household’s buying power has dwindled by 0.1% over the past year.

Today, we hear what it takes to bring the fantastical world of Magic: The Gathering to life.

Meet the professionals behind Magic: The Gathering’s fantastical worlds.

Older homeowners are holding on to their larger houses or upsizing, reshaping the housing market for younger generations.

More than 10% of student loans are at least 90 days past due. This comes after a pandemic-era pause in repayments and the end of a low cost repayment program.

Baby boomers account for the biggest share of homebuyers in the U.S. today, so their choices can reshape the housing market.

An internal document reveals the short-form video platform excluded 15 million American users from its algorithm update that was meant to limit their exposure to harmful content.

In this special bonus episode of Must Be the Money, we're sharing highlights from our exclusive screening and live Q&A at the Miracle Theatre in Inglewood.

National delinquencies reached a Great Recession-level high. Plus: HELOCs, China’s tech innovation, small business hiring, and little treats.

Evan Osnos, staff writer at The New Yorker, spent 10 days in Beijing to report on China’s rapid progress and what it means for U.S. standing in the world economic order.

More of them are telling the National Federation of Independent Business that they’re looking to hire, and that finding the right people to hire is difficult.

New delinquencies have largely stabilized after a big spike a couple of years ago, but lots of people are still carrying around old credit card debt they fell behind on.

“I think people are trying to figure out exactly why that sort of economic behavior is happening because it seems strange,” said Kyla Scanlon. “But in my opinion, I think all of these things are rational.”

As interest rates on other forms of borrowing grow, HELOCs have become increasingly popular among homeowners with high credit scores.

Small businesses are more upbeat and are looking to hire. Today, we’ll unpack.

Data center jobs are in high demand, and wage growth in the sector is outpacing the rest of the labor market. But the benefits of that growth are limited.

Wholesale prices for used electric vehicles increased 10.5% year-over-year in July, and used compact cars were up just over 4%.

Data center construction has been providing a lift for construction job openings.

There's a cottage industry of smart baby monitors and apps that are fueled by artificial intelligence. They track an infant's sleep patterns, but also give parental advice, says Sapna Maheshwari, who wrote about some of these startups for The New York Times.

Wage growth slowed in July. It’s likely inflation grew faster. Plus: Pringles, paper checks, and the future of Bed, Bath & Beyond.

The rise in oil prices and other commodities is helping to drive inflation up, with price increases outpacing wage gains.

After deciding to leave behind city life, Janet Kile settled in a vintage park trailer on a flower farm in Saluda, South Carolina.

Some companies are replacing workers lost to the administration’s crackdown on immigrants. Others are correcting for misguided layoffs.

Professor Jay Zagorsky from Boston University explains the movement behind getting rid of paper checks — and why he thinks they’re more useful than they might seem.

The parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond is renaming itself Neighborhood Intelligence and shifting toward home services including flooring, insurance, and even mortgages.

Isabelle Bousquette, reporter at the WSJ Leadership Institute, breaks down a new technology that’s helping those in search of the perfect pringle.

The University of Maryland Medical System is addressing retention issues through a program that offers apprenticeships, resume writing classes, and other support for employees facing transportation, childcare, and housing barriers.

This morning, we’ll look at whether the K-shaped economy is turning C-shaped, with low-income wage growth catching up. Is the evidence enough?

Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate adjourned for its August recess without passing a bill that would allow cryptocurrencies to be treated as commodities, rather than securities.

“The K-shaped economy is over,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on CNBC last week. Economists say the evidence is mixed at best.

Turns out they’re a great barometer for consumer spending, commodity prices, and more.

Substack CEO Chris Best said the platform’s new feature is intended to promote transparency between creators and their audience. But some are concerned about the tool’s accuracy.