Segments From This Episode

• Why retailers messed up their inventories so badly

  by Sabri Ben-Achour

  

  Target, Walmart and others have struggled to keep up with changes in consumer buying and have had to predict demand further in advance.

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• Employers get creative with inflation compensation

  by Meghan McCarty Carino

  

  From early bonuses to gas cards and free lunch, companies offer perks to retain employees while struggling to keep their costs down.

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• Is everyone back at the office? It depends on where you live.

  by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry

  

  Office occupancy remains low in cities like New York and San Francisco, while places like Columbus, Ohio, are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

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• How drought zaps electricity production and could raise prices

  by Andy Uhler

  

  Coal, natural gas and nuclear plants need water to make the steam that moves turbines, and as a cooling agent.

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• For 2 years, there was such a thing as a free lunch — at public schools. Not anymore.

  by Stephanie Hughes

  

  The pandemic relief program that provided free meals was an outlier in the 75-year history of the federal school lunch program.

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• How much tax-funded tourist promotion money does a popular destination need?

  by Travis Bubenik

  

  In the tourist hot spot of the Texas Big Bend, some raise concerns about taxes used to promote even more tourism.

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