Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
  • Special: Secret Money, Public Influence
    Getty Images

    This election cycle, “Marketplace Morning Report” traveled to Arizona, where, in less than a month, voters will decide whether some of the biggest campaign spenders should have to reveal their true identities. How this measure got on the ballot, what it hopes to achieve and what opponents say about it provide lessons about the so-called dark money that can sway elections near you. We look at the consequences of hidden political spending for everyday people, with a case study of higher electric bills for Arizonans. We also explore how a citizen-led ballot initiative could change the rules and the pushback from those who believe there’s a right to anonymity as part of the right to free speech. And, what it takes to get one of these ballot measures in front of voters and where else across the country we’re seeing an effort to curb this mystery money.

    Download
  • Arizona voters will decide on Proposition 211 this November. Voters in just a couple of other states have passed similar measures that came from citizen-led initiatives.
    Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

    There’s Arizona’s citizen-led initiative in 2022. And voters in Alaska and North Dakota passed similar measures in previous years.

    Download
  • From left, Becky Daggett, Kelly Gibbs and Diane McQueen are among the volunteers who  collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to get Proposition 211, a financial disclosure proposal, on this year's ballot.
    David Brancaccio/Marketplace

    Arizona is one of 21 states where people can submit signatures and petition. But getting something on the ballot is no easy task.

    Download
  • Terry Goddard, a former Arizona attorney general, has tried to get a law requiring disclosure of hidden political spending on the ballot since 2016. Arizonans will vote on it next month.
    Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

    Proposition 211 would make political nonprofits disclose the names of original donors who spend beyond certain thresholds.

    Download
  • Arizona Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy shows "Marketplace Morning Report" host David Brancaccio one of the binders, about 7 inches think, of ad-spending documents acquired by a subpoena.
    Alex Schroeder/Marketplace

    The story of the 2014 Arizona Corporation Commission election campaign and the influence of so-called dark money.

    Download
  • 1