Feb 28, 2025

Feeling the economic shockwaves of government layoffs

Terminated USAID employees collect their personal items on Feb. 27. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Image

While USAID workers in Washington, D.C. are packing up their belongings for a second day, the ripple effects of federal job cuts have wider reaches.

Segments From this episode

How USAID cuts are impacting the personal economy of one Oklahoma contractor

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

Feb 28, 2025

Patricia Gross, 47, has worked as an independent government contractor with various nonprofits since 2018. Those nonprofits are now out of work, and so is Gross.

Thousands of USAID workers have been laid off under the new Trump administration.

Ting Shen/AFP via Getty Images

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How much impact could a 24-hour "economic blackout" have?

by Mitchell Hartman

Feb 28, 2025

An activist group, The People's Union USA, is calling for a complete boycott of consumer spending in the U.S. on Feb. 28.

“Lots of consumers will say they’re going to boycott," said Northwestern's Brayden King. "Very few consumers do.”

David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

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Why are tech companies investing in quantum computing?

by Daniel Ackerman

Feb 28, 2025

Quantum computers could speed up some computing tasks by orders of magnitude — but they're still in early stages.

Above, the new quantum chip developed by Amazon's AWS Center for Quantum Computing.

Courtesy Amazon

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The team

David Brancaccio Host

Leanna Byrne Host, BBC

Kelly Silvera Executive Producer

Meredith Garretson Morbey Senior Producer

Alex Schroeder Producer

Erika Soderstrom Producer

Ariana Rosas Producer

Nic Perez Director/Producer

Dylan Miettinen Digital Producer

John Bruington Media Producer

Jesson Duller Media Producer

Brian Allison Technical Director

James Graham Producer, BBC

Jo Critcher Producer, BBC

Naomi Rainey Producer, BBC

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