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04/18/2018: Did you go to Starbucks today?
Apr 18, 2018

04/18/2018: Did you go to Starbucks today?

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American consumers can be a fickle bunch, and companies spend billions to make that fickleness break their way as best they can — especially in a crisis. Bloomberg calculated that Starbucks' upcoming shutdown for racial bias training is gonna cost $17 million in lost sales. But what do Starbucks customers think of last weekend's incident in Philadelphia, where two black men sat down without buying anything and left in handcuffs? That's where we're starting today. Then, another Trump tweet fact check: Are bilateral trade deals really better for the U.S. than big pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Plus: More on brand loyalty, and why disgruntled Facebook users are still relatively happy with its subsidiary, Instagram.

Segments From this episode

Tourists may be back in the Florida Keys, but some residents still haven't recovered from Hurricane Irma

Apr 18, 2018
Local governments in the Florida Keys have spent almost $150 million so far cleaning up after Hurricane Irma.
Patrick Garvey with his dog, Bella, who rode out Hurricane Irma in the Keys with him. Garvey and Bella are living in a camper on the Grimal Grove property while his wife and twin 4-year-old daughters are staying with family in Brazil.
Nancy Klingener/ for Marketplace
Cousins Maine Lobster has 20 trucks as part of its franchise. This one is in California.
Courtesy of Christian Thomas Hynes

The upside of multilateral trade deals

Apr 18, 2018
President Donald Trump has again rejected the idea of the U.S. joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That’s the multilateral trade pact the Obama administration hammered out. Yesterday, the president tweeted that he still doesn’t like the TPP. He added that bilateral trade agreements, between the U.S. and just one other country, are more “efficient” and “profitable.” […]

Stock buybacks are crazy right now. Here’s why.

Apr 18, 2018
Goldman Sachs reported sharply higher profit this week, and yet its shares fell after Goldman said it wouldn’t be buying back stocks in the second quarter. In this respect, Goldman is an outlier. After the corporate tax rate dropped this year, American companies have been using cash to repurchase their own shares in furious fashion. […]

Is Instagram a healthier Facebook?

Apr 18, 2018
The photo-sharing app relied on the social network for its success, but now Facebook may depend on Instagram for its longevity.
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

American consumers can be a fickle bunch, and companies spend billions to make that fickleness break their way as best they can — especially in a crisis. Bloomberg calculated that Starbucks’ upcoming shutdown for racial bias training is gonna cost $17 million in lost sales. But what do Starbucks customers think of last weekend’s incident in Philadelphia, where two black men sat down without buying anything and left in handcuffs? That’s where we’re starting today. Then, another Trump tweet fact check: Are bilateral trade deals really better for the U.S. than big pacts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Plus: More on brand loyalty, and why disgruntled Facebook users are still relatively happy with its subsidiary, Instagram.

Music from the episode

Learning To Fly Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Arrow of God Analog
Al Abama Chapelier Fou
Afternoon Soul Gramatik
A Walk Tycho