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Marketplace Business News Podcast
Kai Ryssdal
Latest Episode

04/26/2018: Buying a Ford doesn’t mean what it used to

Apr 26, 2018

Episodes 2251 - 2260 of 5795

  • French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump walk hand in hand under the colonnades of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2018.
    LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images

    If what’s past is prologue, we’re in for a change of mood at the White House. French President Emmanuel Macron’s on his way out of town, after what you can only call a very warm reception from President Donald Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel shows up on Friday. The two European leaders are pushing the same agenda, but they’re going to be greeted much differently. Then: CFPB head Mick Mulvaney said last night he wants to take the agency’s database of consumer complaints offline, out of public view. We’ll explain what’s going on. Plus: A visit to Guangzhou, the south China home of the world’s biggest trade show, Canton Fair. 

  • Quick: Are rising interest rates good or bad? What about oil prices? Home prices? It’s kind of a trick question. Those are all signs of an economy that’s growing quite nicely — when wages are going up. That’s where we’re starting today. Then: If you’re talking about wages, it’s worth mentioning that some of the biggest companies in this country are sitting on mountains of cash: $102 billion at Google’s parent company, more than double that at Apple. So what are companies doing with all that money? We’ll explain. Plus: Back in the ’60s, traffic in Los Angeles was so light you could get across town in 20 minutes. We know firsthand that’s impossible now. So what happened? And what’s that say about the economy?

  • We begin today with a number, a relatively simple number that brings with it meaning for everybody in this economy who has debt: 3 percent. That’s the interest rate that the government’s 10-year Treasury note is getting really close to, for the first time since January 2014. In isolation, it’s not a huge deal, but in the context of the low-rate environment, it’s really something. We’ll start today by explaining all the hype. Then: What you need to know about French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Washington, and a follow-up to that hefty fine the government hit Wells Fargo with last week. Plus: Horror movies are back from the dead, making big money on small budgets.

  • Then Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget on Jan. 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Wells Fargo will pay the federal government a billion dollars to settle charges of misconduct in its car and home loans. That’s a lot, but only a small percentage of the banks’ recent profits. It’s also the biggest bank fine imposed by the Trump administration and the first by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the direction of Mick Mulvaney. He’s no fan of the agency he’s now in charge of, and he’s still Trump’s budget guy, so we had him on today to talk about all of it. Then: We’ll talk over the interview with our friends on the Weekly Wrap and take a look at where all that money’s going. Plus: unpacking Trump’s tweets about OPEC.

  • Teachers participate in a one-day strike against the government's privatization drive in public education in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 19.
    RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images

    Sometimes you’ve got a plan for reporting out a story, then circumstances change your mind. That’s what happened to Marketplace Weekend host Lizzie O’Leary, who’s in Puerto Rico this week. She was in the middle of reporting an update on how the island is recovering after last year’s hurricanes, then the lights went out … everywhere. We got Lizzie on the phone today to talk about how things are going. But first, the latest on the AT&T-Time Warner trial — and reminder of what’s at stake. Plus: the business of a royal wedding.

  • Protester Michelle Brown, 50, (L) demonstrates outside a Center City Starbucks on Sunday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Police arrested two black men who were waiting inside the Center City Starbucks, which prompted an apology from the company's CEO.
    Mark Makela/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.

  • It was supposed to be Tax Day in America, but thanks to computer issues at the IRS, everyone gets another day to file. Taxes were still on the docket at the Supreme Court today though — the justices heard South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. At issue is whether the online retailer and others like it should collect sales tax. We’ll follow the money. But first: Starbucks is closing down all 8,000 of its company-owned stores for one day next month to give its 175,000 workers racial bias training. The move comes after two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia when a manager called the police because they were sitting in the cafe without buying anything. We’ll talk about it. Plus: President Donald Trump is meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week, and trade’s on the table. Japan’s one of several American allies and 2,200 companies looking for an exemption. We’ll look at who else is on the list. 

  • “Beyoncé opened up a whole can of blackness to the world,” at Coachella, writer Danielle Young says.
    Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Coachella

    It’s a bit of a musical episode today, from Beyoncé’s mammoth Coachella performance to… the new Fed appointments? We’ll explain. None of our trading partners were hit with a currency manipulator label in the latest report from the Treasury department last week, but decisions by the president’s own government often don’t dissuade him from tweeting what he believes, like “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game.” We’ll talk about it. Plus: We’re just past the point of maximum pressure for a lot of high school seniors. College admissions are a roll of the dice, but early-decision admissions are getting a closer look from the Justice Department, possibly for antitrust violations, and that’s not the only complaint people have with it.

  • President Donald Trump has gone back and forth on the Trans-Pacific Partnership the past few days, and you might be looking for a refresher. What exactly is in the thing? We’ll get you up to speed today and talk a bit about the Farm Bill, too. Then: The president has kicked things up a notch in his fight with Amazon over the U.S. Postal Service. He’s ordering a task force to dig into the operations and finances of the post office, which he says is on an unsustainable financial path. But is a task force gonna fix that? We’ll look into it, but first, the Weekly Wrap.

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About the show

Hosted by Kai Ryssdal, our leading business news radio program and podcast is about providing context on the economic news of the day. Through stories, conversations and newsworthy developments, we help listeners understand the economic world around them. Marketplace makes sense of the economy for everyone, no econ degree or finance background required. Marketplace doesn’t just report on the numbers, we take it deeper, adding context to what’s happening in the stock market and how macroeconomic policy can affect you and your business. Monday through Friday, our team speaks with a wide range of industry professionals — from small business owners to Fortune 500 CEOs, Marketplace breaks down complex topics related to business and the economy without industry jargon and over-complicated explanations.

Kai Ryssdal has led the program since 2005 and has hosted the program from China, the Middle East and dozens of cities across the United States. As a leading public media voice, Kai has been a trusted broadcaster for two decades and received an Emmy for investigative journalism on a PBS FRONTLINE documentary about money in politics called “Big Sky, Big Money.” He has appeared often on CNN, CNBC and CBS news. His written work has been featured in The New York Times and The Atlantic.

Produced and distributed by American Public Media (APM) our popular business news podcasts are available worldwide on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and RSS Feeds and any place else where you get your podcasts.

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