Aug 16, 2022

Consumer sentiment has an income divide

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A tale of two sales reports. Plus, delivery drivers want heat safety measures, and how pandemic-era transplants changed a small town.

Segments From this episode

What Walmart and Home Depot's rising sales say about consumer sentiment

by Justin Ho

Aug 16, 2022

Walmart customers are thinking about rising prices. Home Depot customers are thinking about rising interest rates.

A look at Home Depot's sales indicates that people are opting to improve their existing homes rather than buy a new place.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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What might new leadership at ERCOT mean for the troubled Texas power grid?

by Andy Uhler

Aug 16, 2022

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas' new CEO has experience working under a different power pricing model — a capacity market.

Texas operates an energy-only electricity market, which means energy producers only get paid when they generate, and there’s usually not a lot of electricity on standby.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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A Warmer World

Heat waves perilous for delivery truck drivers

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Aug 16, 2022

The workday of a package delivery driver is never easy. High temperatures and humidity make them worse.

UPS drivers, represented by the Teamsters, have been calling for better heat safety measures, including air conditioning in trucks.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

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COVID-19

Remote workers have stayed in Truckee, California, but not the local workforce

by Matt Levin

Aug 16, 2022

Skyrocketing housing costs are driving out the local labor force, leaving all kinds of businesses in the small town short-staffed.

Truckee, California, became a haven for remote workers early in the pandemic.

Matt Gush/Getty Images

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At some universities, tenure may become a thing of the past. That could have an economic impact.

by Stephanie Hughes

Aug 16, 2022

Academics want it. Critics want to restrict it. The issue could affect a state's ability to recruit educators.

A Pegasus statue at the University of Central Florida, one of the schools affected by a state law constraining professors' tenure.

Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

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Ice cream trucks struggle despite the heat

by Kai Ryssdal and Nicholas Guiang

Aug 16, 2022

Ice cream trucks are raising prices to keep up with increasing costs. That's putting a chill in sales, Christina Morales of The New York Times reports.

As inflation heats up, ice cream truck drivers are being forced to raise prices.

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Privacy Quasimoto, Madlib

Blow Beyonce

Inner CIty Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) Marvin Gaye

Summer Nights Raaginder, Wisechild

Tarova Snarky Puppy

Honey Jack D Smoke

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Andie Corban Producer I

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

Richard Cunningham Associate Producer I

Dylan Miettinen Associate Digital Producer

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