Make Me Smart

U.S. markets rose on President Donald Trump’s claims he was recovering from COVID-19, but the stock market isn’t the economy. For real economic growth, Goldman Sachs is looking ahead to Election Day, when economists there say a “blue wave” could portend faster economic growth because it makes a new coronavirus relief bill more likely. We’ll talk about it. But first: With the last big blockbuster taken off the schedule for 2020, Regal Cinemas is shutting down and 48,000 people are out of a job. At least we have Doggface208.

As always, find links to everything we talked about — plus instructions on how to send us a voice memo — on the episode page at makemesmart.org.

We had a few news stories ready to discuss today, but shortly before the taping, President Donald Trump flew to Walter Reed military hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 last night. This episode is mostly our reactions to that news, with this key takeaway: Things could get very bad very fast, but let’s unclench a bit as we await news about Trump’s condition.

Thanks again to everyone for making our fall pledge drive a huge success. We more than doubled our goal — the video of Kai and Molly’s pumpkin beer taste test drops Monday!

Zeynep Tufekci has given us so much. Real Smarties know the UNC associate professor appeared on our show way back in 2018, and Tufekci has appeared on other Marketplace programs countless times to talk about technology and societal issues. Today, we’re digging into her latest piece in The Atlantic on a big unanswered question about COVID-19: How exactly does the virus spread from person to person? Plus, we’ll talk about Facebook groups, Subway’s bread-that’s-not-bread and, of course, pumpkin beer.

As always, you can find links to everything we talked about on makemesmart.org. Finally, tomorrow’s the day — Kai and Molly will drink a pumpkin beer. Thank you so much for the support! If you want, there’s still time to give at marketplace.org/givesmart!

Make a plan. Do your research. Make sure your voice is heard this year. We’re talking, of course, about the National Park Service’s Fat Bear Week, which opened up its polls today. We’ll also kick off Whadda Ya Wanna Know Wednesday with a listener question about using blockchain technology for voting. Plus: How much would American GDP grow if we included household labor? We’ll pull in an expert for that one.

As always, you can find a list of everything we talked about today on the episode page on our site, makemesmart.org. Finally, donate to our fall pledge drive at marketplace.org/givesmart!

… But this episode is about taxes, just to be clear. The New York Times put out part two of its bombshell investigation last night, and ahead of the first presidential debate tonight, former Vice President and Democratic nominee Joe Biden published his returns. Today though, we’re going to zoom out a bit and look at whom the U.S. tax code benefits — and doesn’t benefit. Here to help is Chye-Ching Huang, senior director of economic policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ federal fiscal policy team.

As always, you can find a list of everything we talked about today on the episode page on our site, makemesmart.org. Finally, donate to our fall pledge drive at marketplace.org/givesmart!

How much has President Donald Trump paid in income taxes? We’ve been waiting since the 2016 primaries for his returns, and The New York Times finally dropped years of tax data in a bombshell report showing exactly how Trump has avoided paying much at all. Ahead of tomorrow’s episode all about the tax code more broadly, we’ll spend some time today scratching at the surface of the revelations. Plus: targeted ads, fat bears and a pumpkin spice update.

As always, you can find a list of everything we talked about today on the episode page on our site makemesmart.org. Finally, donate to our fall pledge drive at marketplace.org/givesmart!

You may have heard the expression “thick thighs save lives.” And we have a story today about a rat who’s kept people in Cambodia safe from landmines. What about a rat with thick thighs? It’d probably be unstoppable. We’ll get into all of it on this very silly episode of Economics on Tap, but first we have to talk about Florida reopening and how big banks are assessing the election. TGIF!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our live happy hour on YouTube! We’re getting closer and closer to our $100,000 fundraising goal — and closer to Kai Ryssdal drinking a pumpkin beer. Don’t wait, give today at marketplace.org/givesmart!

President Donald Trump wouldn’t commit yesterday to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election next month. It’s giving us flashbacks to similar comments he made, and intimations about a “rigged” election back before he even took office. Back in 2016, plenty of outlets, us included, used to talk about how things were “not normal.” In 2020, Trump’s comments are just one of many signs that we’re way past that. We aren’t completely hollowed-out on this Thursday, though — we’ll also spend a little time talking about skin care … IN SPAAAACE!

As always, find links to everything we talked about today at makemesmart.org

That’s the short answer. We’ll have some longer answers, too, on this week’s installment of Whadda Ya Wanna Know Wednesday. We’re answering listener questions about campaign finance, data privacy and Europe’s ban on American travelers. But first, guest host Kimberly Adams reacts to what’s going on in Louisville, Kentucky, tonight after no police officers were charged for killing Breonna Taylor.

We’ve talked a lot on the show recently about the wildfires raging in the western U.S. and darkening skies all over the country. We’ve talked about climate change and fire prevention, but we haven’t talked about another big factor: housing. Where and how we build our homes is one of the reasons wildfires have gotten bigger, more damaging and more deadly over time. Here to talk us through it is Kimiko Barrett. She’s a wildfire researcher at the nonprofit Headwaters Economics.

As always, you can find a list of everything we talked about today on the episode page at makemesmart.org.