Marketplace All-in-One

What impact could falling mortgage rates have on homebuyers? Sticking with the housing market, we check in with urban revitalization specialist Majora Carter. Then, we look into the challenges that come with the spike in hiring for diversity and inclusion managers.

From the BBC World Service: After a period of political and economic turmoil, the U.K.’s new finance minister is unveiling a series of spending cuts and tax rises. What do small businesses want to hear? Plus, an Australian billionaire kicks off an infrastructure fund for post-war Ukraine. And, how the gaming industry is making big titles more accessible for people with disabilities.

There is no stopping natural disasters like hurricanes and fires. So one key to surviving a changing climate is making buildings more resilient. Amy Scott, host of “How We Survive,” visits a Florida lab focused on that challenge.

Every election season, headlines speculate about which political polls got it right and how others got it so wrong. A listener called in to ask if they even matter. We’ll get into it and answer  questions about whether the 2017 tax cuts set us up for inflation and state lawmakers’ surprisingly low wages. Plus, how are individual shareholders affected when companies like Twitter go from public to private?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve got a question about the economy, business or technology, let us know. We’re at [email protected], or leave us a message at 508-U-B-SMART.

Target released disappointing quarterly numbers today. Revenue growth slowed as shoppers contend with inflation, and the CEO warned of a slow holiday season. Could Target’s results be the ghost of holiday shopping yet to come for retailers? Also, companies find solutions to crowded warehouses, chief diversity officers grapple with a lack of support and international students return to U.S. colleges.

Retail sales numbers came in higher than expected, and Scott Wren of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute helps us understand what that means for the economy. Also, thousands and thousands of UC graduate workers are striking. We look into the reason why. And, you can add Walmart to the list of companies having to settle up in the wake of an opioid lawsuit.

The increase in credit card debt is the biggest in decades, but let’s look beyond. For the Economic Pulse, we speak to the founder of a nonprofit that helps Black business owners get established in the Mississippi Delta.

From the BBC World Service: A key oil pipeline supplying European countries was taken offline after a missile landed near Poland’s border with Ukraine. How significant is the Druzhba pipeline for Europe’s energy infrastructure? Plus, Wednesday marks a “new age” for the European Union as landmark legislation called the Digital Services Act, or DSA, comes into effect.

The insurance industry quietly rules our lives. It determines where and what we build. It’s also a linchpin of the housing market. Without it, homeowners can’t get mortgages. And without mortgages, most people can’t buy homes, and the whole housing market starts to collapse.

In this episode, we dig into Florida’s broken insurance market and what’s at stake if we don’t fix it. And we look back at Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 storm that changed the insurance industry.

The Federal Communications Commission is set to release the first round of its updated national broadband map this week. It’s supposed to show more precise and detailed information on internet availability all over the country. Advocates have complained for years the old maps were full of inaccurate data, and getting those numbers right is a big deal because this new map will determine how the government spends the $42.5 billion in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke with Dustin Loup, program manager for the National Broadband Mapping Coalition, a digital advocacy group, about how the new map was developed, how the FCC will try to keep it updated and potential problems facing this updated version.