Marketplace All-in-One

The August consumer price index shows that the cost of food at home was up 13.5% over the same period last year. That’s the largest annual increase since 1979, and higher energy prices, drought and the war in Ukraine all factor in. Also on today’s show: mortgage boycotts in China, stagnant household income in the U.S. and the tech that’s replacing business cards.

First, Jeffery Cleveland joins us to discuss the recovering markets and inflation. We examine a snapshot of supplemental poverty data. Erik Gordon from the University of Michigan explains the significance of Twitter shareholders voting in favor of Elon Musk’s takeover bid.

The markets of the world recover from Tuesday’s inflation data. Gas prices are dropping, but prices for other things are high – we try to explain why. Lynn Malerba’s ascension to U.S. Treasurer carries special weight for Native communities.

From the BBC World Service: Delivering her annual state of the union address, Ursula von der Leyen said the Kremlin had put Russia on the path to oblivion. But the war in Ukraine has contributed to many economic challenges across Europe, with the European Commission president outlining proposals to deal with its impact on energy prices and supply. Plus, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Jamaica faces growing calls to remove the monarch as head of state.

The First Amendment serves as a check on government intervention into our public expression through, for example, spoken or visually signed speech, writing, protesting and coding languages like JavaScript, HTML, Python and Perl. Computer code as free speech is a relatively new legal concept but has a complicated history. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke with technology lawyer Kendra Albert, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, about the history of code as protected expression.

High(er) interest rates are here and probably not going anywhere anytime soon. Today’s inflation numbers almost guarantee that the Federal Reserve will raise rates again by another three-quarters of a percentage point.

But it’s been such a long time since the U.S. economy has been in a high-interest-rate environment that many of us are wondering exactly how to navigate our personal finances.

On the show today, we’ll discuss what high interest rates mean for consumers and why they aren’t translating into higher savings rates. As always, consult your own personal finance expert before making financial decisions.

Later, we’ll talk about the latest inflation report and whether child poverty really is getting better. We’ll do the numbers.

Then, stick around to hear what artificial intelligence has to do with French fries, and a philosopher drops some wisdom on us.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Join us tomorrow for Whaddya Wanna Know Wednesday. And if you’ve got a question about money, business or the economy, leave us a voice mail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at [email protected].

Almost everything became more expensive in August. We’ll discuss key items in the consumer price index and look at one number that dropped — the Census Bureau’s measure of child poverty rates. Plus, the U.S. enters a sorta trade agreement, a real estate agent talks housing market trends and researchers analyze plants to forecast wildfires.

The August consumer price index showed a drop in inflation … just not as much as many would have liked. Susan Schmidt joins us to discuss the general reaction to the data. Twitter’s former cybersecurity chief testifies before the Senate. China’s strict lockdowns are leading to local food shortages.

First, a report illustrates some of the struggles small businesses are still facing. As a rail strike looms, we look at the role the rail system plays in shipping. At least 500,000 people have had to leave the labor force because of struggles with long-haul COVID symptoms, according to a Stanford and MIT study.

From the BBC World Service: About 60 million people have been locked down across China since the beginning of August as the Beijing government continues its strict zero-COVID strategy. Plus, the European Commission prepares to announce measures to help its 27 member countries move away from using Russian energy sources. And, with worries the economic costs of supporting Ukraine might be too much for some NATO allies, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy calls for greater co-operation and more arms support.