Marketplace All-in-One

From the BBC World Service: The government of Southeast Asia’s largest economy has increased fuel prices for the first time in eight years. Plus, Europe’s energy crisis is a result of Russia’s decision to use energy as a weapon. That’s the accusation from Finnish energy company Fortnum Group. We hear from a cheesemaker in England who says rising energy prices are threatening to put her store out of business. And, India has a newfound enthusiasm for free trade agreements.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing data analytics firm Kochava, alleging the company sold sensitive geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices. The FTC argues that the data could reveal users’ visits to sensitive places, like abortion providers or addiction recovery centers. It’s the latest step in FTC Chair Lina Khan’s mission to increase government oversight of companies that traffic in consumer data. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Megan Gray, founder and CEO of GrayMatters Law & Policy to discuss the significance of this case.

Today, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law aimed at improving wages and working conditions for fast food workers in the state. It’s an industrywide victory for the labor movement in a year that’s seen plenty of union wins. In today’s show, we’ll check the pulse of labor organizing in the U.S. Plus, a change to questions asked in federal labor surveys and a celebrity’s crusade for child literacy.

President Biden kicks off the fall campaign season today. While student loan forgiveness will take up much of the discussion, there are also other changes coming, especially when it comes to unpaid interest. We check with the BBC’s Victoria Craig regarding the announcement of Liz Truss as Britain’s next prime minister. The team at Million Bazillion gets a much younger perspective on the wonders of inflation.

From the BBC World Service: We broadcast from Westminster outside the Houses of Parliament in London as the U.K. waits to find out more about who will replace Boris Johnson as the next British Prime Minister. For analysis, we are joined by Shanti Keleman, Chief Investment Officer at M&G Wealth Investments and Jill Rutter, senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank. And we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the global edition of Marketplace Morning Report, with some highlights from around the world.

As Labor Day weekend wraps up, a snapshot of the upcoming fall season of air travel reveals that some of the frustrations from the summer will carry over, but crowds might thin out. We discuss how lockdowns in China are forcing companies to rethink their global diversification efforts.

Advanced computer programs influence, and can even dictate, meaningful parts of our lives. Think of streaming services, credit scores, facial recognition software. As this technology becomes more sophisticated and more pervasive, it’s important to understand the basic terminology. On this Labor Day, we’re revisiting an episode in which we explore the terms “algorithm,” “machine learning” and “artificial intelligence,” which are often used interchangeably. There is some overlap, but they’re not the same things. We decided to call up a few experts to help us get a firm grasp on these concepts.

There’s another problem to add to the list of issues piling up in the UK right now: The pound sterling took a dive. We’ll discuss the economic situation there and how it compares to what’s happening on this side of the pond. Plus, could Alaska’s voting system help our polarized politics? Then, we play a round of Half Full/Half Empty.

Here is everything we talked about:

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Today, we’ll unpack the August national jobs report, which shows job growth as not too hot, not too cold. We’ll also look into who shoulders the burden of the employment slowdown most and who’s coming in off the sidelines of the labor market. Plus, inflation hits rural America harder, and a union representing musicians takes aim at streaming services.

Jobs Day numbers are here, and so is Julia Coronado of MacroPolicy Perspectives to discuss them. We also talk about the variety of factors that have led to the homelessness situation in New York.