Marketplace All-in-One

Food banks saw increased demand at the height of the pandemic. Now, as inflation limits what your buck can buy at grocery stores, demand is rising yet again. But food banks are dealing with those higher costs too, as well as supply chain issues that mean longer wait times for their orders and fewer donations. Also on today’s program, how Substack has changed the media landscape, what the omicron variant might mean for consumer confidence and why the U.K. aspires to be a green hydrogen powerhouse.

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All facets of care for people with dementia come with an avalanche of costs, and they’re going to get higher, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences. Senior economics contributor Chris Farrell helps explain what those costs are in a discussion. We check in on the another effort to unionize for Amazon workers in Alabama, as the National Labor Relations Board has gotten involved after an earlier attempt resulted in a “no” vote.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

Regulators are pressuring the insurance industry to rethink its relationship with “big data” and artificial intelligence in light of studies that show that people of color in urban areas could be charged significantly more than people in the suburbs. We discuss the effect of the omicron variant has had on the vaccine markets after warnings from Moderna’s CEO. Also, today may be Giving Tuesday, but charitable giving is expected to be down after a record year.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

From the BBC World Service: The Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel expects the number of mutations in the latest COVID-19 variant mean new vaccines will be required next year, sending ripples of nervousness through financial markets. But what do we actually know about the impact of omicron? And, a new report suggests some high food prices are unlikely to fall next year.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

Jack Dorsey has stepped down as the CEO of Twitter, a company he co-founded 15 years ago. Companies are often associated with their founders, and in Silicon Valley, having a smart, charismatic founder can be the difference between getting off the ground at all, or not. But in his note announcing his departure, Dorsey said it’s critical for companies to stand on their own, free of their founder’s influence. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Sarah Kunst, general partner at the venture firm Cleo Capital, about what challenges lie ahead for Dorsey’s replacement as CEO, Parag Agrawal.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

Over the holiday break, epidemiologists around the world did a simultaneous face palm after news about a new COVID-19 “variant of concern.” We’ll catch you up on the omicron variant and what it might mean for the global economy. Plus, Jack Dorsey is out as CEO at Twitter and Amazon workers in Alabama get ready to vote (again.)

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Read the transcript here.

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The coronavirus omicron variant caused stock market jitters on Friday. While the strain’s impact on global health remains to be seen, if omicron is similar to the delta wave, we can expect travel and consumer spending to take a big hit. How it might affect inflation is unclear. Plus: Black Friday spending is up but still below pre-pandemic levels; millennials are sidelined in the homebuying market; and schools prepare to use federal pandemic relief.

The reopened U.S.-Canada border has businesses on the U.S. side of things ready and anxious to receive business from the neighbors to the north, even if it’s just to pick up packages. The crowds, however, have been slow to come. The markets appear to be bouncing back after the initial flood of concern surrounding the Omicron variant. Julia Coronado helps explain the market mood shift. We also hear some details on the sales action from Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

President Biden is slated to talk about the newly detected COVID variant later today. Meanwhile, the economic concerns are real, as Wall Street is poised to recover after taking a bit of a tumble over the weekend. Also, the World Health Organization said Omicron posed a very high risk of surging infection rates. Senior economics contributor Chris Farrell helps us discuss the role of retirees during the labor shortage. Could some of them be coming back to work?

From the BBC World Service: That’s partly because despite a rise in infections in South Africa, they aren’t seeing an increase in COVID-19 deaths in the province hardest hit by the new variant. Plus, WHO member countries meet to discuss the global pandemic response. And, businesses in the Netherlands are worried about pandemic restrictions limiting opening hours for hospitality and cultural venues.