Marketplace All-in-One

Despite its noted absence by global leaders at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, China is still aiming to curb emissions and become carbon neutral by 2060 — a decade later than targets set by the United States and European Union. But that’s no easy feat for the world’s second-largest economy and biggest polluter. Marketplace’s Jennifer Pak visits the city of Luoyang in central China to explore the hurdles, opportunities and importance of achieving that goal. Plus: Leisure travel makes a comeback; Senate Democrats reach to cap prescription costs for older Americans; and let the tapering begin.

Gas prices are up, and one listener wanted to know who is and who isn’t to blame. On the show today, we do a little fact-checking on who’s really responsible for the high price at the pump. Plus, we’ll answer a lingering question about the carbon tax and explain how companies make money from the stock market. And Molly shares some important news about a big change she’s making.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Read the transcript here.

Keep sending your questions. Call us at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278) or send a voice memo.

The Federal Reserve concludes two days of meetings and will share its plans for the economy. To discuss what the Fed might say, we turn to Susan Schmidt. Supply chain issues might not have the same kind of impact on crafty retail sites such as Etsy, but there are still other logistical challenges. The BBC examines just how large inflation may loom over the U.K., especially through the eyes of one of its largest vegetable producers.

The U.S. workforce is likely to shrink in the coming decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as more people get to retirement age and less people have children. That aging population could also lengthen the time of labor shortages. We spoke to Alfred Marcus of the University of Minnesota about it. Democrats are adding a provision on prescription drugs to the Biden social spending plan. We also look into how bus drivers, who have been indispensable during the pandemic in many parts of the country, are asking for better wages and working conditions.

From the BBC World Service: Now, 450 of the world’s biggest banks and insurers have signed up to a climate coalition led by former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. But, environmental campaigners have questioned the sincerity of their commitments. Plus, Australia and New Zealand ratify the world’s biggest trade deal, which won’t include the United States. And, as central bankers try to figure out what to do about rising prices, we go to an English farm to find out how big a problem inflation really is in Britain.

Our journey through the California desert continues. We visit the quiet front-runner in the race to extract lithium from the superhot, corrosive brine bubbling underground. And we dive into the past to look at an earlier attempt to harvest lithium from the Salton Sea. That project ended in failure, but its patents live on. And those patents could be a roadblock for the companies racing to extract the “white gold” today. With millions of dollars invested and a global supply of lithium waiting below the Salton Sea, there is a lot on the line.

An invention that can pull lithium out of geothermal brine is a main character in this week’s episode of the new Marketplace podcast, “How We Survive,” hosted by regular “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood. Against the backdrop of the United Nations climate summit this week, where more than 40 world leaders have pledged to work together to bring down the cost of green technology, we’ll hear more about one of those solutions: batteries. Batteries are key to getting off fossil fuels. And a mineral called lithium is a key ingredient in those batteries. In this episode, Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Molly about what’s happening near California’s Salton Sea.

Economics is a social science. It involves theories and models and lots of math. So why is it so hard for economists to agree? And why is there often a disconnect between what economists say will happen and what actually happens in the real economy? That’s something Molly has been wondering about. So we turned it into a show and called in some help.

Colin Camerer, the Robert Kirby professor of behavioral economics at the California Institute of Technology, says there’s a big divide between microeconomics and macroeconomics.

“It’s a little bit like geology, where we understand a lot about about rocks and mountains and how old they are, that’s micro, and earthquake forecasting, in which we know that there will be a big quake … but we don’t know if it’s gonna be next year, five years, 10 years … that’s kind of like macro.”

On the show today, Camerer explains the role economists play in society and how we should be thinking about what they tell us, especially since their findings sometimes drive public policy debates.

In the news fix, America is in a AI battle with China, and it’s not looking great for team USA. Plus, who is really benefiting from Zillow’s failed plan to flip thousands of homes?

We’ll also hear from listeners who have mixed feelings about the outcome of the COP26 climate summit and an answer to the Make Me Smart question that has us wondering whether anything we know is true anymore.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Read the transcript here.

The Grammy Awards announced this week that a series of nonfungible tokens will be issued to celebrate next year’s awards. The decision is in step with the industry; artists like DJ Steve Aoki and singer-songwriter Zola Jesus turned to NFTs — popular for their scarcity — when touring dried up because of the pandemic. The shift changes how music is valued and monetized. Also on today’s program: a brief history of the debt ceiling; the EPA announces new methane emission limits; and the U.S. and G7 appear to get serious about countering China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

More and more executives are tying their pay to the diversity goals of their companies. One example is the CEO of Activision Blizzard, which is about to report its earnings while facing a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and discrimination. Jeffery Cleveland discusses how bond traders and central banks are reacting to simmering inflation questions. Police unions are locked in a debate over vaccine mandates.