Marketplace All-in-One

Nobel Prize-winning economist David Card joins us to discuss his research into minimum wage, along with the application of other Econ 101 theories in real-world settings.  Also today: We also look into those confusing letters from the IRS that tell you that you’ve made a mistake.

From the BBC World Service: The United Nations has warned that the Afghan economy is imminently facing collapse, unless the international community reinstates financial support. We hear from Kabul.

Last year, the holiday shopping season was kind of a disaster. With a lot more people shopping online because of the pandemic, millions of packages were delayed or delivered late. This year could be worse. There are shortages of materials, products, shipping containers and workers, and Deloitte estimates that online sales will jump by 11% to 15% this season. Retailers and shipping companies are trying out robots that can help them sort through items. Marketplace’s Marielle Segarra speaks with Ken Goldberg, a professor of industrial engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a co-founder of Ambi Robotics.

Netflix suspended a trans employee who took to Twitter to criticize Dave Chappelle’s special over transphobic comments. It’s not the only example of workers flexing their power. Meanwhile, companies are struggling to figure out how to deal with it. Plus, Apple is still having trouble in the health care space. And, we’re celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve tried to buy much of anything lately, there’s a decent chance some of the products you’ve been scouring aisles for have been out of stock. On today’s show, we air the first segment in our new collection, “Temporarily Unavailable,” which explores how stuff moves around the world … or doesn’t. Host Kai Ryssdal gives us an inside look at the Marine Exchange of Southern California in the largest port complex in the U.S. And later: how former “Survivor” contestants are profiting from their reality-star status; companies eye tariff relief under Biden; and new merch is coming your way, courtesy of a new Walmart and Netflix partnership.

“This Is Uncomfortable” is a podcast about our money and our feelings. And a lot of the money stuff we have the most feelings about we also like to keep secret.

In season five, the secret’s out.

We’re revealing family secrets, learning about the true cost of divorce, investigating mysterious piles cash and so much more.

We’ll have new episodes every Thursday starting this week, on Oct. 14. Listen to the trailer above or wherever you get podcasts.

To get even more Uncomfortable, check out our newsletter! Each Friday morning we’ll bring you a note from Reema, new stories from listeners, tough money questions and all the TV, podcasts and TikToks our team is into. Here’s the latest issue.

The BBC reports on the high cost of energy’s effect on global markets. Christopher Low joins us for our Monday markets discussion, which focuses on the holding back of oil production in the U.S. The troubles for Southwest Airlines continue, as it has canceled more than 300 flights and delayed hundreds more. That’s after cancelling almost 2,000 flights over the weekend. We look into the layered issue of permitless carry as it pertains to Black gun owners.

The recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day is growing, which has led to a concerted effort to call attention to back Indigenous-owned businesses. The effect of the push has been real, as some businesses have seen sales spikes. Also today, senior economics contributor Chris Farrell chats with us about the Nobel Prize in economics. A new law in California allows more freedom for workers to speak out about abuse at the workplace.

From the BBC World Service: As the global energy crisis intensifies, we hear from Europe, where all the focus is on Russian supplies of gas. We’re also in China as the price of coal skyrockets and hear from India, where coal-fired power stations simply can’t find the coal to power them.

Let’s talk about computer chips. We’ve told you that they’re in short supply — because of COVID and materials shortages and shipping problems, and because a lot more people have bought digital devices during the pandemic. Sometimes when there is low supply and high demand, lots of counterfeits appear on the market. These could be chips taken out of old electronics and resold as new. Some of the fake chips work, to a certain extent, and some don’t work at all. Marketplace’s Marielle Segarra speaks with Bill Cardoso, CEO of Creative Electron, a company that uses X-rays to inspect chips and see if they’re real.