Marketplace All-in-One

Today we received record-shattering house price numbers. Although major metro housing market conditions right now are sharply reminiscent of the bubble of 2005, economists consider this a very different category of boom. Also on today’s show, how Louisianans without power or water are surviving in the late-summer heat, a stark report on racial and ethnic disparity in receiving specialty health care and a look at the businesses — 6% of borrowers — that have been asked to pay back portions of their Paycheck Protection Program loans.

You’ll soon be able to make charitable donations directly through Zoom. The video conferencing platform announced the move along with their quarterly earnings on Monday, partnering with fundraising company Pledge to embed its app in Zoom calls. With some workers going back to the office, video tele-conferencing platforms are trying to offer new features to stay competitive. Also, we get a look at consumer confidence, which is not looking high at the moment. The BBC checks in to share news on the economic struggles of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

The pandemic has strained the oxygen resources of hospitals around the country, but Hurricane Ida’s battering of Louisiana could make the problem worse, as transportation routes for that oxygen could be cut off. China correspondent Jennifer Pak shares details of China’s video gaming stocks following the announcement of online playing time restrictions for children. Senior economics contributor Chris Farrell stops by to talk about the concept of the “democratization of personal finance.”

From the BBC World Service: People in Afghanistan are living in tenuous economic conditions: rising inflation, some salaries haven’t been paid for months and cash supplies are limited. Plus, a United Nations warning that Madagascar is on the verge of the world’s first climate change-induced famine.

The gender gap in tech starts pretty early. Look at computer science students: Roughly 4 out of 5 bachelor’s degrees in that field go to men. That’s why the nonprofit Girls Who Code aims to get girls interested at a young age — as early as third grade. Since the organization was founded in 2012, hundreds of thousands of girls have gone through its clubs and summer immersion programs. When COVID-19 canceled in-person classes, they moved totally online. That actually allowed Girls Who Code to grow, and enrollment went up 200%. Marketplace’s Jed Kim speaks with Tarika Barrett, who took over as CEO this year. She said they had to design their new model with the hardest-to-reach girls in mind.

It’s been a somber news day. Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This time, the city’s $14.5 billion system of levees seemed to have held up, but the storm knocked out power for 1 million people. We’ll talk about what this extreme weather tells us about climate adaptation. Plus, it’s the end of an era in Afghanistan as the last American troops pull out of Kabul and we’ll share a few stories you might’ve missed over the weekend. Finally, an Al Roker clap back you didn’t know you needed.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Read the transcript here.

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Although about a million people in Louisiana are without power due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida, the investment of billions of dollars in a robust levee system means things are a lot better than they would have been. It’s a real-life examination of return on infrastructure investment. Also: Economist Mohamed A. El-Erian on why he —  still — disagrees with the policy approach taken by the Federal Reserve, how Ikea hopes to stop you from sending its wares to landfills and a marketing professor’s take on the Taliban’s association with Toyota.

Though downgraded to a tropical storm, Ida has still led to flash flood warnings, a loss of power in the entire city of New Orleans, and at least one fatality. It has also hobbled oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. With this backdrop, Julia Coronado discusses the market picture (especially the Fed) and Nancy Marshall-Genzer delivers more storm details. We also look at how travel is shaping up as Labor Day approaches. For anyone already looking forward to a long weekend, we also look into a new process of undersea winemaking.

The European Union is set to remove the United States from its safe travel list, which means Americans traveling to the area will face greater COVID-oriented restrictions. The BBC’s Victoria Craig offers up a few more details. There’s a bill in California that would make the state the second one in the country to effectively end single-family-only zoning. Also, roller skating has made a comeback, but even that has been affected by shortages. In this case, it’s the skates themselves.

From the BBC World Service: It’s less than a month until Germany heads to the polls to elect their next chancellor. In the first televised debate, the leading candidates to succeed Angela Merkel and take the reins of Europe’s biggest economy clash over taxes and climate policy.  Plus, we profile the South African group looking to make it easier for women to work in the fishing industry.