Girl Scout Cookies represent a $800 million industry. A new documentary called “Cookie Queens” follows sellers across the country, and one of those featured, Olive, joins the show to discuss the economic lessons she’s learned. But first, Lauren Saidel-Baker, economist at ITR Economics, tells us what retail earnings can reveal about the U.S. consumer.

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Prices for some back-to-school supplies are up this year, alongside other essentials like groceries and gas. Shoppers aren’t just turning to cheaper brands — they’re buying less, and cutting out non-essentials. This morning, we look at how inflation could affect shopping extending into the holiday season. Then, we discuss the cost of our debt pushing up interest rates, and a North Carolina Girl Scout talks cookie selling.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories featured in this episode:

• “Back to school” on a budget

It's been a month now since the World Cup ended, but English football is back this week. The Premier League season kicks off Friday. And Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, is the latest American investor to buy a stake in a team — he’s now part of a group that purchased more than a third of Liverpool Football Club. Was it a smart investment? But first: Fewer homeowners are "equity-rich," and that concerns real estate analysts.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

• Number of "equity-rich" homes has declined
• Why would Jeff Bezos want to buy an English football team?

In case you missed it, investor jitters about borrowing, geopolitical conflict, and inflation drove the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield up to a nearly two-decade high. Then, the Treasury Department announced it would spend $4 billion on longer-term government bonds. There was some relief, and bond yields began to fall. We'll explain market reactions and why this is all about confidence in the long-term financial stability of the U.S. Plus, we'll learn about the current landscape for psychedelic therapy drugs.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

The Treasury Department announced this morning that it'll double the amount it spends on its buyback operations for longer-term government bonds. It had planned to spend about $2 billion buying back government debt. Now, it will spend $4 billion. This comes after investor concerns over federal debt, global instability, and inflation drove the 30-year bond yield up to a nearly 20-year high. We explain. Then: why Mexico's government is launching a line of mini EVs.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories covered in this episode:

• Mexico launches its own electric car to show it can do more than build for other countries

Later this afternoon, we'll get minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed kept interest rates steady in July, but there was some disagreement. A handful of Fed officials wanted to raise the cost of borrowing. This morning, we'll discuss the dissents, fresh economic data, and what to expect from today's report. Then, it's been five years since tens of thousands of Afghans were airlifted to U.S. cities. We'll learn about their careers and lives.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories featured in this episode:

• What to watch for in the next Fed minutes
• Five years after the Afghan evacuation, thousands have built careers and businesses

The school year is getting started across the country, but some families are sending their kids to school without access to a benefit many have relied on in previous years: free school meals. Significant changes to SNAP under last year's Republican tax and spending law have led to plummeting SNAP enrollment — which is often tied to free school meals. Also on the program: big retailers' quarterly results and a buyer's market (for wealthier homebuyers, that is).

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories in this episode:

• A buyer's market? Yes. For those who can afford it.

The average worker in the U.S. who stayed in their job between 2021 and 2024 saw their wages decline by 9% after inflation, a new paper finds. While the gap between wage growth and inflation is smaller now, that doesn’t undo the bad news of a few years ago. And this decline in real wages may be at the root of poor consumer sentiment. Plus, some Vermont businesses are offering steep discounts to lure back Canadian tourists.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories covered in this episode:

• U.S. businesses offer deals to lure back Canadian tourists
• Real wage losses are at the root of low consumer sentiment, new paper finds

China, the world's second-largest economy, sent several cargo ships through an Arctic route over the weekend, along waters hugging Russia's northern coast. The two countries are trying out a path that could become a new shipping lane from China's East Coast to the largest port in the U.K. — one that could avoid U.S.-controlled choke points for trade. But first, big retailers will report quarterly earnings this week. What could they tell us about the U.S. economy?

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories featured in this episode:

• Could an Arctic shipping route transform global trade?

Get used to paying higher gas prices — they’re the cost of curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. That was the message from President Donald Trump at a rally on Friday. Today, the temporary ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran expires, and ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is now essentially halted. We'll have the latest. Plus, the $46 billion tribal gambling industry lacks a leader, and that could hamper business growth and investment.

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Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.

Stories featured in this episode:

• What happens when a $46 billion industry doesn't have a leader?