Marketplace

On Wednesday, the White House held a cybersecurity summit with leaders in tech, finance and energy, calling for private industries to help bolster cyber defenses. The Commerce Department estimates that there are roughly 500,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs across the country, and that number will continue to grow — and increasingly pose a threat — unless nontraditional education pathways can be explored. Also: where wind energy stands in the U.S., a strong and steady durable goods report and a look inside the growing on-demand warehouse industry.

The theme for this year’s Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Symposium is “Macroeconomic Policy in an Uneven Economy.” Wrapped up in that title is a long-running debate over the extent to which the Fed can and should play an active role in closing racial disparity in wealth, wages and unemployment rates. And later: what’s behind Walmart’s new delivery service, a shipping behemoth invests in carbon neutrality and a look at the failed U.S. effort to suppress opium in Afghanistan.

The Joe Biden administration authorized an extra $500 million for Special Immigrant Visas and other programs for those fleeing Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. On today’s show, we’ll look at what happens to refugees once they arrive stateside and the organizations trying to secure housing for them. Plus: Toys R Us is back from the dead, what copper can tell us about the economy and a look at how companies are struggling to fully embrace empathy.

The pandemic has been incredibly difficult for industries like food service, hospitality and travel. But some fields have blossomed. Among them: remote-work consulting. With COVID cases surging in the U.S. and remote work looking like it could be here to stay for many white-collar workers, companies that provide personality quizzes, feng shui consultations and virtual reality meeting rooms have enjoyed a boom. But first: The clock is ticking on pandemic unemployment benefits, entrepreneurial enthusiasm is up and the Federal Reserve moves toward tapering its bond buying.

Hospital workers may be having a painful case of déjà vu. A growing number of hospitals across the country are running out of intensive care unit beds, dealing with staffing shortages and struggling with retention amid worker burnout. This is prolonging wait times for emergency room visits and ambulances and — in some cases — causing delays of nonessential surgeries. Plus: We’ll look at how global economies might respond to the Taliban retaking power, the reasons behind the dip in July’s retail spending and what the future might hold for vacant downtown business districts.

Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban on Sunday. On today’s program, we take a look at the economic facets of that story, including how the Taliban is funded, how military contractors made billions in the nearly 20-year war and how humanitarian aid is responding. Plus: a crackdown on the tutoring industry in China and some California farmers shift their business models amid droughts.

Back-to-school supply drives are a staple of late summer. This year, however, those events are seeing two key impacts from the pandemic: an uptick in demand for donated items and an increase in those donations from retailers looking to get rid of unsold inventory. One nonprofit has seen seven times the typical volume of donations so far in 2021. Plus: Brexit is impacting enrollment at universities in the U.K., how the bipartisan infrastructure bill aims to take on climate change and why the term “expiration date” on food labels isn’t quite accurate.

After the passing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, Senate Democrats are eyeing their next political battle: a $3.5 trillion dollar spending proposal that includes a big expansion of safety net programs, including federally funded universal prekindergarten. Despite a hefty price tag, locally funded preschool programs have shown positive impacts for enrolled children. On today’s show, we’ll also discuss wildfire prevention, a dip in optimism among small-business owners and Los Angeles’ struggle to distribute rent relief.

A report released by the U.N. Monday sent a stark warning about how advanced the climate crisis is — and outlined where the world is going without urgent and dramatic reforms. In the U.S., transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. While the latest infrastructure bill would invest $39 billion in public transit, experts say it will require more than that to change the country’s car-centric culture. Later on in the show, we’ll talk about a commercial real estate and shared workspace partnership, the significance of the pause in federal student loan payments and look at racial discrimination in home appraisals.