Marketplace

On this day in 2008, an 85-year-old investment bank became the very public face of the financial crisis. Only a $29 billion loan guarantee from the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan's buyout kept Bear from actual bankruptcy, but the company was ruined. We're marking this anniversary as part of our series Divided Decade, and on today's show we'll look at the financial infrastructure that made the crisis so contagious, and what's changed. Then: What you need to know about Theranos, amid the news that the blood-testing startup's CEO has been charged with "massive fraud." Plus: Gary who? We'll tell you everything you need to know about Trump's new top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow.

The Trump Administration is reportedly looking to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, adding up to $60 billion in tariffs that would target tech products and telecom companies. That follows the White House's surprise move to block Singapore-based Broadcom's bid to buy Qualcomm because of possible national security implications. Semiconductor deals often get extra scrutiny since the tech is so important, but this case is different. That's where we're starting today. Then we'll look at the job ahead of Trump's new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Plus, an excerpt from this week's Make Me Smart, which returns with new episodes today.

President Donald Trump has complained about unfair trade practices with China since before his campaign even began. But in the escalating war of words around trade, the White House has a new target: The European Union, one of America's most important trade partners. That's where we're starting today. Then, after a long IPO drought, a bunch of high-profile startups are going public. Plus: Unemployment is really low right now, near record lows in every demographic. But unemployment among black Americans is still much higher, nearly double that of white Americans. That's stayed consistent in good and bad economic conditions. Black Americans earn less on average than other workers, too, even when you control for education and training. But black women have been starting their own businesses at the highest rate of any demographic group. We'll do the numbers.

Here's one way to think about the business and economic news at the end of what feels like a very long week: It literally took something that's never happened before to knock the economy off front pages. But we're going to put it right back on today. We'll talk about those tariffs and the big jobs report from this morning. Plus, of course, we'll examine the news that President Donald Trump might meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and what sanctions have to do with it. Plus, more about "Black Panther" as Marvel's latest hit opens in China and merchandise is in short supply.

... At least not Canada, Mexico or China. The first two countries were exempted from the steel and aluminum tariffs President Donald Trump signed today. Meanwhile, for all Trump's talk about China's unfair practices and a "good" trade war, reaction from the world's second-largest economy has been subdued. That's where we're starting today's show, with updates from our trade reporter and China corespondent. Then, we'll look ahead to the bigger trade fight brewing: intellectual property theft. Plus, we'll look at how members of the gig economy responded to our economic anxiety poll and bring you one last story from our documentary podcast "The Uncertain Hour."

President Donald Trump announced less than a week ago, pretty much out of nowhere, that he was going to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Trump's fellow Republicans and others have pushed back, but the White House has been steadfast ... until today, that is, when press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders started walking it back. Thing is, these tariffs aren't really compatible with another key part of Trump's agenda: tax cuts. We'll start the show by looking at how tough policymaking can be, especially when there's economic inconsistency. Then, we'll check in with Lisa Goldenberg, president of the Delaware Steel Co., to get her reaction to the tariffs. Plus, we'll do the numbers from the latest Marketplace-Edison Research poll.

And today, Gary Cohn is one of the losers. He spent a year and a couple of months as the head of the National Economic Council, a free-trade Democrat in a populist Republican White House. He announced today he's leaving the White House. We'll talk about what it means and what's next for economic policy in the Trump administration. Then, keeping with that theme, what does Trump mean when he says we're "losing" on trade? That's not what a trade deficit means. Plus: The three richest American musicians all came from hip-hop. We'll talk about the "Three Kings," Dr. Dre, Jay Z and Diddy.

Now what? We're starting today's show trying to figure that out, with several stories on the new steel and aluminium tariffs Trump announced last week, if they'll actually protect American jobs, how other countries might respond and how trade policy is supposed to work (hint: not like this). Then: With another Oscars ceremony in the books, let's take stock of what Hollywood is actually making. It doesn't look much like last night's winning movies. Plus, what you need to know about the big chip merger that has people worried.

What do you say about a week where the president of the United States, without any indication that the decision had been thought through by policy experts, announces trade tariffs that leave basically every constituent part of the global economy going, "Wait, what?" Here, we call it Friday. We'll talk about President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariff announcement, his tweet about trade wars being "good and easy to win," and what Canada, our biggest importer of those metals, thinks about all this. Plus: The Oscars are this weekend, and it's one of the biggest moments yet for #MeToo. But let's turn our attention to another industry, finance, where women arrived at the workplace in the '80s and '90s to find terrible harassment.

In retrospect, we should have seen these steel and aluminum tariffs coming. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin mentioned "reciprocal free trade," in our interview earlier this week, and President Donald Trump said something similar today. Tariffs are a complicated macro-economic topic anytime, especially when they're a surprise. We'll start the show by catching you up, then look at how our allies might or might not respond. Tariffs go both ways, you know. Plus: How many cup holders is too many?