A new report predicts that the 2023-24 U.S. election cycle will be the most expensive ever, with more than $10 billion spent across platforms. We’ll dig into who’s providing those funds and how the financial race might unfold. Plus, a word of caution for retailers that hope to extend the holiday shopping season and New Year’s predictions for streaming services. Plus, will the housing market get slightly less terrible in 2024?

After the past couple of inflationary years, some consumers have come to accept that things cost more these days. But now that the inflation rate has come down, when will everything stop being inflation’s fault? In this episode, how still-high prices affect consumers psychologically. Plus, China’s property market impacts iron ore prices globally, families drown in toy clutter and next year, the car market could just chill out.

Though overall food inflation has slowed, the latest consumer price index shows the inflation rate for food away from home is higher than that of purchases from the grocery store. What mainly accounts for the gap is the cost of staff. We’ll talk to restaurant owners about rising wages and how they find a middle ground between bumping up prices and keeping customers happy. Also in this episode, more food stories: How the myth of the American diner came to be, who designs restaurant menus and why your candy canes might have cost more this year.

Some good news out of today’s personal consumption expenditures report, which tracked consumer spending in November. Disposable personal income rose, as did the personal savings rate. And some prices fell for the first time since spring 2020. Will consumer sentiment finally catch up to the improving inflation situation? Also in this episode: the wild ride NFTs have taken over the past few years and a debate between affordable housing and wetland restoration in one San Francisco Bay Area town.

With Christmas Day falling on a Monday, online shoppers are cutting it close if they haven’t ordered all their gifts yet. As consumers grow accustomed to same-day or next-day shipping from Amazon, Target and Walmart are trying to catch up. But a nationwide network of fulfillment centers isn’t built in a day. Also in this episode, the state of hunger in the U.S., the rise and fall of rentable e-scooters, and Buc-ee’s: an embodiment of American excess and efficiency.

The beleaguered housing market is showing signs of improvement, but how will things look in 2024? We decided to step into the Marketplace time machine with a few industry experts and report back from this time next year to see how the housing market is shaping up. Plus, McDonald’s takes on the beverage market, inflation comes for holiday tamale makers, Apple watches and the long history of U.S. patent wars, and political campaigns base their pitches on your personal data.

When workers send money to their home countries, it can have a huge impact on local and national economies. Remittances to low and middle-income countries were up this year, and the U.S. was the biggest source. In this episode, we’ll get into why migrants and immigrants have been able to send more cash than they used to. Plus, alternative investments take a wild ride during the pandemic, Canada breaks into EV battery production  and 2022 unemployment hit a record low, new data shows.

When it comes to economic talk, inflation is a major topic these days. But the word for “getting inflation to slow down a bit” isn’t as well known. In this episode, we’ll talk to economists who tell us what the difference is between “disinflation” and “deflation” and why the Federal Reserve is aiming for the former. Plus, we’ll explain why stock indexes just shuffled their membership, how board games raise money and what the deal is with movie franchises flopping in theaters.

As 2023 comes to a close, some economists would say we’re ending the year in a better place than they would have predicted in January — inflation has come down quite a bit and the economy is chugging along. But getting all the way back to 2% annual inflation will take persistence. In this episode, Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, reflects on the economic year we’ve had. Plus, the psychology behind incremental mortgage rate drops and why the online gift guide business has exploded.

In the last week, we’ve seen some solid labor and retail data. Unemployment is low, job availability is high and consumers are spending more than they did last year. But in an economy that’s hyperfocused on tamping down inflation, what’s good for workers might not be good for prices. In this episode, what news is good news right now? Plus, flood history disclosure laws catch on, online shopping drives retail growth and developing countries can’t keep up with their debt.