Marketplace

With the increase in hate speech on Twitter, brands are facing a dilemma: stay and potentially tarnish their image or leave behind an audience they’ve spent time and resources building. In today’s episode, navigating the digital landscape in the Elon era. Plus, natural gas prices surprisingly fall in Europe, the “Avatar” sequel hits theaters in China and supply chain kinks are a recipe for school lunch confusion.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has reiterated the importance of the central bank’s 2% inflation target. But why is 2% the magic number? Today, we’ll take a closer look at where that figure came from and what trade-offs are necessary to reach it. Plus, urban downtowns plan for fewer workers, rent prices dip and economics faces a second #MeToo moment.

The Federal Reserve upped its key interest rate by half a percentage point today, a smaller move than the previous four. Today, we’ll unpack what consumers can expect from the Fed going forward and how the slowing pace of rate increases will ripple through the economy. Then, the health impact of antibiotics overuse and, from Marketplace’s “How We Survive” series, what happens when climate change forces communities to resettle?

The campaign to curb rising prices is proceeding, and some pandemic-induced inflation is cooling. But getting price hikes down to the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal may take years. In today’s episode, why the last miles of the inflation fight are so difficult. Plus, a bipartisan retirement savings bill has its limits, China’s COVID policies have kept families apart and urgent care centers expand across the U.S.

The producer price index of wholesale prices rose slightly in October. But wholesale inflation has dropped seven of the last eight months because of falling demand for products and fewer supply chain kinks. In this episode, we look at how the Federal Reserve might interpret this data ahead of its meeting next week to hike interest rates. Plus, the key information often left out of financial aid letters, and tribal nations fight for a role in Colorado River management.

Americans’ spend-happy ways continue. Credit was up by 7% compared to October of last year, and card balances shot up faster than they had in 20 years. In this episode, bigger debts with higher interest rates are digging big holes for consumers. Plus, prices rise for packaged goods, researchers advocate for sustainable aviation fuels and the fine art market may be primed for a slowdown.

The military, just like everyone else, has to deal with supply chain disruptions and inventory balancing acts. In today’s show, we check in with the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer about the war in Ukraine, a defense bill of nearly $850 billion and what the just-in-time economy means for the Department of Defense. Plus, normalizing retail inventory, confusion in streaming services and tensions between airlines and airports.

The U.S. dollar has given up about half its 2022 gains in the past month or so. That’s good news for exporters, but not so great for American companies that import pricier items. Today, a look at what’s going on with the greenback. Plus, inflation and other problems create a “perfect storm” for food banks, an Oregon bar serves up women’s sports and studios debate whether fans will flock back to movie theaters.

There’s no one economic figure that paints a perfect picture of where inflation is going. On today’s episode, we’ll do the numbers for fresh economic data and hear what economists are looking at to predict inflation’s next move. Plus, who gets the blame when layoffs come, what lessons new teachers are learning on the job and why consumer spending is on the rise while savings dwindle.

New York City employers will be barred from using artificial intelligence in hiring starting next year, unless the program passes an audit. AI can narrow down candidate pools but often excludes otherwise qualified applicants who lack a college degree. In this episode, we’ll look at the push to address bias in hiring technology. Plus, the looming rail strike, “buy now, pay later” for groceries and why Frontier Airlines won’t answer the phone.