Author: Marketplace

This week, we hit the road to check out California’s Central Valley, where the future of agricultural innovation is taking shape. We visited a farm that’s piloting next-gen tools and a university research center that’s helping develop that tech. Today, we’re at an AgTEC Workforce graduation, a community college program in this region that helps upskill farm workers.

The latest GOP spending and tax bill would add an estimated $3.8 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade. More debt means the government will issue more bonds. But investors don’t necessarily want a flooded bond market — we’ll explain why. Also in this episode: Stakeholders report longer waits for financial aid information since Department of Education layoffs, retailers set their sights on European markets to alleviate tariff pressure and workplace adoption of AI is tricky to track.

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Marketplace 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 Senate unexpectedly passed the No Tax on Tips Act, one of President Trump’s many campaign promises. We’ll explain what’s actually in the bill and where it goes from here. Plus, the Trump administration has officially accepted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One. We’ll get into the grift of it all. Plus, one man’s search for younger looking skin and a manga story to smile about.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "The Senate passed Trump’s No Tax on Tips Act. Here’s what it could mean." from The Washington Post
• "No Tax on Tips Act: What to know about the bill and what comes next" from The Hill  
• "Republicans Think They Have a Way to Blow Up the Filibuster Without Anyone Noticing" from Slate
• "A Terrible Idea" from Just Security  
• "A 70-Year-Old Man’s Search for Younger-Looking Skin"  from The Wall Street Journal
• "Defense Department accepts Qatari luxury jet for Air Force One use" from The Washington Post
• "Trump Lectures South African President in Televised Oval Office Ambush" from The New York Times
• "How Manga Megastar Junji Ito Makes Terrifying Series Like ‘Uzumaki’" from The New York Times
• "Shark fisherman uses drone to save teenage girl from rip current at Pensacola Beach" from CBS News 

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The Port of Los Angeles says 20% of container shipments this month were canceled in the wake of President Donald Trump's tariffs. Even though those tariffs were temporarily lowered, June is also looking to be a light month for shipping into that port. We'll hear what could be ahead, as well as how U.S. companies are responding to all the tariff back-and-forth. Also: What will the GOP's tax bill mean for taxpayers' bottom line?

Government employment has long been a reliable pathway to Black middle-class prosperity. More than 18% of the federal workforce is Black versus about 12% of the civilian workforce overall. That means that the estimated 260,000 federal jobs eliminated this year by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency will be particularly felt by Black federal workers. But first: The House Committee working on the Republican tax bill could be in for a long day.

From the BBC World Service: Some U.K. retailers are dealing with a curious cyberattack. One of them is Marks and Spencer, also known as M&S. The attack has resulted in empty shelves, an inability to take online orders and roughly $400 million in lost earnings. Plus, if you're into moisturizers, you've probably encountered shea butter. But the nut tree — a major source of income for millions of women in Africa — is threatened by climate change.

This week, we’re heading to California’s Central Valley to see how technology is transforming this agricultural region. And we’re going straight to the innovation source: the University of California, Merced, where academics there are guiding students to research agtech innovations to potentially develop them for commercialization.

Over the weekend, President Trump told retailers to “eat the tariffs” after Walmart warned of price hikes spurred by the trade war. Across the country, retailers are making tough calls when it comes to tariff costs. So why is Home Depot in a better position to keep prices stable than Walmart? Also in this episode: stablecoins inch closer to bank distribution, turbine backlog slows energy sector growth and we get some advice on what to buy before more tariffs kick in.

Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.

Marketplace 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.

 

Things aren’t looking so good for the U.S. dollar. Though it’s spent decades as the world’s reigning reserve currency, it’s been weakening lately thanks to tariffs and uncertainty in the U.S. economy.

But its declining value, has been in the making for a while, according to Harvard economist and author of the new book, “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” Kenneth Rogoff.

“The problem we’re facing is that, independent of this dollar phenomenon, interest rates are going up,” said Rogoff. “And if you’re the world’s biggest debtor, that’s tough.”

Rogoff joins Kai and Kimberly to unpack how the greenback became the world’s go-to currency, what a reserve currency actually is, why it’s been losing some of its value lately and what might take its place. Plus, how does military power tie into all this? 

We’ll also get into some potential cryptocurrency regulation coming down the pipeline and discuss the troubling parallel between Trumpism and Brexit. 

Then, you tell us what books help you reset – from classic literary romances to an apocalyptic sci-fi tale. And, our intern, Zoha Malik (hi!) shares her answer to the Make Me Smart question. 

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” by Kenneth Rogoff from Yale University Press
• “How Trump Could Dethrone the Dollar” from Foreign Affairs
• “Why Is The US Dollar Weakening? Trump’s Tariffs Push Dollar Index To 3-Year Low.” from Forbes
• “Senate advances landmark crypto bill with Democrats divided” from Politico
• “Senate Advances Crypto Regulation Bill With Bipartisan Support” from The New York Times
• “Senate advances a major crypto regulation bill on a bipartisan vote” from NBC News
• “Brexit’s Failures Could Foreshadow Trump’s. Just Not in the Way You Might Think.” from The New York Times

Got a question or comment for the hosts? Email makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

Higher tariffs are not working out so well for automakers. Subaru is raising prices, while GM is reportedly freezing shipments to China. Meanwhile, trade talks between the U.S. and Japan — home to Toyota, Honda and others — look to be moving slowly, at best. And later: One set of economic indicators points to a future economic slowdown, and a startup envisions a slow-moving sleeper train between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.