Author: Marketplace

Friday is the latest deadline for the U.S. to sign trade deals with other countries, or else they'll face higher tariffs. The administration had promised 90 deals in 90 days when setting the later Aug. 1 deadline. But as of today, it's not 90 — it's more like six. Plus, under-16s won't be allowed to have YouTube accounts in Australia, and small businesses may be equipped to weather hard times in Michigan's cannabis industry.

From the BBC World Service: The Australian government announced it will ban children under 16 from having YouTube accounts starting in December. The ban also limits young people's use of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Snapchat. We'll learn more. Then, South Africa has long struggled with power cuts. Now, some companies are introducing pay-as-you-go backup power systems. And, a UN environmentalist warns that new Brazilian legislation aimed at streamlining major infrastructure developments will lead to more deforestation.

Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks to Sayash Kapoor, a PhD candidate at Princeton and co-author of “AI Snake Oil." He says small tweaks to AI chatbots can often have big, unpredictable effects.

Consumer confidence ticked up in June, according to The Conference Board. At the same time, confidence in the labor market weakened for a seventh consecutive month. In this episode, what good are a bunch of confident consumers if they're stressed about finding work? Plus: SNAP cuts will hurt grocery stores, Americans have to buy foreign goods if we want other countries to buy our goods, and tariff costs negate productivity growth benefits.

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Along with some other federal agencies, the Trump administration has attempted to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It’s a small agency, but public libraries across the country rely on its funding. The loss of federal grants isn’t the only thing these community hubs are up against. On the show today, Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, explains how public library funding works, the challenges presented by the shift to digital media, and what the culture wars look like on the ground at public libraries.

Later, listeners share their thoughts on the new No Tax on Tips and Overtime laws. Plus, a librarian answers the Make Me Smart question.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "The Trump Administration Is Threatening Libraries, Museums, and Other Nonprofits That Support the Arts, Humanities, and Learning" from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 
• "Libraries are cutting back on staff and services after Trump's order to dismantle small agency" from AP News
• "1 big thing: Libraries' e-book battle" from Axios

• “No Tax on Tips” Is an Industry Plant" from The New Yorker 

  
  

  We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

President Donald Trump remarked offhandedly over the weekend that “we will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States.” Recent policy changes in Washington could indeed make it harder to build new wind power projects in the U.S., but it’ll still likely continue to be an attractive source of power. And later in the program, a dispute between Mexico and Texas over water is threatening to turn ugly.

Two behemoths of freight rail are joining forces: Union Pacific is acquiring Norfolk Southern for $85 billion. The deal creates the largest freight rail network in the country and will attract the attention of antitrust regulators. Also on the show: U.S.-China trade negotiators meet in Sweden for trade talks, and the U.S. sets a new deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine or face new economic sanctions.

From the BBC World Service: Parents in China are being offered a little extra help, about $500 a year for every child under three. It's the government's first nationwide subsidy in a bid to increase birth rates. State media says around 20 million families are eligible for the payments. But will it work? Plus, with northern Mexico in the middle of a severe drought, the country is falling behind on water deliveries to the U.S. promised by a treaty. The Trump administration isn't happy.

In Canada, road freight is part of the backbone of the economy — historically moving about four-fifths of all goods across the country, with demand growing. But trucking is changing, with digital freight-matching platforms reshaping how drivers find work and how goods get delivered. The BBC’s Sam Gruet reports.

Bridget and Ryan get swept up in a cyberpunk adventure as they try to answer Cooper’s question about how online data thefts can lead to real world consequences for your bank account. With the help of longtime friend of the program, Scam Slammer Host Brenda Hammer, the duo travel inside the internet to follow the trail of our digital bread crumbs, and see how advertisers and fraudsters get to know more about us than we might think.