Author: Marketplace

Open AI has added a checkout feature to ChatGPT, partnering with Etsy and Shopify to let users purchase some items from select merchants. OpenAI says ChatGPT's answers are still organic and unsponsored. But why not offer a seamless way to buy things that come up in certain responses?

Eventually this could lead to so-called “agentic” shopping: letting AI research items, pick one, and then buy it on our behalf. Marketplace's Nova Safo spoke with colleague Meghan McCarty Carino about what AI companies stand to gain from integrating e-commerce tech.

Wanna put a wager on, well, just about anything? Try a prediction market. Competing industry giants Kalshi and Polymarket both saw major investment this week, and for good reason. Though they don’t look it on paper, both function as (extremely lucrative) sports betting platforms but don't face the regulations of sports betting platforms. In this episode, we bet on where that legal loophole is headed. Plus: Expect car sales to sputter as the EV tax credit ends and tariffs drive up costs, and the case for replacing subsidized air travel with a more robust rural bus system.

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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.

On today’s show, Kimberly is joined by the host of NPR’s “Life Kit” podcast, Marielle Segarra, who’s recently been working on a four-week newsletter series all about credit card debt — and how to avoid it all snowballing. Plus, we’ll play a round of Headline or Head-lyin’!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “In credit card debt? There’s a path out” from Life Kit
• “Medical bills can cause a financial crisis. Here’s how to negotiate them” from Life Kit
• “A big misconception about debt — and how to tackle it” from Life Kit

When Esmé noticed her dad suddenly staying home from work, she had questions! Her dad is one of the hundreds of thousands of workers sent home because of the government shutdown. But what is a government shutdown anyway? In today’s special bonus episode, we explain what’s going.

We’re working on future seasons and would love to hear your kid’s money questions! Record your Million Bazillionaire and send the audio using this online form and we just might include your kid in an upcoming episode!

This episode is sponsored by Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com/million.

Federal programs and funding play an important role in Indian Country, because of the government’s trust responsibility to provide or fund services to tribal nations in exchange for ceded land that now comprises the United States. That relationship also means that shutdowns hit tribal nations particularly hard. We'll learn what that means for services like health care and food distribution programs. Then, a lifelong Las Vegas resident reflects on the city's economic slowdown.

The travel and tourism industry contributes $2.9 trillion to the U.S. economy — more than the size of the automotive industry. But can travel and tourism thrive at a time when the United States is working to overhaul border and trade policy? We'll hear how some Trump administration policies are affecting business on the ground in Las Vegas, Nevada. Plus, the U.S. has finalized its $20 billion bailout of Argentina's currency.

From the BBC World Service: The European Union's new Entry/Exit System will be rolled out on Sunday, but there have been warnings it could cause delays at passport control. The change affects all countries in the Schengen area. Then, India’s southern state of Karnataka — home to Bengaluru, the country’s Silicon Valley — has approved one day of paid menstrual leave per month. Also: the NBA in China and AI at Versailles.

The ongoing government shutdown has caused a lapse in the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act,a law that's key to protecting the nation against major cyberattacks. Plus, OpenAI this week made a huge investment in chipmaker AMD, the latest in a round of blockbuster deals. And Google said it will be updating its smart home devices with its advanced artificial intelligence, Gemini. Marketplace’s Nova Safo spoke with Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, about all these headlines on this week’s Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

The value of the U.S. dollar has been on the rise after months of decline. Political turmoil abroad has hurt other currencies, while easing rates and resilience at home have helped stabilize the dollar. However, investors are still cautious. Also in this episode: the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “birth-death” model suggests the economy may be weakening, silver prices surpass a 45-year record, and Delta posts solid Q3 results by catering to the upper class.

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.

Today we’re all getting smarter about some of the economic and political terms dominating the headlines these days. Terms like “authoritarianism” and “state capitalism” that have been hotly debated during the second Trump administration. Plus, “stagflation” and other vocabulary words our listeners have been curious about. With some help from experts, Kimberly breaks them all down.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• "Why journalists are reluctant to call Trump an authoritarian – and why that matters for democracy" from The Conversation
• "What do we call the Trump administration's economic interventions?" from Marketplace
• "The U.S. Marches Toward State Capitalism With American Characteristics" from The Wall Street Journal
• "Trump's Latest Trade Deals Raise More Questions Than Answers and Harm America’s Future" from the Center for American Progress
• "Supreme Court Agrees to Review Trump’s Sprawling Tariffs" from The New York Times
• "What Is Stagflation, What Causes It, and Why Is It Bad?" from Investopedia
• "Are Donald Trump's tariffs the new sanctions?" from Stanford University

Join us tomorrow for “Economics on Tap.” The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern.