From the BBC World Service: Volkswagen has been making cars in Germany for 88 years. In all that time, it's never closed a manufacturing plant in its home country until now. On Tuesday, the last vehicle will roll off the assembly line at the VW plant in Dresden. It comes as the company struggles with the transition to EVs. Plus, the head of Ukraine's largest energy provider says his company is living in permanent crisis mode as Russia steps up attacks on the country's energy grid.
Marketplace All-in-One - How states are competing in the data center gold rush
Tech giants are estimated to have spent almost $400 billion in capital expenditures this year, mostly to build data centers for artificial intelligence. A single massive facility can have a price tag in the billions of dollars.
And many states want in on that spending spree. Thirty-seven states have some sort of incentive program to attract data centers with the hope of bringing a boost to their local economies. They're giving away hundreds of millions in tax exemptions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Nicholas Miller, policy associate at NCSL, to learn more.
PBS News Hour - World - Shock and grief matched by anger after antisemitic attack in Australia
The massacre at a Hanukkah gathering at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach killed 15 people this weekend. Two gunmen opened fire on celebrations for the first night of the Jewish Festival of Lights. Australian officials quickly labeled the assault an antisemitic act of terrorism. As Geoff Bennett reports, shock and grief were matched by anger and urgent questions. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
PBS News Hour - World - ‘He has suffered enough,’ Jimmy Lai’s daughter says after his conviction in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's High Court found media mogul and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and sedition. The case has become a symbol of Beijing’s crackdown on dissent. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Claire Lai, Jimmy Lai’s daughter. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
Marketplace All-in-One - Time to strike out on your own?
IRS filings for new business applications have been climbing the past few months — particularly in the retail sector. The last time we saw a spike like this was in 2020. Are Americans ditching the corporate life, seeking stability, or in need of a second income? Likely a mix of all three. Also in this episode: Insurance coverage decisions go beyond medication sticker prices, home builder confidence ticks up, and the penny phase-out adds up for businesses doing a lot of cash transactions.
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In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons - WBEZ Digs Into The Claim That Johnson’s Proposed Job Tax Is A ‘Job Killer’
Today, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council kicked off a series of high-profile budget meetings, and the clock is ticking for them to pass the 2026 budget. The major sticking point continues to be whether the corporate head tax as a revenue stream should be included in the proposal.
A new WBEZ data analysis digs into the claim that it’s a job killer, showing little connection between job trends in the city and an earlier version of the tax, which was repealed in 2014. We get more info from Mariah Woelfel, WBEZ city politics reporter; Amy Qin, WBEZ data reporter; and Bob Bruno, director of the labor education program at the School for Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Marketplace All-in-One - China’s economy hits a rough patch
There’s more evidence that China’s economy is stalling. Beijing released a batch of government data today that was not encouraging. Chinese consumers have slammed their wallets shut, and data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China paints a picture of stagnating investment, output, and consumption. And later, we'll preview long-delayed economic data slated to come out this week and learn why retailers are hiring fewer workers for the holiday shopping season.
Marketplace All-in-One - A defense bill about more than just defense
This week, the Senate is set to take up the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act. The House passed it last week. It is more than 3,000 pages of defense policy planning that the Senate will be digging through; the actual funding of these plans comes later. But there's also a whole lot of stuff that's not defense-related. Today, we'll dig in. Plus, we'll hear how China came to dominate in money laundering.
Marketplace All-in-One - Air pollution in Delhi is hitting consumers, businesses
From the BBC World Service: "It's like I'm standing inside a cloud of dust and smoke," says BBC correspondent Devina Gupta of air quality in India's capital. Residents there have been urged to stay indoors, and new restrictions are affecting worker productivity and costing businesses. Then, a Hong Kong court has found media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty of sedition. And later, retailers in the U.S. are hiring a record low number of seasonal employees.
Marketplace All-in-One - A case for AI models that understand, not just predict, the way the world works
Gary Marcus, professor emeritus at NYU, explains the differences between large language models and "world models" — and why he thinks the latter are key to achieving artificial general intelligence.