Last month, during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States had offered to functionally loan Argentina $20 billion. Despite the sums involved, this bailout required no authorization from Congress, because of the loan’s source: an obscure pool of money called the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The ESF is essentially the Treasury Department’s private slush fund.
Its history goes all the way back to the Great Depression. But, in the 90 years since its creation, it has only been used one time at this scale to bailout an emerging economy: Mexico, in 1995. That case study contains some helpful lessons that can be used to make sense of Bessent’s recent move. Will this new credit line to Argentina work out as well as it did the last time we tried it? Or will Argentina’s economic troubles hamstring the Exchange Stabilization Fund forever?
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This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Erika Beras. It was produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Eric Mennel and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
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PBS News Hour - World - Russia pummels Kyiv in barrage of drones and missiles as it makes gains in Ukraine
Russia fired a large-scale barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine early Friday, damaging apartment buildings in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv. It comes as Russia has been making incremental gains on the ground in recent weeks, and the diplomatic path for ending the war is nowhere in sight. Amna Nawaz discussed more with retired Col. Robert Hamilton of the Delphi Global Research Center. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
PBS News Hour - Art Beat - David Kelley’s Brief But Spectacular take on creativity and design
For decades, David Kelley has helped people unlock their creativity. A pioneer of design, he founded the Stanford d.school as a place for creative, cross-disciplinary problem solving. He reflects on the journey that shaped his belief that everyone has the capacity to be creative and his Brief But Spectacular take on creativity and design. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
PBS News Hour - Art Beat - Ken Burns’ ‘The American Revolution’ explores the beginnings of the nation’s democracy
"The American Revolution," the latest work from filmmaker Ken Burns, begins this Sunday on PBS. The six-part, 12-hour history of the war of independence from Britain and the beginnings of the American experiment in democracy comes at a moment of deep divisions. Jeffrey Brown has our look for our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy as part of our CANVAS coverage. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
Marketplace All-in-One - Trump’s tariff turnaround
The latest in President Donald Trump’s trade war waffling? Tariff exemptions aimed at lowering Americans’ grocery bills. Affected products could include supermarket staples, like coffee and bananas from Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala. In this episode, how long it could take for shoppers and businesses to see lower prices. Plus: Work permit rollbacks fuel a janitorial workforce crunch in Texas, moviegoers shell out for IMAX screenings, and we check in with a Pennsylvania customs broker.
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The Gist - Katie Herzog Is the Kind of Person Who Googles Recidivism Rates in an AA Meeting
Katie Herzog breaks down Drink Your Way Sober: The Science-Based Method to Break Free from Alcohol and how naltrexone—used through the Sinclair Method—let her "drink" her way out of addiction after years of half-hearted AA attempts. She explains why rock bottom kept moving, why abstinence felt impossible, and how targeted medication can disrupt the endorphin loop that makes alcohol so compulsive. Plus: the laser focus on the magic word "affordability," and a Spiel about Michael Wolff's Epstein posturing.
Produced by Corey Wara
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Marketplace All-in-One - What’s happening in Vegas?
The Latin Grammys threw a party in Las Vegas last night. But this year, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has had a chilling effect on the Latin entertainment industry. Mountain West News Bureau reporter Yvette Fernandez joins Kimberly from Las Vegas to share her reporting, including how the city is handling a lengthy tourism slump. Plus, we’ll play a round of Half Full/Half Empty!
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- "Latinx Files: Recapping the Latin Grammys" from The Los Angeles Times
- "Immigration crackdown, visa issues spark issues for Latin music festivals" from Marketplace
- "New Statistics Underscore Las Vegas' Prolonged Tourism Slump" from Travel Pulse
- "Healthcare costs continue to be at the heart of the government shut down as costs will still increase" from KNPR
- "He has a soulful voice, a No. 1 hit and he's not real. Meet AI star Breaking Rust" from USA Today
- "The death of the penny is leaving businesses stuck in the middle" from Marketplace
- "The growing business of disconnecting" Marketplace
- "Holiday catalogs are making a comeback" Marketplace
- Test your news knowledge with Marketplace’s new weekly quiz
We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.
Big Technology Podcast - Inside The AI Bubble: Debt, Depreciation, and Losses — With Gil Luria
Gil Luria is the head of technology research at D.A. Davidson. Luria joins Big Technology Podcast for a special Friday edition special report digging into the AI bubble, or whatever term you'd like to use for the questionable investment decisions in AI today. We cover all the bad stuff: debt, depreciation, and losses. We talk about Michael Burry's bet against the technology and why he might be right, and how OpenAI should play this to optimize its potential. Tune in for a comprehensive edition looking at the risks of the AI trade, and what happens from here.
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Consider This from NPR - A Rolex, a gold bar, a trade deal and the ethics of presidential gifts
At a recent gathering of Swiss business executives in the White House, the CEO of Rolex presented President Trump with a gold-plated desk clock.
The CEO of a precious-metals company presented the president with an engraved gold bar.
They were not the official representatives of Switzerland’s economic agenda – but the following week, their government announced a trade deal that drastically lowered the U.S. tariff on imported Swiss goods from 39 percent to 15 percent – now on par with the European Union.
So were the gifts appropriate for the U.S. president to accept?
We hear from University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter – formerly the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush.
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This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam and Brianna Scott, with audio engineering from Simon Laslo-Jansson. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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Newshour - UK court finds mining firm liable for Brazil’s worst environmental disaster
A court in Britain has ruled that the mining company BHP is legally responsible for the collapse of a dam in 2015 which caused one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters. The failure of the Mariana dam (in southeastern Brazil) unleashed a wave of toxic waste that killed nineteen people and polluted a major river. It was owned by a joint venture between the Brazilian firm, Vale, and BHP - which was headquartered in Britain at the time. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilian victims are seeking what could amount to billions of dollars in compensation. BHP says it intends to appeal.
Also in the programme: controversy in Turkish football; and we hear from a mystery person photographed during the Louvre heist.
(Photo: A view shows the BHP Group logo at their headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. CREDIT: REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo)