From the BBC World Service... It's been almost a year since President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iranian nuclear accord. Can a deal with Europe be salvaged? Also, the ambitious Chinese start-up Luckin Coffee that is competing with Starbucks wants to raise as much as $510 million in a stock market flotation. Then, Italy's populist coalition came to power last year amid a promise to spend more and tax less. One of the more eye-catching proposals was a promise to start handing out a “citizens’ income” for the poor.
At long last, Instagram influencers can stop using clunky workarounds to try to get you to buy things on the social media platform — things like, “click the link in the bio” or tagging the account attached to the brand they’re hawking.
As of this week, creators can tag a product, and their fans can buy it directly from the post, further cementing the influencer economy and so-called social e-commerce as the next big trend in online retail.
As of this week, Instagram influencers can tag products in their photos so they can sell things directly to their followers. And brands are increasingly bypassing traditional advertising and using sponsored content and social influencers to sell their goods. In China, where most internet usage is already mobile, this so-called social commerce is already the norm. And some retail shops are using China's other hot mobile trend, livestreaming, to show off goods to a real-time audience. It’s like QVC, but for social media.
In a couple of tweets over the weekend, President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on more Chinese goods. It's another twist in a long saga that's had a lot of turns already, and it's just one of several international trade disputes the Trump administration is currently involved in. That's why we figured today would be a good day for a trade war update.
With an IPO debut later this week and ongoing employee strikes, Uber has been nothing short of newsworthy. The next bit of news about the ride-hailing company includes partnering with cities to improve their public transit systems. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talked to CityLab's Laura Bliss about how the Canadian city of Innisfil has "Uberized" its public transportation system.
My Economy tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.
The tariff hikes that President Donald Trump is threatening would come at a time when inflation has otherwise been pretty quiet. Too quiet, according to some economists, since the economy's booming and productivity's on the rise. So could boosting tariffs on Chinese goods to 25% finally lead to some inflation?
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In Beijing, President Donald Trump’s new threat to hike tariffs on Chinese goods has not gone over well. Stocks fell 5% in one Chinese stock exchange, 7.4% in another, and the currency tumbled. Politically, this puts Chinese leaders in a tough position. They want to end this trade war, but as we know, all politics — even in China — is local. And President Xi Jinping cannot afford to look weak before a domestic audience.
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You could say the trade war is back on after President Donald Trump’s tweets announcing potential tariff hikes. We break down what that might mean for American trade. This week also marks the latest round of talks between American and Chinese negotiators — we heard from someone trying to run a business affected by tariffs about the reality on the ground. Also, could Uber work as a surrogate for public transit? Find out how one Canadian city tried to build a transportation network out of ride-sharing.
Working from home has more than doubled among workers who are not self-employed since 2005, according to figures from the Census Bureau. Some companies are taking the trend to an extreme by doing away with shared physical workspaces. Such arrangements can pose challenges to communication and collaboration, but companies are finding creative ways to make it work.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have welcomed a baby boy into the world. Being born a British royal comes with some serious, life-long perks.
In a move that could derail Europe’s largest public infrastructure project, British Prime Minister Theresa May, battered and bruised by Brexit, is expected to leave office later this year. The multibillion dollar plan to build HS2 — a high-speed rail line linking London with the North of England — could be cancelled.
Opponents of the plan have been protesting against it for almost a decade. Now, they say, victory might finally be in sight.
There are a lot of empty retail spaces across the United States looking for fresh ideas to lure in shoppers. Urban designers say it's all about offering something you can’t get online. In some cases, immigrant business owners in Texas are helping transform brick-and-mortar spaces — long abandoned by regional retailers — into marketplaces that quickly become local community hubs.
President Trump threatens to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, and global markets took notice. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Finland as global politics zero in on the melting Arctic. Plus, we take a look at how immigrants are revitalizing abandoned retail spaces and creating business and community hubs through entrepreneurship.
Today in Finland, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will speak at what’s called the Arctic Council, a forum of northern countries that meets to discuss and assess sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic region. With climate change, the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, and melting ice presents both economic opportunities and challenges.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook is preparing to launch a cryptocurrency for use across its social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram. According to the report, Facebook hopes the coin will be backed by $1 billion in investments from Visa and Mastercard, among other financial services companies. If the tech giant does unveil a cryptocurrency, it’s certain to disrupt the current online payment habits of the company’s 2.5 billion monthly users.
A presidential tweet regarding tariffs on China sends otherwise calm stock markets into chaos. Facebook makes a late entrance into the digital currency game. Plus, what does Prime Minister Theresa May's announced exit mean for Britain's cross-country, high-speed rail project?
From the BBC World Service... Global stock markets have plunged following President Donald Trump's threat to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. Can a trade deal between the U.S. and China still be struck? Then, we explain why a meeting in Finland to discuss protecting the Arctic has global significance. Plus, voters in South Africa head to the polls this week. With the jobless rate at 27%, we look at what the rainbow nation needs to do to solve its unemployment problem.
Nintendo's Game Boy came out 30 years ago. It marked a beginning and an end. The end of me as a productive child, teenager and adult — let's face it. The device was janky by today's standards, but it was revolutionary in 1989. It was also affordable enough that a kid could buy one after a single summer of delivering the West Toledo Herald newspaper in his neighborhood. Because my parents would never buy me one.
Game Boy launched serious mobile gaming 30 years ago, and that's a big part of how we play today. By 2121, its projected mobile gaming will bring in more than $100 billion in revenue. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talks with Ian Bogost, a game designer and professor of gaming at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
With unemployment so low and wages moving up, workers now have more bargaining power than they have in recent years. It may be a good time to ask for a raise, or see if you can trade in your current job for a higher-paying one. Changing jobs often offers a larger pay increase than staying in the same position.
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The jobless rate for teenagers is around 13%, according to the latest employment report from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Labor Department however, only counts those over the age of 16. We talked to one teenager who's too young to be officially included in the workforce, but has a very big job to do. At 13 years of age, Alina Morse is the chief executive of a multimillion-dollar candy company, Zollipops.
The economy added 260,000 jobs last month, and unemployment hit a record low. Wages are rising steadily but not dramatically. With such a tight labor market, what does it take to get a real raise? Often, it's trading up for a different job. Plus, we take a short march through Chinese history and meet a 13-year-old CEO who counts her father as an employee.
Eight hundred million Internet users. 1.5 billion mobile phone accounts. Huawei, Alibaba, WeChat. Eight times the STEM graduates the U.S. produces. How did China become such a big player in science and technology?
The Consumer Technology Association brought a scaled-down version of its popular Consumer Electronics Show to Capitol Hill this week in an effort to change the conversation for a minute amid mounting pressure from lawmakers looking to increase regulation of tech companies. With privacy violations, data breaches and concerns over net neutrality regularly making headlines, tech companies used the event to mingle with members of Congress
When Franjo Ivankovic, 24, gets together with friends, they talk about their concerns. They’re worried about jobs, whether they’ll be able to support themselves or someday have and support kids. Those concerns, he said, are having an impact on their sex lives.
“We tend to not only get cautious about having sex but also lose the mood to have sex or socialize in general,” he said.
The U.S. added 263,000 jobs in April, about 70,000 more than expected. But could the hot jobs market overheat the entire economy? The federal consumer watchdog gives small banks a new level of privacy. Plus, we look the widening gender gap at a time when women are more educated and prepared for demanding, high-level jobs than ever before.
The movement against polystyrene — plastic foam that includes the brand Styrofoam — is growing. Maine this week became the first state to ban the material for single-use food and drink containers. Other states are considering similar measures. Several cities, from New York to Berkeley, California, have bans in place. But how much of a dent in our growing plastic waste problem can these bans make?
The unemployment rate for teenagers in March was 12.8% compared to the national figure of 3.8%. "They have lower levels of education. And they probably are not going to have the kinds of social and professional networks that many adults use to find jobs," said Martha Ross at the Brookings Institution. Teens also tend to work in jobs with higher turnover, so they're often between jobs.
Fewer teens are getting jobs, due, in part, to teens not really looking for them. Maine becomes the first state to ban styrofoam, but some say these prohibitions aren't very environmentally friendly. Plus, the Consumer Electronics Show comes to Capitol Hill.
