The tens of billions of dollars set aside to help people pay their rent during the pandemic are almost gone, as nearly two thirds of the funding is expected to be spent or allocated by the end of the year. Renters have been relying on the money, but so have their landlords, who say they have had to deal with a variety of obstacles as well. Julia Coronado discusses the concept of full employment, and why many economists believe it is within reach in 2022.

Last month, a federal appeals court halted what would have been mandated COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements for businesses. President Biden asked businesses to “voluntarily”go ahead with those requirements, and it appears most of them are doing so. From the BBC, Professor Sarah Gilbert helped developed one of the COVID vaccines, and now she’s calling for greater investment in pandemic preparedness. A coalition of Native tribes and tribal organization is focusing on farm bill priorities.

From the BBC World Service: Professor Sarah Gilbert, who helped develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, says more investment is needed now to help prevent future pandemics. Plus: A new gadget dubbed “Earth’s black box” can record 50 years worth of climate data. And, a look at whether green hydrogen could help future-proof climate goals.

If you’ve ever switched computers brands or cellphones, chances are you needed a new charger. That’s because certain plug shapes haven’t been standardized from company to company or country to country. But sometimes companies agree to a common strategy. In fact, companies can set the standard for new technology just by being first or by being the most dominant. While American firms have been the main standard-setters in the past, Chinese businesses are picking up speed. Kimberly Adams speaks with Marketplace’s China correspondent Jennifer Pak about this. And Pak says without international standards, switching between brands or locations can be a headache.

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The U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to making rapid at-home COVID-19 tests easily available and inexpensive. And we’re going to need to get better at it as omicron variant concerns increase and we see more indoor gatherings. Then we’ll look at the staffing shortages many schools have faced and what that’s meant for those who’ve stayed. And it’s Friday, so we’ll wrap up with a round of everyone’s favorite game, Half Full/Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about on the show today:

• “Where are the rapid at-home antigen covid-19 tests in the US?” from Quartz
• “Covid Rapid At-Home Tests: How Accurate Are They and Other Questions Answered” from The New York Times
• “New York Reports Five Omicron Cases” from The New York Times
• “Staff shortages mean schools lack teachers, aides, custodians, bus drivers” from The Washington Post
• “Omicron may throw wrench in companies’ plans to return to office” from Reuters
• “What’s at stake in the historic MLB lockout” from “Marketplace Morning Report”
• “Tesla unveils electric Cyberquad ATV for kids” from Fast Company
• “Your Spotify Wrapped Is Embarrassing, and I Want to See It” from The Cut

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Natural gas prices have skyrocketed in recent months thanks to strong global demand. Today, Marketplace’s Andy Uhler takes us to a village in northwest Louisiana where many landowners signed away their mineral rights to drillers. The resulting infusion of cash revived the local economy but has come at an environmental cost for some in the area. We’ll also digest a muddled jobs report in the Weekly Wrap, discuss whether job growth in the warehouse sector is here to stay and tackle the frustrations of on-and-off return-to-office plans.

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The labor department’s job growth numbers came in at less than half of what forecasters projected, at 220,000. On the surface, that looks disappointing, but Christopher Low helps outline why it might not be quite that simple during our economic discussion. We look at how the omicron variant could determine whether or not the ski industry faces and uphill or downhill battle. The hurricane season of 2021 comes to a close, and a look back shows how historically expensive it has been.

From the BBC World Service: Under pressure from Beijing, the company will move its shares to Hong Kong. Plus, trains have started to run on a new line between Laos and China. But can one of Asia’s poorest countries afford the cost of Chinese financing? And, a group of World Trade Organization member nations agree to a deal to slash red tape and substantially cut trade costs.

We can do that with the help of Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports, who explains why the owners have locked out the players and what kind of potential far-reaching impact the lockout (not a strike) could have on the game of baseball as a whole. The Senate has evaded a government shutdown with the passing of a stopgap spending bill that serves as only a temporary solution.

Many tech companies had a good pandemic, financially-speaking, at least. That includes YouTube, which is of course owned by Google, owned by Alphabet. YouTube ad revenue jumped 46% between 2019 and 2020, as people stuck at home turned to the platform for all sorts of reasons. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who says more people are becoming creators for the platform, as well as consumers of videos. And they’re making money in the process.

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Almost two years into COVID-19, there are some parts of the pandemic that don’t seem to be going away. Yes, variants. But also the way we spend our money. We’ll talk about why grocery stores are still capturing the majority share of stomach and what that means in the days of omicron. Plus, a successful spacewalk, and we nerd out over today’s date.

Here’s everything we talked about:

• “President Biden Announces New Actions to Protect Americans Against the Delta and Omicron Variants as We Battle COVID-19 this Winter” from the White House
• “Covid vaccines: WTO chief very concerned about unequal distribution” from CNBC
• “Kroger lifts profit, sales forecast on sustained grocery demand” from Reuters
• “NASA astronauts conduct spacewalk postponed due to debris risk” from CNN
• Kimberly’s space junk series Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 
• “Today’s date is rare: it reads the same forward, backward and upside down”  from the Detroit Free Press

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Workers over 65 were the fastest-growing segment of the labor force before the pandemic. But as the pandemic persists and new coronavirus variants spread, older adults have been slow to return to the workforce, and many have simply retired early. In a tight labor market, that shrunken labor pool could persist for years to come. We’ll also hear how bond buying could translate into higher mortgage rates, how omicron could further complicate the global supply chain and how stock images play a role in reinforcing whiteness.

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When Dalip Singh became taxi driver in New York City, he thought it’d be his ticket to the middle class. It would take years before he discovered that he’d instead bought into a massive lending scam, one that would go on for decades, pushing him and thousands of other drivers into extreme debt. Now, as Dalip and his family try to get ahead, they find themselves struggling against the exact systems they thought were meant to help them.

“This Is Uncomfortable” is Reema Khrais, Donna Tam, Megan Detrie, Peter Balonon-Rosen, Camila Kerwin, Phoebe Unterman, Marielle Segarra and Serena Chow

Parts of the president’s plan include the reimbursement of costs for at-home COVID tests and booster vaccinations, along with the establishment of family vaccination clinics. Diane Swonk references “Groundhog Day” during our standing markets discussion as everyone struggles to determine what omicron’s impact could actually be on the economy. There are concerns as to what hedge fund ownership could mean for many local news outlets. Grocery chain Kroger is squaring off against Publix in Florida by utilizing a delivery-only approach.

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From the BBC World Service: There are several options on the table for the OPEC oil-producing countries and their allies in order to help lower prices, but the omicron variant has added further uncertainty around global demand trends. Plus, why the Asian ride-hailing giant Grab is making its debut on the Nasdaq. And, Turkey’s President Erdogan abruptly replaced the country’s finance minister.

We lead off with baseball news. Major League Baseball entered its first work stoppage in more than 25 years after the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players expired at the stroke of midnight. All player activity as it relates to their teams has been stopped. As many people are making the decision to quit their jobs during this era of the pandemic, we hear about the experience of a stay-at-home dad who left behind his job as a teacher. 

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One of the biggest debates in society right now is over online speech, and how much power tech companies should have in determining what content comes down, and what stays up, or who gets to use the platforms at all. Some complain Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are too heavy handed or biased. While others argue the platforms need to be way more aggressive. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube and asked about her strategy.

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Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, will be renamed Crypto.com Arena this month. The news made quite a splash for the cryptocurrency exchange. And it left one listener wondering how naming rights work. We look at the history of these deals and how they happen. Plus, we answer your questions about the cost of switching from gas to electric appliances, why people want to abolish the Federal Reserve and if the two-week notice is really necessary.

And finally, we’ll take some time at the end to say farewell our friend and co-host, Molly Wood.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “To Decarbonize Households, America Needs Incentives for Electric Appliances” from the Center for American Progress
• “There’s a battle over your gas stove, climate change and health” from NPR
• “Naming rights: Balancing art and science” from Sports Business Journal
• “Staples Center to become Crypto.com Arena in reported $700 million naming rights deal” from ESPN
• “The Changing Landscape Of Stadium Naming Rights Deals” from Forbes
• “Is giving two weeks notice outdated?” from Marketplace
• “The great resignation: Millions of Americans tell their bosses ‘I quit'” from Morning Brew

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California’s portside neighborhoods, which are home to many low-income residents and communities of color, have long suffered from polluted air. But supply chain bottlenecks have worsened that pollution, which has been linked to cancer, heart disease and asthma. Though community advocates have pushed for emissions reductions, demand for goods that filter through the port is still at a record high. Also on the show today: A chat with Visa’s CEO about the future of digital payments; economists weigh in on how omicron could affect the market; and why it can be hard to find a public bathroom.

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Authorities are considering stricter COVID testing requirements for international travelers coming into the U.S. in an effort to curb the impact of the omicron variant. There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but plenty of ideas are on the table. Susan Schmidt discusses how the combined forces of omicron concerns and inflation are sweeping through the markets. We also check in on the thriving status of buy now pay later services like Afterpay.

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Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are slated to testify again before the Senate Banking Committee after speaking with it on Tuesday. In addition to Powell’s remarks, Yellen offered a warning about raising the nation’s debt ceiling. We hear from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who spoke at length to Kimberly Adams for Marketplace Tech. Federal money could be offer some aid to parts of the ailing construction industry.

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From the BBC World Service: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says increasing vaccine access must be a priority to help tackle the health crisis and alleviate bottlenecks at ports, factories and borders by allowing them to re-open. And, is the EU’s new “Global Gateway” strategy designed to rival China’s global influence?

Today on Capitol Hill, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is again testifying before Congress on how to hold tech companies accountable. She’s one of many voices calling for more regulation of the industry, which could come from dozens of bills being considered by Congress. That legislation could have a big impact on platforms like YouTube. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube. She says the industry is already subject to regulations, both in the United States and around the world, and that Congress should be cautious as it considers new laws.

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It’s time to talk about bitcoin’s digital cousin: ethereum. This is a type of blockchain operating system that allows you to trade the cryptocurrency called ether. But it does much more, including things called smart contracts that are changing the way people do business.

“What it really does is allows for the possibility that the middleman gets eliminated from the equation … if you have a good idea in blockchain and in ethereum, you can kind of go directly to users or investors to raise the money you want to start your business,” said Matt Leising, co-founder of DeCential Media, which covers the world of crypto, decentralized finance and the blockchain.

On the show today, we’ll get a lesson in how ethereum works, the advantages and disadvantages and why supporters believe it’s not going away. So regulators should catch up quick!

In the News Fix, we’ll hear positive news about boosters for teens and hear a warning about how omicron may mess with inflation. Plus, regulators are cracking down on Facebook, but they’re not the ones you’re thinking about.

Then, listeners say farewell to Molly and a bananas answer to the Make Me Smart question.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Understanding Ethereum, Bitcoin’s Virtual Cousin” from The New York Times
• “For Rules in Technology, the Challenge is to Balance Code and Law” from The New York Times
• “Powell Lays Groundwork for Faster End to Stimulus as Inflation Outlook Worsens” from The Wall Street Journal
• “Covid News: Pfizer to Seek Approval for Boosters for 16- and 17-Year-Olds” from The New York Times
• “Facebook Parent Told to Sell Giphy by U.K. Regulator” from The Wall Street Journal
• Audio: “Make Me Smart” listeners write a special song for Molly (visit our show page to listen)

Finally, it’s Giving Tuesday. Give now to help us reach $100,000 in donations and unlock another $100,000 from the Investors Challenge Fund. To donate, go to Marketplace.org/givesmart. And thank you for your generosity.

Food banks saw increased demand at the height of the pandemic. Now, as inflation limits what your buck can buy at grocery stores, demand is rising yet again. But food banks are dealing with those higher costs too, as well as supply chain issues that mean longer wait times for their orders and fewer donations. Also on today’s program, how Substack has changed the media landscape, what the omicron variant might mean for consumer confidence and why the U.K. aspires to be a green hydrogen powerhouse.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

All facets of care for people with dementia come with an avalanche of costs, and they’re going to get higher, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences. Senior economics contributor Chris Farrell helps explain what those costs are in a discussion. We check in on the another effort to unionize for Amazon workers in Alabama, as the National Labor Relations Board has gotten involved after an earlier attempt resulted in a “no” vote.

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Regulators are pressuring the insurance industry to rethink its relationship with “big data” and artificial intelligence in light of studies that show that people of color in urban areas could be charged significantly more than people in the suburbs. We discuss the effect of the omicron variant has had on the vaccine markets after warnings from Moderna’s CEO. Also, today may be Giving Tuesday, but charitable giving is expected to be down after a record year.

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From the BBC World Service: The Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel expects the number of mutations in the latest COVID-19 variant mean new vaccines will be required next year, sending ripples of nervousness through financial markets. But what do we actually know about the impact of omicron? And, a new report suggests some high food prices are unlikely to fall next year.

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Jack Dorsey has stepped down as the CEO of Twitter, a company he co-founded 15 years ago. Companies are often associated with their founders, and in Silicon Valley, having a smart, charismatic founder can be the difference between getting off the ground at all, or not. But in his note announcing his departure, Dorsey said it’s critical for companies to stand on their own, free of their founder’s influence. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Sarah Kunst, general partner at the venture firm Cleo Capital, about what challenges lie ahead for Dorsey’s replacement as CEO, Parag Agrawal.

Giving Tuesday challenge: Give now to help us reach $100k in donations and unlock another $100k from the Investors Challenge Fund.

Over the holiday break, epidemiologists around the world did a simultaneous face palm after news about a new COVID-19 “variant of concern.” We’ll catch you up on the omicron variant and what it might mean for the global economy. Plus, Jack Dorsey is out as CEO at Twitter and Amazon workers in Alabama get ready to vote (again.)

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Doctor: Many South Africans Ill in Surge Have Mild Symptoms” from the Associated Press
• “Jack Dorsey Steps Down as Twitter CEO, Replaced by CTO Parag Agrawal” from Bloomberg
• “Three Things Twitter’s New CEO Should Do to Spark a Turnaround” from Bloomberg
• “NLRB calls new election at Amazon warehouse” from The Washington Post 
• VIDEO: “This Christmas We’re Screwed,” Mariah Carey parody
• Thread: San Francisco bus operator rates scene from “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
•  And if you’re looking for our banana pants sweatshirt, check it out here 

Read the transcript here.

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The coronavirus omicron variant caused stock market jitters on Friday. While the strain’s impact on global health remains to be seen, if omicron is similar to the delta wave, we can expect travel and consumer spending to take a big hit. How it might affect inflation is unclear. Plus: Black Friday spending is up but still below pre-pandemic levels; millennials are sidelined in the homebuying market; and schools prepare to use federal pandemic relief.

The reopened U.S.-Canada border has businesses on the U.S. side of things ready and anxious to receive business from the neighbors to the north, even if it’s just to pick up packages. The crowds, however, have been slow to come. The markets appear to be bouncing back after the initial flood of concern surrounding the Omicron variant. Julia Coronado helps explain the market mood shift. We also hear some details on the sales action from Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

President Biden is slated to talk about the newly detected COVID variant later today. Meanwhile, the economic concerns are real, as Wall Street is poised to recover after taking a bit of a tumble over the weekend. Also, the World Health Organization said Omicron posed a very high risk of surging infection rates. Senior economics contributor Chris Farrell helps us discuss the role of retirees during the labor shortage. Could some of them be coming back to work?

From the BBC World Service: That’s partly because despite a rise in infections in South Africa, they aren’t seeing an increase in COVID-19 deaths in the province hardest hit by the new variant. Plus, WHO member countries meet to discuss the global pandemic response. And, businesses in the Netherlands are worried about pandemic restrictions limiting opening hours for hospitality and cultural venues.

“Marketplace Tech’s” Molly Wood is leaving journalism after two decades, including the past four years as the host of this show. More recently, Molly has been co-host of the Marketplace podcast “Make Me Smart” and host of the new show about climate change solutions, “How We Survive.” And since Molly’s a reporter who has asked some pretty hard questions of her guests over the years, Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams asks her questions submitted by listeners.

Whereas next- or same-day delivery services transformed the way people shopped at the height of the pandemic, there’s a new kid in town: companies that will deliver an order in under 20 minutes. While the services have made it to densely populated urban areas in the United States, the market is particularly booming in the United Kingdom. Victoria Craig takes us to London, where — for super-fast delivery apps — competition is fierce, investment is booming and pathways to long-lasting profit are uncertain. Plus: The Weekly Wrap, a sky-high battle for 5G and a Black Friday look at consumer spending.

A new COVID-19 variant is emerging as President Biden faces growing pressure to push for an emergency intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. In a letter to Biden, 15 human rights and medical groups called the waiver “a moral imperative” that would help get more doses of the vaccine to low-income countries.  We also look at what Small Business Saturday means for local retailers this year, and how supply chain shortages might actually work in their favor. Plus: how a South African mall is navigating the return to in-person shopping, and why some Americans are opting out of the consumer frenzy — and not just for the holidays.

The global semiconductor shortage could continue until the second half of next year, according to a projection from chip supplier Foxconn — which could mean higher prices for goods like cars. And people’s expectations that prices will go up can lead them to ask for higher wages to afford said goods. Businesses then raise prices to compensate, leading to a continuing cycle of inflation. Are we in danger of entering that cycle? Plus, we look at what the new COVID-19 variant means for markets and the holiday travel season.

From the BBC World Service: As countries including the U.K., Germany and Japan announce restrictions on flights from a number of southern African countries, the WHO now needs to decide if this should be labelled a variant of concern. But, the selloff in markets, coming the day after Thanksgiving, needs a bit more context. And, we hear from global supermarket giant Carrefour on what super-fast delivery adds to its bottom line.

This episode was originally published May 17, 2021.

Picture this: You’re not feeling so hot and you say to your smart speaker, “Robot, I’m hungry,” and you cough. And the device says, “Would you like a recipe for chicken soup?” And then, “By the way, would you like to order cough drops with one-hour delivery?” This is the scenario laid out in one of Amazon’s patents. And it shows how voice recognition technology could be used to learn things about us, beyond the words we say to our devices. Like whether we’re sick or depressed. Marketplace’s Amy Scott speaks with Joe Turow, a communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who writes about all of this in his new book “The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet.”

At the height of the pandemic, dozens of small communities saw an opportunity to recruit people who could work from anywhere — by paying them to move. Today, Dan Kraker takes us to Bemidji, Minnesota, where a program offers people $2,500 to telework there. The solution has proved mutually beneficial, offering newcomers a slower, more budget-friendly pace of life while helping a smaller town grow. Plus: The glass bottle shortage comes to a liquor store near you, the 30th anniversary of a major economic database and the young engineer behind an operations-friendly headscarf.

When you’re a kid, your parents make all the financial decisions for you. But what happens when you grow up … and don’t agree with their choices?

We’re off this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. This episode originally aired in July 2019.

President Biden released 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve, but experts warn not to expect that to knock gas prices down during the holidays. We look into how the kinks in the supply chain could open up opportunities for gift cards. The BBC hits the streets of London to see how it does Thanksgiving.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced partnerships with tribal leaders and food producers in an effort to promote Indigenous food sovereignty. As the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade returns in full force, we look into the company’s announcement to cover tuition for its employees. Other companies have made the same pledges, but do those programs work? The BBC reports on a fresh wave of COVID cases that has hit Germany, right as the new incoming government begins to take over.

From the BBC World Service: With COVID-19 infection rates across Europe, Germany’s incoming coalition government has to deal with pandemic challenges as well as supply-chain kinks and fresh data showing slower economic growth than expected. And, it’s harder than usual for Americans abroad to find some of their favorite Thanksgiving food.

This episode originally aired Sept. 9, 2021.

Water infrastructure — it’s boring. Invisible. We only care about it when things go wrong, and things have been going wrong. Punishing storms have caused catastrophic flooding in New York, Texas, Louisiana and elsewhere. But water systems are expensive, time consuming and hard to fix. Technology may provide some relief. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talks to Paul Robinson, the executive director of RISE, a nonprofit accelerator in Norfolk, Virginia, that helps develop climate tech. Robinson says one of the companies they fund is StormSensor, which puts sensors in storm and sewer pipes.

We got a feast of economic figures the day before Thanksgiving: First-time unemployment claims are at a 52-year low. But a key index shows inflation is at a 31-year high. Consumer spending is up too, yet consumer sentiment is at its lowest point in a decade. What the heck is going on? On today’s show, we’ll tell you how the economic recovery can look anything but linear. We’ll also hear about the big number of small-scale labor actions, the infrastructure bill’s potential impact on holiday travel routes and a new initiative by the Department of Labor aimed at assisting home care workers.

When the first commercial typewriters were introduced in 1874, offices were men’s domain. But soon the majority of clerical workers were women, and that remains true today — and the typewriter is a crucial part of that revolution. We also look at President Biden’s nomination of Shalanda Young to head the Office of Management and Budget, who would be the first Black woman in the role permanently. Plus, what do today’s economic indicators tell us about the holiday shopping season?

For the first time, a jury has found major pharmacy chains liable for the opioid addiction crisis. Two Ohio counties sued CVS, Walgreens and Walmart over the epidemic of addictions that’s claimed half a million lives in this country. Plus, two days before Black Friday, we take a moment to consider the junk we can’t seem to get rid of.

From the BBC World Service: After plunging 15% on Monday, the lira has recovered some of its early losses. But there are reports supermarkets are beginning to ration flour and sugar and prices for goods and services are rising. Plus, Germany’s incoming government is set to unveil its coalition deal, giving an idea of the direction for Europe’s largest economy. And, how so-called ‘scambaiters’ are trying to get revenge against scammers.