This piece was originally published in April 2009. We’re bringing it back today having learned that 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week, in addition to the 3.3 million that filed the week before. Ten million people are now out of jobs due to the economic shutdown brought on by COVID-19.
April is National Poetry Month. So for the next couple of Mondays we’re going to be looking at and listening to the poetry of all things economic. Money and work, commerce and labor, almost anything you can attach a value to.
Many things are taking place:
COVID-19 makes it harder for shipping crews to go home - Marketplace
That feeling when your boss asks you to work an extra shift? Imagine that, but with the requirement of months — not hours — longer at the office.
That's how 100,000 of the world's commercial shipping crews are feeling as coronavirus shuts down ports of entry, forces airlines to ground their entire fleets of planes and countries close borders to prevent further spread of the illness.
After working for months, oftentimes, aboard their ships, crews are now being asked to stay on longer because they simply can't get home.
Is takeout food safe during COVID-19? - Marketplace
With three-fourths of governors issuing statewide stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders during COVID-19, it can be hard to know what is or isn't safe. Restaurants and bars across the country are limited to takeout or delivery only in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. In this time of uncertainty, is it safe to order your favorite Thai food and support your local restaurant?
Marketplace spoke with two experts to find out and to get some tips on how to stay safe while chowing down on Pad Thai and helping your local restaurants stay afloat during the pandemic.
What should the U.S. government do about debt? - Marketplace
This is part of our "Econ Extra Credit" project, where we read an introductory economics textbook provided by the nonprofit Core Econ together with our listeners.
Economists are pushing governments to go further to give people longer grace periods on debt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them is the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia Business School. He’s the author of “ People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent ,” out in paperback on April 21.
And here's another article:
Is Zoom ready for its moment in the spotlight? - Marketplace
The coronavirus pandemic hit, sending millions of students and workers home. Lots and lots of us have defaulted to using Zoom for video conferencing, school, virtual happy hours, family chats with parents and even — in the case of the British government — cabinet meetings.
Kim Zetter: Obviously, Zoom is very useful, and the problem is, now we’re using it for a lot more serious things. People are doing conferencing with their medical doctor, or they’re having therapy sessions over Zoom. The issues now are not just about what I just described, but they’re also about the users’ awareness of what control [the host] has over it.
A Guide To Applying For Medicaid And Marketplace Insurance In The D.C. Region | WAMU
Book publishing has a tight calendar, even in a pandemic - Marketplace
As people shelter in place to help slow the spread of COVID-19, a lot of the world might be on pause right now. New books are still being published and printed, however. But between bookstore closures and shipping delays, it can be hard to get the new titles.
Rachel Deahl, the news director at Publisher’s Weekly, spoke with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal about how the publishing industry is handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Look, it sucks right now,” she said. But, Deahl added, that doesn’t necessarily mean that publishing can or should just go on hold until the economy reopens and people can easily buy books.
Millions face joblessness without savings during pandemic - Marketplace
The Labor Department reported Thursday that there were 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits last week — twice as many as the week before.
We'll get a broader snapshot of employment in the United States on Friday when the monthly jobs report for March is released. It won’t tell us much about recent job losses or the current unemployment rate. That’s because it’s based on surveys of employers and households that were conducted March 7-14, before layoffs and business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic soared.
No comments:
Post a Comment