Yes, This Economy Is Confusing

Are work spouses actually a thing? And what turns a desk-mate into a ride-or-die? In this special episode of The Assignment, Audie Cornish reunites with former work husband and longtime co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, Ari Shapiro. They dive into the stories that defined t ...  Show more

Actor Ken Leung is no stranger to the toxic male archetype. He embodies it as Eric Tao, the ruthless baseball-bat-carrying trading floor bully he plays on HBO’s “Industry.” Leung talks with Audie about what pushes characters like Eric—on screen and in real life—over the edge from ...  Show more

The US economy has so far withstood the effects of higher interest rates a lot better than expected. Unemployment is still at historic lows, even while inflation has cooled and the Federal Reserve has hiked rates for about 18 months. That's not how things are supposed to work acc ...  Show more

Why is the economic recovery from the pandemic so uneven? Why are companies finding it hard to hire? And why are the prices of used cars surging?

Recent economic reports have commentators scratching their heads. We dig into the theories behind this strange moment for the ...

Neil Dutta, the top economist over at Renaissance Macro, has generally been sunny and optimistic about the economy over the last four years or so. But now he's warning of a possible mistake by the Federal Reserve. In his view, the central bank is waiting too long to get confirmat ...  Show more

Gas prices are high, unemployment is low and the tools the federal government has to fight inflation could cause a recession. So how should we think about the economy right now? We asked our econ reporters and a personal finance columnist for advice. 

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