Make Me Smart

• “Biden administration strengthens health care protections for LGBTQ+ Americans” from The 19th News
• “Congressional Review Act Threat Looms Over Biden Administration Rulemakings” from Inside Privacy
• “A Strong U.S. Dollar Weighs on the World”from The New York Times
• “Japan Intervenes After Yen Slides Against the Dollar” from The Wall Street Journal
• “Nebraska’s “Capitol Cat” brings paw-sitivity to politics” from USA Today
• “Stowaway Cat Gets From Utah to California in Amazon Returns Package” from The New York Times

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

Protests over Israel’s war in Gaza have erupted at universities across the United States. We’ll discuss what the sweeping protests and other high-profile political battles at colleges could mean for the economics of higher education. And, what the Federal Reserve might look like under a second Donald Trump presidency. Plus, we’ll play a round of Half Full / Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “Protests Threaten College Graduations, Denying Seniors Second Chance at Normalcy” from The New York Times

• • “What students say about the protests rocking their campuses” from The Washington Post

• • “Americans are falling out of love with the idea of college” from Noahpinion

• • “Americans Are Losing Faith in College Education, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds” from The Wall Street Journal

• • “Trump Allies Draw Up Plans to Blunt Fed’s Independence” from The Wall Street Journal

• • “Job trend ‘resenteeism’ has employees coasting through workdays and hanging on, rather than quitting” from Fox Business

• • “How science could disrupt the gin industry” from Marketplace

• • “Celebs head to DC for correspondents’ dinner: Here’s who’s coming” from The Hill

• • “California lawmakers are tired of Clear’s airport line-cutters — but airlines are not” from Fast Company

• • “Christopher Bess, 5-year-old basketball coach, goes viral” from Marketplace

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• • “Boeing failures are a case study of America’s manufacturing “dark age” from Marketplace
  • “How science could disrupt the gin industry” from Marketplace

Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We’ll have news, drinks and play a round of Half Full/Half Empty.

It was a big week for tech earnings calls. Guest host Nova Safo unpacks how they went down for Tesla and Meta, and why the stock market reacted so differently to what their CEOs had to say. Plus, what Boeing’s troubles say about the state of U.S. manufacturing. And, would you try an AI-generated gin cocktail?

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • Tesla, Inc. Q1 2024 Financial Results and Q&A Webcast

• • “Elon Musk Would Like to Talk About AI” from Heatmap News

• • Meta Q1’24 Earnings Presentation

• • “Boeing failures are a case study of America’s manufacturing “dark age” from Marketplace
  • “How science could disrupt the gin industry” from Marketplace

Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We’ll have news, drinks and play a round of Half Full/Half Empty.

• “Business Groups Race to Block FTC’s Ban on Noncompete Agreements” from The Wall Street Journal
• “FTC Bans Noncompete Agreements That Restrict Job Switching” from The Wall Street Journal
• “Did California’s Noncompete Ban Fuel Silicon Valley Innovation?” from Bloomberg Law
• “Banning Noncompetes Is Good for Innovation” from Harvard Business Review
• “TikTok may be banned in the US. Here’s what happened when India did it” from The Associated Press
• “U.S. Approves Sale of Dating App Whose Owners Were Probed by National Security Officials” from The Wall Street Journal
• “Grindr sold by Chinese owner after US raised national security concerns” from TechCrunch
• “People think ‘old age’ starts later than it used to, study finds” from the American Psychological Association
• “Eternity Only Will Answer” from Poetry Foundation

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Several American dollar store chains have been down bad these days. Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only have all recently announced store closures. On the other hand, Dollar General is poised to expand. This has us wondering: What’s going on with the dollar store business model? Has today’s inflationary economy broken it? On the show today, Sandro Steinbach, professor of agribusiness and applied economics at North Dakota State University, explains the economics behind dollar stores, how they keep prices so low, and the impact they have on different communities.

Then, we’ll discuss privacy risks while using popular dating apps. And, what the Australian kids’ show “Bluey” can teach us about the economy.

Here’s everything we talked about:

• • Video: “How can dollar stores still sell things for a dollar?” from Marketplace

• • “Why are discounters like 99 Cents Only Stores in dire straits?” from Marketplace

• • “Here’s How Dollar General Keeps Its Prices at Rock-Bottom” from Business Insider

• • “The Dollar-Store Showdown Comes Down to Real Estate” from The Wall Street Journal

• • “Dollar store expansion and independent grocery retailer contraction” from Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy

• • “The American dollar store has fallen on hard times” from CNBC

• • “Dating apps are collecting more of your information than you think” from The Washington Post

• • “Justice Department Reaches Civil Settlement with Hundreds of Victims Abused by Lawrence Nassar” from the Department of Justice

• • “Justice Department settles with Larry Nassar victims for $138.7 million” from The Washington Post

• • “Historical U.S. Trade Deficits” from The St. Louis Fed

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