Marketplace All-in-One

• USAID cuts hit agricultural research

  There’s another casualty from the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development: Funding for agriculture research at 17 labs at U.S. universities is now frozen. We’ll discuss some of the impacts. Plus, the health of the manufacturing sector improved for the second month in a row. And, how are markets responding to government firings and a government-wide deregulation campaign?

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• Consumers have the travel bug again

  Shares of Booking Holdings — the company behind Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak and other travel sites — are popping this morning after announcing yesterday that profits were up almost 50% last quarter compared to a year earlier. Tons of companies in the travel industry, including airlines, are doing well thanks to strong travel demand. We’ll unpack. Also on the program: a lesson on how Massachusetts helped make the modern gambling industry.

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• Antiausterity protests continue in Indonesia

  From the BBC World Service: Thousands of students are protesting as part of what’s become known as “Dark Indonesia” demonstrations, in which rally-goers are taking a stand against budget cuts and other policies by President Prabowo Subianto. Plus, Germany’s election campaign is in its closing days, and a BBC investigation finds that addictive synthetic opioids are being illegally shipped to West Africa by an Indian company.

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• Bytes: Week in Review — deep cuts at AI agency, DOGE sued again and pulling the plug on the Ai Pin

  Another lawsuit hits the Department of Government Efficiency from privacy rights advocates concerned about Americans’ personal data. And another wearable — the Ai Pin — bites the dust. But first, layoffs by the federal government are continuing, including, reportedly, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, which is part of the Commerce Department. This is a federal laboratory that’s been around since 1901 whose mission is to promote U.S. innovation and competition. And part of its work is to help create standards for new technology, like artificial intelligence. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes is joined by Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, to break down these stories. Curi recently reported that NIST is expected to fire about 500 workers. But what does NIST do, exactly?

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• DOGE’s next target: IRS

  Things are getting tense at the Internal Revenue Service. Layoffs are looming smack in the middle of tax season as part of DOGE’s mission to cut the federal workforce. Meanwhile, the commerce secretary says President Donald Trump wants to abolish the agency altogether. Get ready for a Kai rant! Plus, Trump wants to know if there’s still gold at Ft. Knox. No, really! And, finally, we’ll smile about all the good things that have happened to you lately. Here’s everything we talked about: “Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown on list to be possibly removed by Hegseth” by ABC News “Commerce Secretary Lutnick: Trump’s goal is to abolish the IRS” from Axios “I.R.S. to Begin Laying Off Roughly 6,000 Employees on Thursday” from The New York Times Watch: “Trump wants to know if there’s gold in Fort Knox” by AP News Watch: “Fmr. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on U.S. gold reserves at Fort Knox” from CNBC Television “What to know about Fort Knox’s gold depository that Musk wants audited” from Axios “A campus sign said, ‘Tell us something good.’ Students delivered.” by The Washington Post Join us tomorrow for “Economics on Tap.” The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

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