An obscure indicator can tell us a lot about global commerce
![](https://www.marketplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/GettyImages-1168243550.jpg?w=900)
The Baltic Dry Index measures what shipping companies charge to carry bulk goods — things like coal, iron ore, grains.
Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
Economists track what's called the Baltic Dry Index as a snapshot of what's coursing through the arteries of the global economy. Plus, 13 more J.C. Penney stores will close for good. And, surveying millennials about transformational change.
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Music from the episode
Red-Eye The Album Leaf
The team
David Brancaccio
Host
Victoria Craig
Host, BBC
Stephen Ryan
Senior Producer, BBC
Jonathan Frewin
Producer, BBC
Daniel Shin
Producer
Jay Siebold
Technical Director
Brian Allison
Engineer
Meredith Garretson Morbey
Senior Producer
Erika Soderstrom
Producer
Rose Conlon
Producer
Alex Schroeder
Producer