Jun 28, 2021

It’s sweltering in the Pacific Northwest. Can the infrastructure keep cool?

A heat wave is scorching the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, only about 44% of homes have air conditioning. Stephen Brashear via Getty Images

Also, we discuss the child tax credit, the Fed's housing market dilemma and the first Black woman to get a Ph.D. in economics.

Segments From this episode

Extreme heat, urgent need for AC challenges infrastructure

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Jun 28, 2021

Nonprofit Climate Central estimates that home air conditioning use will increase almost 60% over the next 30 years.

A heat wave is scorching the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, only about 44% of homes have air conditioning.

Stephen Brashear via Getty Images

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The Fed walks a tightrope: Stimulate the economy without causing a housing bubble

by Marielle Segarra

Jun 28, 2021

The central bank's been keeping interest rates low in part by buying up mortgage-backed securities. That has Fed officials keeping a wary eye on the housing market for signs of overheating.

The Federal Reserve building is seen January 22, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Shelf Life

Why the words of America’s first Black economist resonate today

by Kimberly Adams and Maria Hollenhorst

Jun 28, 2021

“She was prescient in many ways,” says Nina Banks, editor of a new book on the speeches and writing of Sadie T. M. Alexander.

Sadie T. M. Alexander, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the United States, reads a comic book to children in 1948.

University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania.

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The expanded child tax credit could "cut poverty in half"

by Samantha Fields

Jun 28, 2021

Starting July 15, most parents will get monthly payments for half of the tax credit instead of a lump sum at tax time.

More parents will be eligible for the child tax credit this year. Above, a mother and daughter stand outside of a community food pantry in New York.

Spencer Platt via Getty

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COVID & Unemployment

Today's conversations about work relief sound like those of the New Deal era

by Andie Corban

Jun 28, 2021

Professors Jason Scott Smith and Jessamyn Schaller look back at the Works Progress Administration's legacy.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who pushed through New Deal legislation in the 1930s to combat the Great Depression. Objections to the relief programs were raised then, as they are now.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Tightrope - The Solo Version Janelle Monáe

Stay This Way The Brand New Heavies

To Zion (feat. Carlos Santana) Ms. Lauryn Hill, Carlos Santana

Chameleon Emancipator, 9 Theory

Remember the Rain Kadhja Bonet

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer II

Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II

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