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We're buying a lot more stuff these days

Feb 26, 2021
Money can’t buy happiness, but that’s never stopped anyone from trying.
Spending on goods has gone up during the pandemic, but you can get your kids only so many trampolines.
Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Manufacturing: The China Inc. model

Feb 2, 2021
Why is it sometimes cheaper for U.S. consumers to buy goods from China than from local vendors?
A worker in a southern China shoe factory. Many Chinese manufacturers say they are making goods Americans no longer want to produce.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Factory orders mixed with a dash of anxiety

Dec 5, 2018
Business orders for factory goods are not quite so robust as earlier this year, and that may show up in the numbers this month. But what’s not slowing down is consumer demand for manufactured stuff.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

As trade tensions with the U.S. escalate, some in Canada are turning toward products made at home

Aug 22, 2018
In May, the Trump administration announced import tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canada retaliated with its own, longer list of tariffs that includes steel and aluminum but also products from bourbon to strawberry jam. With the risk of an escalating trade war, a father-son team has created a website for Canadians to find products […]
A fan waves a Canada flag during the game between the United States and Canada on Dec. 3, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. 
Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

For U.S. travelers to the U.K. and the eurozone, currency conversion conundrum

Aug 22, 2018
U.S. travelers to the U.K. and the eurozone face two currency hurdles: calculating pound and euro prices in dollars, and dealing with the higher cost of goods and services over there. How do they cope? With a little magical thinking.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

What's a trade war and are we in one?

Jun 18, 2018
The definition is squishy, but most economists would probably agree we're not there yet.
A worker repairs shipping containers at the Port of Dalian in Liaoning Province, China, in 2013.
Feng Li/Getty Images