Economy

Drew Lehman and his wife, Laura, sit on the family's big leather couch. Lehman says it's the most comfortable place for him.

Student Loan Borrowers With Disabilities Aren't Getting Help They Were Promised

10:53am December 04, 2019

Hundreds of thousands of borrowers are eligible to have their student loans erased because a disability keeps them from working. NPR found many will likely never get the debt relief they're owed.

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Economy

Investors Rattled As President Trump's Trade War Heats Up Again

5:47pm December 03, 2019

by Scott Horsley

President Trump's trade war is heating up again, with threats of new tariffs on France, Brazil and Argentina. The sudden shifts have rattled investors, who'd come to believe a truce was near.

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President Trump's remarks sent the stock market tumbling on Tuesday morning, as investors grappled to recalibrate to the suggestion that a trade deal with China could be a year away.

Stocks Slide As Trump Says China Trade Deal Might Wait Until After 2020 Election

3:54pm December 03, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

"A China trade deal is dependent on one thing — do I want to make it," the president said, adding, "In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal."

A More Constitutional Way To Tax The Rich?

6:30am December 03, 2019

by Greg Rosalsky

Over the last year, the media has focused on a wealth tax. But there's another type of wealth taxation also on the table, and it might stand a better chance of surviving judicial review.

What Is The Trump Administration's Strategy For Trade Battles?

6:23am December 03, 2019

NPR's Noel King talks to Stephen Vaughn, former general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, about the U.S.-China trade war, and about U.S. trade policy in other parts of the world.

Dean Foods Declares Bankruptcy. Milk Co-Op May Take Over Dean's Plants

6:08am December 03, 2019

by Frank Morris

A decline in milk consumption has helped to drive a giant U.S. milk company into bankruptcy. A dairy cooperative may buy most of Dean Foods "to make sure all that milk keeps flowing."

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Dan Digre, who owns a Minnesota factory, Misco, that makes speakers, says tariffs are hurting his ability to compete.

His Company Makes Speakers. Now He's Speaking Out, Opposing Tariffs

2:32pm December 02, 2019

by Scott Horsley

The trade war with China is weighing on America's manufacturers. "[The tariff burden] comes out of our bottom line," says Dan Digre, president of Misco, a speaker-maker in Minnesota.

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Denis Otieno and his daughter plant a cypress sapling purchased with money received from the charity GiveDirectly back in 2017. More recently, the charity teamed up with researchers to study the impact of cash grants on the wider community.

Researchers Find A Remarkable Ripple Effect When You Give Cash To Poor Families

2:01pm December 02, 2019

by Nurith Aizenman

Research suggests the most effective way to help poor people can be to give them no-strings-attached cash. Now a new study finds even neighbors who don't get the aid benefit.

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Senate to Vote On Continuing Resolution To Keep Government Funded

The Business Of Congress Besides Impeachment

1:14pm December 02, 2019

Believe it or not, other business is being conducted on Capitol Hill.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Meets Leo Varadkar In Ireland

Politics Of Pain: Ireland, Britain And Brexit

1:14pm December 02, 2019

We check in with journalist Fintan O'Toole about how Ireland is handling Brexit.