Cardiff Garcia

NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator from Planet Money investigates how the fees and fines that make up city budgets disproportionately target low-income communities and communities of color.

Data shows that the police's disproportionate use of force is associated with the fact that it is hard to prosecute officers for wrongful killings — and one possible reason for that is police unions.

Wearing masks in public has become more common in the U.S. amid the pandemic. Fashion historian Valerie Steele discusses how medical masks give rise to the "fashion mask."

Rural hospitals already walk a scalpel's edge between solvency and collapse. The coronavirus outbreak threatens to push many of them over the brink.

Most of the world's major economies are on lockdown to combat the coronavirus. But the Swedish government has kept the country open — claiming it is better for the economy and for public health.

Faced with the prospect of closing up shop because of the coronavirus, some companies are retooling and pivoting to keep their doors open, and their workers employed.

China's government is beginning to lift restrictions that were in place during the height of the coronavirus outbreak. So how do residents feel as life slowly starts to return to normal?

The coronavirus has given stock markets and the global economy a whack. Some businesses are feeling pain, while others are seeing gains. And a handful of companies are experiencing both.

Netflix had to become a content producer to compete with other streaming services. To raise the money to pay for all that content, the company turned to junk bonds.

It used to be that companies strove for the best credit rating possible. These days, however, America's corporations seem happy to slide by with a passing grade.

Air ambulances used to be operated primarily by hospitals but now many private companies provide this service. Despite the increased competition, the cost of taking an air ambulance has soared.

Art by women and men is valued differently. Fine art by women, on average, is valued much less than men's pieces, and are routinely left out of major museums.

"Curbside pickup" is quickly gaining traction in online grocery shopping, and it may be preferable to delivery.

A rural county in Pennsylvania was once dubbed the "refugee capital of America" by the BBC. How did Lancaster County earn this nickname?

How did the cranberry go from a seasonal, Thanksgiving favorite to an all-year round, ubiquitous supermarket staple?

The leather industry hit a peak in 2014. Retailers were forced to find cheaper, artificial alternatives. Now, leather is struggling to regain the market share it lost. The trade war is not helping.

As the federal government raises alarm bells about foreign influence on college campuses, some are trying to find the right balance between openness and national security.

WeWork's name had become synonymous with coworking and it had plans to go public. Until investors had the opportunity to look at the company's books.

The most recent retail sales numbers suggest American consumers are pulling back. Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy and revealed some big flaws in the business model known as fast fashion.

The now-defunct budget airline WOW got Iceland hooked on tourism. The island nation's economy was reshaped by the tourism boom, and WOW's bankruptcy is changing things again.