Gigi Douban

Latest Stories (225)

Unclaimed Baggage Center turns one person’s lost stuff into another’s bargain buy

Nov 26, 2018
Some unique finds: A Christmas sweater with two neck holes, antlers, a taxidermied frog.
Shoppers at the Unclaimed Baggage Center shortly after doors opened at 8am. 
Gigi Douban/Marketplace

When a big carbon emitter is the main economic driver in town

Jul 20, 2017
For local residents, the Miller power plant is the economic center of the city.
The James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant is a massive coal-fired plant that also is the nation’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
Gigi Douban/for Marketplace

Gulf Coast residents upset by BP settlement funds

Nov 29, 2016
Alabama has used most of a recent settlement to help fund Medicaid and pay off debt.
Absorbent material is placed on the beach as oil residue washes ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Orange Beach, Alabama, in 2010.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Alabama taps its oil-spill fund to close Medicaid gap

Nov 18, 2016
A fund to pay for damage from BP's 2010 oil spill is used to cover a budget gap.
A worker scoops up oil washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on June 26, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf after the April 20 explosion on the drilling platform. 

 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

You want economy? United has “basic” economy

Nov 16, 2016
The airline will offer a no-frills fare to compete with low-cost airlines Spirit and Frontier.
Rick Kern/Getty Images for United Airlines

In Alabama, two voters reflect on the election

Nov 15, 2016
They chose Trump for economic reasons.
Mark Pearson has worked two jobs for the last 22 years. The Alabama resident supported Donald Trump in the election, in hopes he will ease the pinch small business owners feel and make health care less expensive.
Gigi Douban/Marketplace

If Trump stimulates the economy, one result could be growth. Another? Stagflation

Nov 14, 2016
It was a 1970s nightmare: high inflation and no growth.
Traders at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange watch Donald Trump after he wins the U.S. presidential elections.
Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

Google Chrome is going to crack the whip on unprotected websites

Nov 4, 2016
The Google Chrome security team is getting tough on websites that are not encrypted. Those are the ones without the HTTPS at the beginning of its URL. Anyone looking at what you’re doing online on that site can capture all of your information, including important user names and passwords. Most of the pages desktop users […]
Google says it will start marking unsecure websites in January.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

On Wall Street, managing anxiety by hedging

Nov 2, 2016
If a lot of voters are increasingly anxious about Election Day, what about the people who make their living predicting outcomes — stock traders.
 Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 1, 2016 in New York City. As Wall Street continues to feel election uncertainty, the Dow Jones closes fell more than 100 points. 
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

FCC rules on sharing consumer information could ding broadband provider profits

Oct 28, 2016
It might seem like a big victory for privacy advocates, but the new rules won't stop companies like Comcast and AT&T from collecting data
The seal of the Federal Communications Commission hangs behind commissioner Tom Wheeler's chair inside the hearing room at the FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images