Can well-off young women save China's economic recovery?

Sep 13, 2021
Women drive the bulk of household purchasing decisions in China. What do they want to spend their money on?
Finance major Zhou Hui, 19, spends up to $700 a month on clothing and eating out, which the COVID-19 pandemic didn't change.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

What common household items are worth recycling?

Aug 12, 2021
The first thing you need to do is find out what your local municipality accepts. And don't put recyclables in plastic bags.
A woman wearing a face mask and a plastic bag pulls a cart loaded with bags of recyclables through the streets of lower Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Many ready to splurge as consumer confidence builds up

May 25, 2021
Two-thirds of consumers are still hesitant to regularly venture out of their homes, but that doesn't mean they won't be spending.
Thirty percent of those surveyed say they’ll spend more money on travel and dining.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

China's livestream sales: How brands reach consumers during COVID-19

Apr 6, 2020
Consumer spending plummeted while people stayed home. But Taobao saw livestream sales sessions double on its app.
Songzi during a marathon six-hour livestream broadcast selling cosmetics.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Pepsi takes aim at health-conscious consumers

Feb 18, 2019
In an attempt to steal market share from rival Coca-Cola, Pepsi is making investments in healthier, less sugary beverages.
In an attempt to steal market share from rival Coca-Cola, Pepsi is making investments in healthier, less sugary beverages.
stocksnapper/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Cold brew coffee is straight hotness right now

Jan 23, 2019
Across the United States, more people are getting their caffeine drinks ice-cold instead of steaming-hot.
Cold brew sales surged more than 500% from 2011 to 2016, according to the National Coffee Association.
Renata Sago/Marketplace

Ten years later, what we learned from WALL-E

“It's a wicked satire of American consumerism and of environmental degradation, but it also has this cheerful little character," according to sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson.
Wall-E arrives at the world premiere of Disney-Pixar's film Wall-E held at the Greek Theater on June 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. 
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why the middle class has less money and bigger bills

Jun 9, 2016
An economist explains why things have gotten more expensive and we make less money.
 Middle-class life has become 30 percent more expensive in the past 20 years.
Brendan Wood/Flickr