Maria Aspan

No healthcare premiums? In this economy?! Here's how. : The Indicator from Planet Money It turns out healthcare in America CAN be cheaper. If your employer wants it to be. Today on the show, we speak with a Canadian-founded startup that has unusually generous benefits for their employees...

Free healthcare and ... fancy cocktails? It's always fun joining my @npr.org colleagues @ The Indicator from @planetmoney.bsky.social, who this week featured my reporting on how some employers are making health insurance more affordable: www.npr.org/2026/03/09/n...

Trump grants tariff breaks to 'politically connected' companies, Senate Dems say The White House's trade policy has "opened the door to corruption," according to a letter from Ron Wyden and Chris Van Hollen.

The letter comes at a time when President Trump is visibly favoring some companies and investors, some of whom have publicly courted him with personal gifts and donations: www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...

Why isn’t corporate America standing up to Trump? : The Indicator from Planet Money President Trump has been storming through corporate America — taking a stake in Intel, demanding a cut of Nvidia’s sales, restricting skilled workers, among other big footed policies.Meanwhile, corpor...

Davos, Jamie Dimon, Minnesota, crony capitalism and ... Jane Austen?

Had a wonderful time joining @wailinwong.bsky.social and my @npr.org colleagues on today's Indicator from @planetmoney.bsky.social: www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...

Trump is rewriting the rules of the economy…is it ‘crony capitalism’? : Consider This from NPR President Trump has spent his first year back in office blurring the lines between business and government. The administration has bought shares in private companies like Intel, NVIDIA, and others inv...

One year into President Trump's second term, I discussed my reporting on "crony capitalism" and how he's blurring the lines between business and government for NPR's Consider This podcast and All Things Considered:
www.npr.org/2026/01/19/n...

How President Trump reshaped capitalism in 2025 His policies are picking winners and losers — and blurring the lines between business and government.

"It's just bad for the economy." Looking back at an eventful (and still-evolving) year for business, politics, and U.S. free-market capitalism. @npr.org www.npr.org/2025/12/22/n...

Sometimes it's nice to report on solutions, however partial ... as even the people behind them are quick to point out: "At the end of the day, the single biggest thing we can do in this country is to get SNAP back online."

Health insurance premiums are going up next year — unless you work at these companies As U.S. health insurance costs rise, some companies are paying for all of their workers' premiums. It's a big expense — but they say it pays off.

"It really stemmed likely from being Canadian. I ... took for granted, 'Oh, of course I don't pay for health care.'" www.npr.org/2025/10/16/n...

What the price of gold tells us about the US economy - WHYY Gold and silver prices surged to record highs in the past week – a pattern often tied to investor uncertainty. But how uncertain could they be when the stock market is booming? Even as newly announced...

Had a great time talking Mad Max, hoarding gold, and the very weird economy today on @whyy.org with @avi-wa.bsky.social, Kevin McCorry, and Drexel's Ed Nelling: whyy.org/episodes/eco...

Why gold is having its best year since 1979 The price of gold hit $4,000 per ounce for the first time ever. It's a bad sign for the U.S. economy

Looking forward to joining @whyy.org's Studio 2 shortly to discuss the economy, everything going on in the markets, and the recent surge in gold & silver prices: www.npr.org/2025/10/08/n...

Trump's $100K fee for H-1B visas creates chaos, confusion for employers and workers President Trump signed an executive order Friday that adds a $100,000 fee for high-skilled workers to enter the country through the H-1B visa program, creating panic for employers and workers.

Trump’s new $100K fee for H-1B visas created panic this weekend for some half a million workers, and their employers.

I discussed the fallout, and the longstanding bipartisan criticism of H-1Bs, with @michelmartinnpr.bsky.social this morning:

www.npr.org/2025/09/22/n...

Federal Reserve lowers rates, but less than Trump wants : The NPR Politics Podcast The Federal Reserve voted this week to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point. We discuss the factors behind the agency’s decision, as well as President Trump’s legal fight to fire Fed Gover...

Had fun joining @tamarakeithnpr.bsky.social and @ashleynpr.bsky.social yesterday to talk all things Fed, and why the economy feels like a summer picnic, for the NPR Politics Podcast:

www.npr.org/2025/09/19/n...

"In general for workers, it's kind of take it or leave it. And they really don't have much of a choice but to take it."

Behind This Season’s Bumper Earnings: Job Cuts, Price Hikes, Glum Workers Consumer spending isn’t driving company profits as much as expense reduction and efficiency drives. That could be a problem.

via www.wsj.com/business/ear...

New favorite dystopian corporate-speak dropped

Listen to our full conversation on Up First here: one.npr.org?sharedMediaI...

Home Depot keeps quiet on immigration raids outside its doors The home-improvement chain is now one of the companies most caught up in Trump's immigration crackdown. The retailer's history with day laborers is long. So far, it's choosing to keep its distance.

"They are now ground zero for a big polarizing political and cultural issue." Great story by @alinaselyukh.bsky.social and Liz Baker: www.npr.org/2025/08/19/n...

Trump is tightening the screws on corporate America — and CEOs are staying mum Critics warn that Trump's demands for business leaders to step down, and for the government to take a cut of sales, threaten American-style capitalism.

A close read of the complicated, increasingly conflicted (and maybe Chinese-Communist?) relationship between the president and corporate America, for @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/08/14/n...

This Tuscan startup sold all its olive oil in the U.S. Then came Trump's tariffs Americans love olive oil — and import 95% of it. But tariffs are making it harder for Europeans to sell it to Americans.

"We are woefully dependent on foreign oil." Olive oil, that is: www.npr.org/2025/08/05/n...

Corporate America is having a weird tariff summer Some big companies are reporting real financial pain from tariffs and economic uncertainty — but for others, business is booming.

About to go on @msnbc.com to discuss the economy, the Fed, tariffs, and corporate America’s weird tariff summer with @nicollewallace.bsky.social www.npr.org/2025/07/26/n...

🔊 Listen Now: Trump's Attacks On Federal Reserve's Powell Could Bring Economic Pain The NPR Politics Podcast on NPR One | 15:28

I joined the greats @sarahmccammon.bsky.social and Mara Liasson for today’s @npr.org Politics Podcast, on the Fed, tariffs, earnings, and this really weird time in markets. one.npr.org/i/1256157825...

"We've done a lot of winning already — and we do have a lot to lose."

"The company has lost nearly half its market valuation since the merger... Zaslav had a compensation package valued at $52M last year - making him one of the country's highest-paid corporate chieftains, according to a study by Harvard Law School. (Shareholders voted against it in a symbolic vote.)"

Three years ago, as Zaslav put WBD together, I wrote a cover story for Fortune dubbing him one of "the most overpaid CEOs in America." Today, well:

Thanks so much to @lorichung.bsky.social and @spectrumnewsny1.bsky.social for inviting me to discuss my reporting on what Corporate America’s DEI retreat means for everyone working in this once-hot professional field

www.npr.org/2025/05/27/n...

This was a fun conversation!

Corporate America's retreat from DEI has eliminated thousands of jobs "I just didn't think it would take this long," one veteran head of diversity, who's been job-hunting since last summer, tells NPR.

As companies end their DEI promises, what happens to all the people they hired to implement them?

“It’s been pretty tough,” one executive told me. She’s one of 2600 people working in DEI whose jobs have been eliminated since 2023, I report for @npr.org:

www.npr.org/2025/05/27/n...

Verizon joins T-Mobile in cancelling some DEI policies to win FCC approval of a business deal.

The FCC has taken an especially active role in the Trump administration's campaign against diversity, also opening investigations into Comcast/NBC and Disney/ABC over “promoting …DEI discrimination."

UnitedHealth is the fourth-largest company in the United States. Obviously it has a ton of power in health care … but when it has a terrible week(/month/year) like this one, there are also less obvious ripple effects.

Big Health Care is ending a terrible year. Is anyone happy with this business? Patients are protesting, bipartisan lawmakers are threatening regulation – and investors are selling their shares.

And flashback to December, when I dug into all of these industry-wide problems: Consumers are furious, lawmakers are stepping up scrutiny, "costs are up, profits are down, top executives have lost their jobs, and investors are selling off the shares."
www.npr.org/2024/12/20/n...

UnitedHealth Group abruptly replaces CEO Andrew Witty, deepening a terrible year The health care conglomerate is facing mounting financial problems – and ongoing consumer anger over high costs and denied claims.

UnitedHealth, one of the world's largest companies, is having a publicly awful year: The killing of a top executive, a massive data breach, and mounting costs in its key Medicare business.

Today, that all caught up w/ now-former CEO Andrew Witty, I report for @npr.org: www.npr.org/2025/05/13/n...