The Federal Reserve meets today and tomorrow to determine the future path of interest rates. The central bank is designed to do its work insulated from politicians, and its independence from political pressures is a cornerstone of monetary policy. But a second presidency of Donald Trump could bring that independence into question. We’ll hear more. We’ll also discuss the connections between Trump, interest rates and the deficit.

Donald Trump has won the race for the White House. What does that mean for financial markets? With Ben Kumar, head of equity strategy at Seven Investment Management, we’ll delve into stock movements, the market volatility and the potential impact of tariffs. We’ll also unpack the economic ripple effects of a Republican-controlled Senate and learn about the backgrounds of two potential economic leaders under Trump: investor John Paulson and billionaire Elon Musk.

From the BBC World Service: The diabetes drug giant Novo Nordisk is reassuring investors with big sales numbers for its popular weight loss drug, Wegovy. But there are concerns over the production of unofficial copies of its drugs, which have been linked to hospitalizations and deaths. And in Nigeria, millions have been without electricity for more than a week following technical problems with the country’s power grid. We hear about the impact from businesses.

The thing about the artificial intelligence boom is that the tech needs a lot of electricity. One estimate from Goldman Sachs suggests that largely because of AI, data centers will use 160% more electricity by 2030. It’s got Big Tech fired up about an option that’s never really been the cool kid of the clean energy class: nuclear power. Microsoft made a deal to restart the Three Mile Island plant, while Google and Amazon are investing in new types of reactors. It’s stirring something of a “nuclear revival” for the U.S. after decades of stagnation. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Anna Erickson, professor of nuclear and radiological engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, about the push to revive the nuclear energy sector.

Today we’re talking about a breakout story of this election cycle: the rise of prediction markets and betting on elections. For the first time in a century, Americans can legally place bets on election outcomes using a platform called Kalshi. But the Commodity Futures Trading Commission warns that these markets could warp the public’s understanding of our elections if they’re treated like polls. On this Election Day episode, Cantrell Dumas of Better Markets, a financial reform advocacy group, explains how Americans are dabbling in election betting, the legal questions surrounding these prediction markets, and why he believes manipulation of these markets has the potential to sway elections.

Then, we’ll dig into the history of the “I Voted” sticker and hear a perfect poem for Election Day. Plus, a listener shares what moving abroad taught them about the U.S. voting system.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Election betting is newly legal — and risks getting confused with polls” from NBC News
• “Exclusive: Election betting site Polymarket gives Trump a 67% chance of winning but is rife with fake ‘wash’ trading, researchers say” from Fortune Crypto
• “Cryptoverse: U.S. election speculators play the prediction markets” from Reuters
• “Wall Street regulator moves to ban election betting, escalating fight over new market” from Politico
• “The Case for Legalizing Political Betting” from the Cato Institute
• “How ‘I Voted’ Stickers Became an Election Day Staple” from Business Insider

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.

Back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused billions in damage. How are insurers going to pay for it all? Turns out, insurance companies have their own insurance. But as disasters get more severe and more frequent, “reinsurance” isn’t covering what it used to. Also in this episode: Boeing has major catch-up to do, an abandoned oil field could become a lithium extraction hotspot, and small businesses seem hesitant to cut health benefits.

Investors don’t have a hotline to our political future and are stuck in wait-and-see purgatory, just like the rest of us on this Election Day. We’ll try to parse some signals financial markets are giving. Plus, some striking Boeing employees will start returning to work as early as tomorrow. They voted to ratify a new contract and have ended the pickets. And later, holiday shopping supply chains are working like they’re supposed to this year.

Stocks index futures are pointing to modestly higher markets this Election Day morning. The 10-year interest rate is steady today but is the highest it’s been since late July. We’ll be keeping an eye on currency markets, too. Then, new companies are coming to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. And later, some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are coming to Broadway for limited runs. But how long does a show have to stay open to make money?

From the BBC World Service: The European Union has launched a formal investigation into the Chinese e-commerce site Temu over concerns it may be allowing the sale of illegal goods. But first, British Columbia’s port employers have locked out workers there in response to strike action. That could potentially halt $575 million in daily trade. Plus, we’ll unpack the ripple effects of a car finance court ruling in the U.K.

It’s Election Day and even though the campaign may be over, the battle over misinformation is not. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke with Derek Tisler, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, about some of the misleading online narratives voters should expect to see and how to deal with them. This conversation is part of “Marketplace Tech’s” limited series “Decoding Democracy.” Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.