Many countries agreed that the best way to stem the pandemic was to shut down movement, but the US took a different path than its peers in handling the economic fallout. Instead of being kept on payrolls through furlough schemes, millions of Americans have had to seek jobless benefits. Rana Foroohar, the FT’s global business columnist, is standing in for Gideon Rachman this week. She talks with William Spriggs, a professor of economics at Howard University and chief economist of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, about how the pandemic is changing the labour market, and what happens to monopoly power, big data and faith in the free market in its wake.  Review clips: Reuters See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.