Prospera is a city-state operated by a private company on the Honduran island of Roatan. It offers businesses single-digit tax rates and the ability to choose their own regulations. Its proponents have touted it as a poverty relief initiative for the country and as the most ambitious experiment in self-governance ever undertaken.

But that dream is now facing an existential crisis. A little more than a decade after Honduras changed its constitution to allow for places like Prospera, a new political party is in charge — and they’re looking to shut the whole thing down.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Industry Group’s Umar Farooq and Bloomberg’s Michael McDonald join host Sarah Holder to break down the $11 billion battle over the fate of a special economic zone in the Caribbean.

Read more: A Libertarian Island Dream in Honduras Is Now an $11 Billion Nightmare

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This Valentine’s Day, as many as 13 million more Americans are single than before the pandemic.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Ben Steverman shares what he’s learned about the cause of this love slump and how it’s taking a toll on Americans’ hearts and on the US economy. And host Sarah Holder meets a group of singles taking matters into their own hands.

Read more: The Covid Pandemic Left an Extra 13 Million Americans Single

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President Trump’s attacks on a key international aid agency, USAID, has left its work frozen and kicked off a fierce legal battle between his administration and US courts over its future.

On today’s Big Take DC podcast, we hear from Bloomberg’s Simon Marks and health care workers on the ground in Nairobi about how the fight playing out more than 7,000 miles away is affecting HIV treatment there. And national security editor Nick Wadhams explains why Trump has taken aim at USAID and what a gutting of the agency could mean for US soft power.

Read more:

• USAID Cuts in Kenya Reveal Risks to Lives and American Influence Worldwide
• After DOGE's Chaotic USAID Shutdown: Wasted Supplies, Layoffs and Lawsuits

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