Pay up, Apple. While CEO Tim Cook was hawking a new $1,000 phone, Europe hit Apple with a multibillion-dollar tax bill. The European Union's highest court ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros, or about $14.4 billion, plus interest, for 11 years' worth of unfair tax breaks. 

What kind of tax breaks did Apple get? Ireland has some of the lowest corporate taxes in Europe, which is why it's been a popular place for multinational companies to establish a base. Many companies, including Apple, also took advantage of a now-closed loophole known as the "Double Irish," which allowed companies to reduce their effective corporate tax rate to single digits by funneling revenue through Irish companies set up in tax havens like Bermuda. The practice was technically legal until 2020, despite pressure from the U.S. and the EU to curb its use.

But Ireland granted Apple additional tax benefits through administrative rulings that it didn't extend to other companies. As a result, the European Commission reported that Apple's effective corporate tax on profits dropped from 1% in 2003 to 0.005% in 2014. Antitrust regulators argued that these special breaks unfairly diverted investment from other countries, which is why they ordered Ireland to recover the money.

For its part, Ireland hasn't yet decided what it will do with the money. Apple's back taxes could end up in the country's new sovereign wealth fund, which our reporter Henry Epp recently explained on "Marketplace" are pools of cash that act like massive piggy banks for governments to invest and grow wealth.

China officially ended more than three decades of international child adoptions last week, with blood relatives of Chinese nationals the only exceptions. Let’s do the numbers.

1992 

China opened to international adoption in 1992. The one-child policy, in place from 1979 to 2015, led families to relinquish thousands of children, most of them girls, fearing heavy fines, job loss and infanticide.

2 trillion yuan  

Demographer He Yafu estimates the Chinese government collected around 2 trillion yuan ($282 billion) in fines for extra children (“social maintenance fees”) between 1980 and 2012.

160,000 

Over 160,000 children were adopted from China worldwide in the past 30 years. The U.S. State Department reported that more than half ended up with families in America.

$40,000  

Adoption from China could cost adoptive parents up to $40,000 with agency fees, travel costs, orphanage donations and other expenses.

1% 

The decision to end international adoption comes as China’s population is falling. A shrinking labor force will lead to a 1% decline in the country’s economic growth every year for the next 10 years, according to research firm BMI Country Risk & Industry Analysis.

The first and perhaps only presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris occurred this week, during which the candidates presented their contrasting visions for the U.S. economy. Here's Marketplace's recap, along with some smart reads with helpful context.

Tell us what’s making you smarter at smarter@marketplace.org. We'd love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.

Tax cuts galore, but for whom exactly?

Harris and Trump both claim they'd cut taxes, albeit for very different groups. Vox breaks down the proposals and why both tax plans would likely fail, thanks to gridlock in Congress.

Politics doesn't have to be zero sum

This Washington Post column (gift link) was published a week before the debate, but it’s still relevant. The op-ed delves into how progressive and conservative politicians increasingly frame their policies in terms of winners and losers. But economics teaches us there are many ways to create win-win scenarios.

The truth about tariffs

Ask an economist how tariffs work, and they'll put it plainly: Tariffs are taxes. Read this CNN fact check about why Trump’s statements about tariffs during the debate were inaccurate, especially on how they affect American consumers.