Marketplace All-in-One

How much generosity is too much? Would you pay for your friend’s lunch every week? Or risk falling behind on bills to pay for a Christmas gift? And what does it take to ask strangers to be generous with you? We tend to think of generosity as a good thing, but it can also get… complicated. This week: three stories about giving and receiving generosity, and how it changes our relationships and ourselves. 

This episode was reported by Reema Khrais, produced by Alice Wilder with support from Camila Kerwin, edited by Karen Duffin and engineered by Drew Jostad.

Is this a sign that the higher interest rates are working? We discuss with Diane Swonk of KPMG. Then, we have more on the aftermath of the fallen Binance-FTX deal. Seasonal hiring has appeared to slow down this year. Also, slavery as a form of criminal punishment was a thing in several states until voters closed a legal loophole.

We take a peek into the fallout from the failed bailout pact between crypto exchanges Binance and FTX. Also, we delve more into the developing election results and their possible impact on economic policy.

From the BBC World Service: One of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, is on the brink of collapse. A bailout deal it struck with archrival Binance on Wednesday has fallen through. Plus, a new survey says the influence of fossil-fuel lobbyists at climate talks has risen significantly in recent years. And, the costs of supporting migrants who are rescued at sea.

The bad news just keeps coming. It started with hiring freezes, then moved to layoffs. A lot of them. Twitter, Lyft, Stripe, Salesforce and, of course, Meta are cutting thousands of jobs. It’s a turn of events that felt almost inconceivable a year ago, after a two-decade run during which the industry seemed unstoppable. But tech is notorious for booms and busts — and not just the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Margaret O’Mara, a professor of history at the University of Washington who studies the links between technology and politics, about key similarities and differences between the tech sector’s current downturn and those of the past.

You can now pay to get verified on Twitter (without actually verifying your identity). What does this mean for misinformation on the app? We’ll discuss. Plus, Kai Ryssdal explains why he joined Mastodon, the Twitter alternative. And we’ll answer more of your questions about inflation, the future of sports broadcasting and California’s sky-high gas prices.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve got a question about the economy, business or technology, let us know. We’re at [email protected], or leave us a message at 508-U-B-SMART.

After rapid growth during the pandemic stalled, Meta announced that it’s slashing 13% of its workforce. It’s not the only company cutting staff and grappling with dashed expectations. Today, we’ll interrogate the sustainability of the more-is-more approach to corporate growth and what it means for the folks being laid off. Then, a crypto exchange crash, inflation’s impact on medical insurance and a firsthand account of identity theft.

Political scientist Ian Bremmer helps us figure out economic takeaways from the aftermath of Election Day. David Kelly of J.P. Morgan talks about the impact of possible Republican control of the House. A drought has sapped the water levels of the Mississippi River, and farmers are struggling as a result.

We discuss some potential election outcomes and how they could affect the economy. Big spending on state ballot measures led to some mixed results. The waves of tech layoffs have actually endangered the ability of many people to stay in the U.S.

From the BBC World Service: Only two European Union countries tie mandatory pay raises for the public and private sector to consumer price inflation: Belgium and Luxembourg. But workers in Belgium say those increases aren’t enough, so they’re walking out and demanding more. Plus, Twitter has laid off most workers at its Africa office in Ghana. And, India says it will continue to buy Russian crude oil.