Marketplace All-in-One

Student loan relief is here. But (and this is so awkward), so is inflation, still. One of our listeners wants to know whether the government’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt will make inflation worse. Plus, we’ll take your questions on electric cars, credit scores and LeVar Burton!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

If you’ve got a question you’d like us to find the answer to, email us at [email protected] or leave a voice message at 508-U-B-SMART.

Susan Schmidt checks in with us for our discussion about market activity as the ADP jobs report numbers emerge. Some states still plan on taxing canceled student loan debt. We look into where gig workers fit in with this constantly reshaping economy.

Today, ADP Research Institute and Stanford Economy Lab releases what they say is more detailed employment data. We talk about what it’s like to form a startup under the current economic conditions.

From the BBC World Service: Japan’s defense ministry has requested a record $40 billion for its next budget, even though the country can’t have an active military under its pacifist constitution after losing World War II. Plus, Russia has again cut off gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany. And, Germany considers a speed limit on its famed autobahn (freeways) as part of efforts to save fuel.

If you’re listening to or have already listened to the beginning of this episode, you probably noticed that the voice introducing Kimberly Adams sounded a bit off, right? That’s because it’s an audio “deepfake,” and it was created by Yisroel Mirsky at the Offensive AI Research Lab through a process called voice cloning. It uses software to study a short sample of someone’s voice and create a deepfake, which in this case took only 15 seconds to generate, according to Mirsky. It’s far from a perfect replica, but it turns out that scammers recently started to use deepfake audio for phone scams and in some cases have even succeeded. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke with Kyle Alspach, a cybersecurity reporter with Protocol, about how the tech behind audio deepfakes works and how they’re being used in phone scams.

In the current inflation-whipped economy, it can feel like everything is going up. But a figure economists didn’t expect to increase was job openings. Today, we’ll dig into what that means for the labor market as the central bank tries to tap the brakes on the economy. Later, Russian pipeline repairs stoke anxiety in Europe, and rent caps come with a tricky balancing act.

American workers are becoming less productive, which means we’re producing fewer widgets per hour worked. The data shows there’s been drops in productivity for two back-to-back quarters. But the recent slowdown isn’t anything new. While productivity did spike momentarily last year, it’s actually been slowing for more than a decade.

On the show today, we get smart about the productivity slowdown, how the “quiet quitting” phenomenon factors into this trend and what it all means for our economy.

Later, the Federal Reserve is manifesting lower inflation, and the markets are finally getting with the program. A birth control pill for men is in the works, plus could our electric car future mean range anxiety for gas car drivers? And, an answer to the Make Me Smart question that got us all a bit misty-eyed.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

What is something you thought you knew, but later found out you were wrong about? We’re looking for your answers to the Make Me Smart question. Submit yours at [email protected], or leave a voice message at 508-U-B-SMART.

First, reports on consumer confidence and jobs emerged today, offering up a clearer picture on what’s been a weird economy thus far. We delve into the Jones Act and its role in heating oil shortages. The BBC reports on the arrival of a grain ship in time to aid drought-ridden east Africa. The spike in diesel fuel prices has left an impact on rural business.

The FTC has zeroed in on a company that sells geolocation data, adding more fuel to the discussion about data privacy. Speaking of being watched, some companies are using software to remotely track worker productivity.

From the BBC World Service: The MV Commander has docked in the Port of Djibouti and the wheat on board will be packaged and transported by road to neighboring Ethiopia, which is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years. Plus, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif says a $1.1 billion IMF loan is a major step in efforts to put the country’s economy back on track. Separately, the government says early estimates suggest recent floods have caused at least $10 billion of damage. And, how drought is putting a squeeze on Spain’s olive oil production.