Marketplace All-in-One

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve moved to hike interest rates by half of one percentage point. Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed is not actively considering raising rates by three-quarters of a point. We talked to Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall-Genzer, who was in person at the press conference following the announcement. Plus, the Department of Homeland Security will grant work permit extensions for many immigrants with expired and near-expired documents. And, there has been an uptick in donations to abortion funds following the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case.

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From the BBC World Service: Turkey’s annual rate of inflation is just shy of 70%. It’s 69.9% to be exact, according to data released Thursday. We hear what life is like for one family in Istanbul. Plus, as many European countries seek alternatives to Russia energy supplies, Lithuania officially opens a natural gas pipeline to Poland.

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Social media companies say they are working hard to prevent hate speech from being posted on their platforms, and remove it when it is. But that’s an ongoing challenge as they operate in numerous countries with many languages and social contexts. A new report from the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate reveals anti-Muslim hate speech and misinformation still proliferate online. Imran Ahmed is the founder and CEO of the group. He spoke with Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams about the CCDH’s latest research and why social media platforms are still struggling to moderate this kind of content.

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It’s the day we answer your questions and to start, one listener wants to know why Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is still raising interest rates if inflation has peaked. We’ll also answer an urgent question about the blockchain and supply chains from a listener with a term paper deadline looming. Plus, a question about Airbnb and rents, and why doesn’t the U.S. electrify its railways? Finally, we end with a sci-fi recommendation on this Star Wars Day. May the fourth be with you.

Here’s everything we talked about on the show today:

Do you have a question for Whaddya Wanna Know Wednesday? Send a voice memo or email to [email protected], or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART (508-827-6278).

The Federal Reserve announced a half-percentage-point interest rate hike today. It’s also shrinking its balance sheet in an effort to tame inflation. But supply chain hiccups, inflationary expectations and a potential wage-price spiral complicate the central bank’s job. Today, we dig in. Also on the program: why the Fed might not mind a dip in the stock market, and how overturning Roe v. Wade would ripple out into the economy.

The airline industry is attempting to soar over and through a minefield of obstacles, such as the pandemic, labor shortages and passengers being bad. In the middle of all this is Avelo Airlines, a new low-fare carrier that emerged during the pandemic – and is ready to expand. We sat down with Andrew Levy, founder, chairman and CEO of Avelo Airlines, about what it’s like to navigate the industry’s maze of challenges. The European Union has proposed a ban on Russian oil. Susan Schmidt joins us to discuss the market’s focus on the Fed.

The monthly jobs report has become something of an event, where the numbers about the labor market and unemployment are used as beacons to indicate the economy’s health. Beyond those numbers, however, is the relatively untold story of inequality among workers of color and across genders. For more on this, we spoke to to Dr. Alex Camardelle, Director of Workforce Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Later this morning, the payroll firm ADP will release its monthly report of private sector job growth. Marketplace’s China correspondent Jennifer Pak checks in from Shanghai, which is still wading through a COVID lockdown period.

From the BBC World Service: The European Union is proposing to halt the import of Russian crude oil and refined fuels. And the Reserve Bank of India unexpectedly raised interest rates by 0.4 percentage points.

A major part of Russia’s war strategy is the control of messages spread online, both in occupied areas of Ukraine and within Russia itself. Platforms like Facebook have been banned and labeled “extremist” by Russian authorities. Some sites, like YouTube, remain partially available. At the same time, the Kremlin is trying to push Russian users to a domestic video platform, “RuTube.” It’s part of a strategy to convince citizens and content creators to abandon Western social media sites. Although RuTube and YouTube were developed around the same time, the Russian video service hasn’t had YouTube’s success. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Emerson Brooking, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

If you’re a regular listener to this program, you’ve probably heard of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate: price stability and maximum employment.

But in the summer of 2020, the Fed made a little tweak. It added the words “broad-based” and “inclusive” to the employment part of the mandate, acknowledging the benefits a strong economy brings to low- and moderate-income communities. This is significant because for decades the Black unemployment rate has been double the rate for white workers in this country.

So, the Fed started “running the economy hot” longer to try to close that gap. But the central bank has begun a campaign of raising interest rates to cool the economy because inflation is here. What now?

On the show today, William Spriggs, a professor of economics at Howard University and chief economist at the AFL-CIO, explains why the Fed’s approach to closing the unemployment gap hasn’t worked and what can really be done to fix it.

Then, the hosts will talk about the big story of the day: the draft Roe v. Wade decision and what overturning the 1973 ruling might mean for the health and economics of women, especially poor women, in this country.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

We’re looking for your answer to the Make Me Smart question: What is something you thought you knew that you later found out you were wrong about? Leave us a voice message at 508-827-6278 or 508-U-B-SMART or email us at [email protected].