Marketplace All-in-One

From the BBC World Service: Significant price rises across Europe and the impact of the war in Ukraine are likely to be on the agenda when European Central Bank policymakers meet this week. Plus, Britain’s Prime Minister and Chief Finance Minister reject calls to resign after being fined for breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules to attend a party. And, Ethiopia lifts restrictions so the Boeing 737 Max can return to its skies.

Google and Apple have been slow to relinquish the hefty commissions they charge on app payments. Developers have been pushing for alternatives to the payment systems run by those tech giants, hoping they could save some money. In South Korea, Google is now required to let app makers use alternative payment systems, but the tech company will still take almost the same commission. For instance, in cases in which Google takes 30% of revenue, it will charge developers that use other systems 26%. Here in the U.S., Spotify recently reached an agreement with Google to charge subscribers through a non-Google system a smaller fee than usual, but there’s no word yet on how much smaller. So will these changes actually spur competition, as intended? Meghan McCarty Carino of “Marketplace Tech” put that question to Eric Seufert, an independent analyst with the website Mobile Dev Memo. He said such small tweaks might not be worth very much.

Government leaders all over the world are taking a hard look at cryptocurrencies.

El Salvador made bitcoin a national currency last year. Cryptocurrency investors continue to move to Puerto Rico for its tax incentives. And Miami and New York are in a race to become the nation’s crypto capital.

Supporters believe crypto could be a way to drive economic growth and address income inequality and a host of other issues. But how likely is that?

“Right now, there are far better technology or even policy solutions to address the issues local leaders claim to want to address,” said Tonantzin Carmona, a fellow at The Brookings Institution. “Lawmakers do not, for example, need cryptocurrencies to address issues of financial inclusion, equity or wealth inequality. They need political will.”

Carmona is skeptical that cryptocurrencies could solve a city’s problems.

On an abbreviated show today (sorry, technical difficulties!), we’ll discuss why that is and the lessons we can learn from places that have already laid out the welcome mat for crypto business ventures.

Plus, the Joe Biden administration announced plans today to suspend a ban on selling higher-ethanol E15 gas between June 1 and Sept. 15 in an effort to bring down gas prices. We’ll explain why the move might be shortsighted and what it’s doing to corn futures. Also, the subway shooting in Brooklyn is making our fill-in host rethink plans to go back to the office.

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… and not a drop of relief, at least for a while. Inflation clocked in at 8.5% year over year in March, but the economic cooling effects of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes could take a year or more. Meanwhile, small businesses and consumers alike are trying to stretch their dollars further. We’ll also take an inside look at Shanghai’s indefinite COVID-19 lockdown and interrogate Germany’s “change through trade” approach to autocratic countries.

Consumer prices are up 8.5% compared to a year ago. That’s a four-decade high, according to the government’s latest reading of inflation: the consumer price index. It’s the first report fully accounting for higher gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. David Kelly offers up some perspective on market activity on the heels of these inflation numbers. The BBC reports on a small town in Germany that’s become the home of some geopolitically important equipment: the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Small business owners’ optimism about the economy fell in March, according to a new survey from the National Federation of Independent Business. It found that small businesses are continuing to grapple with staffing shortages, supply chain disruptions and higher costs. Politicians have asked Big Oil to use its profits to help stem the tide of rising gas prices, but experts say it’s not that simple. The EPA will allow more ethanol in gas for the summer in an effort to curb gas prices.

From the BBC World Service: The U.S. orders non-emergency staff to leave its consulate in Shanghai as COVID-19 infection rates rise and lockdown measures continue. Plus, Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades. Now, the central bank has prioritized essential imports over foreign debt payments. And, we take you to the northeastern German town of Lubmin – where the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines are built – to find out how businesses there are reacting to Europe’s quick pivot away from Russian energy imports.

The metaverse is coming — so we’re told — though it’s hard to know exactly what that means. There are companies using virtual reality to recreate office life down to the conference rooms, for some reason. And, of course, VR is big for gaming and other diversions. But VR is also increasingly being used in health care, especially as more services go remote. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Brennan Spiegel, the director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He said about 200 hospitals in the U.S. are using virtual reality tools to not only help train doctors, but also to help manage patients’ pain from surgery, irritable bowel syndrome or cancer. And recently, this technology’s applications have expanded from treating patients to diagnosing conditions like glaucoma.

A month after lifting its mask mandate, Philadelphia is reinstating indoor mask requirements beginning next week as COVID-19 cases there rise. It will be the first major U.S. city to bring back a mask mandate. Other cities might not be far behind. Then, Elon Musk won’t be joining Twitter’s board of directors after all. We’ll discuss what it means for him to stay on the outside of the the social media platform. Plus, a group of Etsy sellers are going on strike to protest a fee hike. It sparks a discussion about the struggles of being a small business owner. To wrap things up, we’ll take you under the sea for a couple of Make Me Smiles.

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According to Standard & Poor’s, Russia is in “selective default,” or default on specific debt payments. The country has plenty of money, but Western sanctions could make it unable to pay. Meanwhile, some investors may spot an opportunity to scoop up Russian debt at low prices. Plus, spring flight cancellations could spill into the summer, and inflation comes to the school cafeteria.