Marketplace All-in-One

A handful of lawmakers have or are looking to suspend state gas taxes. While there’s little else they can control in terms of gas prices, those taxes make up less than 10% of prices at the pump — and it’s not the only place where consumers are feeling the pinch of inflation. Plus: A win for streaming platforms at the Oscars and a look at the CARES Act’s historic investment in tribal infrastructure.

The war in Ukraine has triggered a spike in the price of wheat, which means higher prices for bread. That may be a slight inconvenience for some countries, but for many others with populations who live in poverty, it could mean disaster. U.S. farmers have yet to reap any benefits of those higher wheat prices as well. Car companies are about to pay a lot more if they miss fuel efficiency targets, as federal regulators are more than doubling penalties.

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as Secretary of State, died last week at the age of 84 and became a role model for women’s leadership in the workplace. We look into the legacy she left behind. The war in Ukraine has led to a spike in wheat prices, and farmers in the U.S. aren’t seeing any of the expected benefits of those prices. President Biden is set to announce his budget for the coming fiscal year.

From the BBC World Service: China’s financial capital goes into a two-phased lockdown as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Israel for a landmark summit aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal. As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, European businesses finding way to help the growing numbers of refugees.

We’re wrapping up our series on cryptocurrency mining, the energy-intensive computing process that does all of the accounting for most cryptocurrencies. Marketplace’s Andy Uhler previously reported on how crypto miners were drawn to the small Texas town of Rockdale because of its robust electric power infrastructure that hasn’t seen much use in recent years. Elsewhere in Texas, oil and gas companies are starting to get involved in crypto mining.

An ice shelf in Antarctica the size of New York City collapsed after a warm spell in that part of the globe, in case you needed a reminder that climate change is still happening. The trend toward globalization could be on the decline, though, as the world continues to watch the war in Ukraine and understand its greater significance for the global economy. And some shocking news out of Washington, D.C. We’ll talk about that and more for this special edition of Economics on Tap. It’s also the first-ever Make Me Smart Cherry Blossom Party. Trust us, you’re going to love it.

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

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As Europe tries to wean itself off Russian natural gas, it’s moving toward imports from the United States and renewable energy sources. The U.S. produces a lot of natural gas, but liquefying it to make it shippable is a roadblock, and significantly upping production could take years and cost billions. Also on today’s show, the number of multigenerational households soars. Plus: Interrogating a potential 0.5% interest rate hike and the end of globalization in the Weekly Wrap.

The Internal Revenue Service is already facing a mountain of challenges, and this year’s next wave of tax returns (and taxpayers seeking answers) could bog the agency down even further. Christopher Low shares his take on mortgage rates for today’s markets talk. The Biden administration is trying to make a clearer path to federal loans for Native American farmers.

Earlier this week, the European Union unveiled sweeping antitrust legislation aimed at limiting the power of big tech companies. The long-awaited Digital Markets Act targets Big Tech’s “gatekeeper” companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. For more, we spoke to Jason Furman, a Harvard economist and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. And, Uber and taxis will be forming an unlikely but seemingly necessary alliance in New York City.