Marketplace All-in-One

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.

From the BBC World Service: Stronger cooperation on liquified natural gas has been announced between the U.S. and European Union. It’s a move the two sides say will bolster national security and move away from Russian energy dependence, but will not run counter to climate goals. While the environment remains a priority for wider U.S.-EU cooperation, in Poland the issue has been pushed to the back burner as that country works to reduce reliance on Moscow. Plus: Language has been finalized for new legislation aimed at reigning in global tech giants. And, we zero in on the nickel market, which has seen extreme volatility in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Video game developers, programmers and artists are gathering in San Francisco this week for the first in-person Game Developers Conference since 2019. One topic getting a lot of attention is non-fungible tokens — digital certificates showing ownership of digital assets like a picture or video. It’s a topic for Quality Assurance, where we take a closer look at a big tech story. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Stephen Totilo, who covers gaming for Axios and is attending the conference.

If you’re in New York City, don’t be surprised if the next time you request an Uber you get picked up in a yellow taxi — Uber has announced plans to team up with cab companies there. We’ll talk about what this might mean for the taxi industry. Plus, you know the housing market is red hot when a Federal Reserve governor is having trouble buying a home. And a staggering new report highlights the rise in alcohol abuse amid the pandemic. Finally, our hosts share some much-needed Make Me Smiles.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

Got a question for the hosts? Saw something interesting you want to share? Send it to us at [email protected] or leave us a message at 508-U-B-SMART(508-827-6278).

Brent crude topped $119 a barrel Thursday. High oil prices don’t just drive up gas prices, they also boost the cost of plastics, used in everyday goods and products important to the energy transition. Today: What those rising prices mean for consumers and a cleaner future. Plus: Companies lack cybersecurity experts at the top, student loan payments may restart soon and the Fed keeps a close eye on real interest rates.

A recent study looked at the effects of the expanded child tax credit on families. Marketplace’s senior economics contributor, Chris Farrell, spoke with us about the study’s findings. Diane Swonk joins us to measure today’s market activity. We look into the Biden administration’s plan to counter racial inequity when it comes to home appraisals. Airlines have asked the president to end COVID travel policies, such as masks on planes.

For this month’s Econ Extra Credit, we featured the 2020 documentary “The Donut King,” which helps illuminate the path that Cambodian-Americans have taken to doughnut-shop dominance in Los Angeles. One of the people featured in the film was Mayly Tao, who spoke to us about navigating the ties that bind immigrant children to their family business. President Biden is in Brussels today, holding talks with NATO and European leaders about how to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas exports.

From the BBC World Service: Russia’s stock market has reopened after a month-long closure implemented after intense volatility following President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. But how open is “open”? Plus, people fleeing war in Ukraine to Poland are given registration numbers to access services and jobs. And, we discuss how inflation is fuelling widespread protests over gas prices in Spain.

This week, President Biden warned businesses to be wary of potential cyberattacks from Russia, recommending companies increase their cybersecurity defenses. That means more work and higher stakes for the technicians maintaining those defenses. There are hundreds of thousands of vacancies in the cybersecurity sector right now, meaning those already working often end up taking on more duties, burning out and leaving the field. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams speaks with Lesley Carhart, an incident responder for the industrial cybersecurity company Dragos. Warning: This interview touches on substance use disorder and suicide.

A week after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, some of us still have questions. Like, why did the stock market respond so positively? And how is making money more expensive really going to slow inflation? Plus, non-fungible tokens and disinformation, and who really owns the data collected by smart vehicles?

And thank you! We’ve already hit our goal of $100,000 for this fundraising drive. We couldn’t have done it without you! Your support means we’ll be able to continue the journalism we do every day. There’s still time to give if you haven’t already — and to get one of those Marketplace pen sets!

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