Marketplace All-in-One

The Western sanctions on Russia’s wealthy elite have raised a variety of questions that range from who these people are to the effectiveness of the sanctions. We spoke to Dartmouth sociologist Brooke Harrington, who argues in a new piece for The Atlantic that the sanctions represent an existential threat for Russia’s elite — and, by proxy, the Kremlin itself. Consumer sentiment has dropped to lows not seen since the 70s and 80s, yet spending remains strong. What gives? The dating app Tinder has added a background check feature that allows users to see if a possible date has a criminal past.

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From the BBC World Service: One of Ukraine’s biggest food producers says that Russian advances could prevent Ukrainian farmers from planting this year’s wheat and grain seeds. On the two-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic, China locks down a city of 9 million and a new study suggests that the global death toll could be three times higher than official records indicate.

War shatters lives, families, homes and infrastructure. And as Russia continues its war in Ukraine, the cultural heritage of Ukraine is also at risk. Some Ukrainian museum websites have gone offline as the servers hosting them lose connections or are destroyed in attacks. Now, to prevent that information and cultural memory from disappearing entirely, nearly 1,000 archivists, programmers and librarians have volunteered to record and archive these sites.

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There’s a lot of news to cover today, so pull up a seat. We’ll talk about some of the recent state legislation in Florida and Texas targeting LGBTQ families and the European Union’s plan to end its reliance on Russian gas. Also, inflation is coming for your bag of chips, but not the way you might think. And dear listener, make sure you listen to today’s Make Me Smile for a big announcement we’re excited to share!

Here is everything we talked about on the show today:

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Palaces, private jets and superyachts — these are among the prized possessions of Russian oligarchs who have been singled out and sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others. Today, we’ll examine the history of oligarchs, the relationship between them and Russian President Vladimir Putin and the iffy impact sanctions on these superrich types might have. Plus: Wages struggle to keep up with inflation, humanitarian organizations rediscover the “cash is king” approach to aid and the war in Ukraine threatens to worsen global food insecurity.

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Earlier this week, President Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies, directing federal agencies to focus regulatory attention on six areas, protecting U.S. consumers and mitigating the risk of illicit activity. It also called for “urgency” around research and development efforts into a possible central bank digital currency (CBDC). For more, we spoke to Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs at TRM Labs, a cryptocurrency compliance firm. Congress has overhauled the U.S. Postal Service, but what kind of effects can actual postal workers expect? Diane Swonk wades through market activity with us.

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Filling up your car with gas has not only become more painful for the average customer, but for small business owners as well. Businesses that rely on vehicles, such as caterers or equipment suppliers, are considering some big changes to their operations because of the pain at the pump. The House approved $1.5 trillion funding bill to keep the government running through the end of its fiscal year in September, and the bill now heads to the Senate. Native tribes are keeping watch on that situation, as short-term funding can cause issues for a key health program.

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From the BBC World Service: The European Central Bank will likely be factoring the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into its interest rate policy. Ukraine’s central bank governor has called for reparations to be taken from Russia’s frozen assets around the world. And we explore the likely economic impact of South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol.

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Last week, multinational video game developer Epic Games acquired Bandcamp. The relatively small music platform allows artists to sell music and merchandise directly to fans, with a higher percent of the profits supporting musicians there than other platforms. And though both companies say the tech consolidation is aimed at supporting growth, it has some musicians anxious about the future.

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Today we’re answering questions that get at those knock-on economic effects of Russia’s war with Ukraine we’ve been talking about recently on the show. One listener wonders about gas tax revenue. Another wants to know: What is an oligarch, and why should I care? We’ll tell you that, plus dig into some specifics about the bond market and provide clarification about Fed chief Jay Powell’s magic keyboard.

If you’ve got a question you want us to answer next time, send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).

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

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