October 07, 2021

What’s a digital dollar?

18 minutes

You’ve heard about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but how are they different from a digital dollar? On this Whaddya Wanna Know Wednesday, we’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a digital dollar as the Federal Reserve ponders making its own digital currency. Plus, we’ll explain the economics behind robocalls and vaccine mandates. And we get an email from a listener and her cats who want to know what’s up with pet food shortages.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“What exactly is a digital dollar, and how would it work?” from Popular Science

“China’s digital yuan is a warning to the world” from Wired

“Tired of robocalls? The FCC is stillllll trying to stop them” from “Marketplace Tech”

“THE ANNOYANCE ENGINE: Spam robocalls became profitable scams by exploiting the phone system, but you can stop them” from Business Insider

“Fact check: Workers fired for refusing a vaccine are unlikely to qualify for unemployment” from USA Today

“Half of unvaccinated workers say they’d rather quit than get a shot – but real-world data suggest few are following through” from The Conversation

The Pet Food Institute on the pet food supply challenges

Read the transcript here.

Our show needs your voice! Tell us what you think of the show or ask a question for our hosts to answer! Send a voice memo or give us a call at 508-82-SMART (508-827-6278).

...more

View all episodes

By Marketplace

4.6

54325,432 ratings