Marketplace All-in-One

From the BBC World Service: Italy is the latest country to try to limit the influence of China in its businesses. The government is restricting the Chinese state-owned company Sinochem from taking control of the tire-maker Pirelli, as the BBC’s Mariko Oi explains. Plus, BBC business correspondent Theo Leggett joins us from Paris at the world’s biggest air show. And, the BBC’s Valley Fontaine reports on strikes in Argentina, where inflation is out of control.

When you think of the early days of video games, the Fairchild Channel F console might not be the first brand that comes to mind. The Fairchild Channel F was released in 1976, before the more famous Atari released its console. It was also the first system to use individual game cartridges thanks in large part to Jerry Lawson, a Black engineer at Fairchild. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino recently spoke with Anthony Frasier, CEO of ABF Creative and host of a podcast about Jerry Lawson called “Raising the Game,” about Lawson’s life and achievements.

The Carrie Bradshaw lifestyle is unreachable for most recent college grads in today’s New York City, thanks to high housing costs. We’ll get into the lengths some younger newcomers are willing to go to make it work and dig into a related problem: a potential commercial real estate crisis. Plus, how should cities deal with cannabis smoke? Then we’ll play a round of This or That! Here’s everything we talked about today: “NYC’s Rent Surge Defied by New Grads Pursuing a TikTok Lifestyle” from Bloomberg “Defaults on commercial real estate loans are rising” from Marketplace “Workers want to stay remote, prompting an office real estate crisis” from The Washington Post “Opinion | How should D.C. deal with pot smoke? from The Washington Post “D.C. resident wins case to stop neighbor smoking marijuana” from Axios The next $50,000 in donations to Marketplace are being matched by longtime fan Dr. Joe Rush. Join Joe in making a gift today!

It’s been about three months since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank sparked turmoil among regional banks. While the dust is somewhat settled, regional banks still have significant unrealized losses. Today, we’ll check in with some of those still standing. We’ll also discuss the road ahead for the Federal Reserve and examine the backlash against corporate backpedaling on LGBTQ support.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in China to try to strengthen diplomatic ties between Washington and Beijing. Meanwhile, a private sector dignitary has just met with China’s leader Xi Jinping: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. We have more on what was discussed. Plus, the Federal Reserve’s thinking seems to point to an economy still humming along. So why didn’t the central bank raise interest rates again this week to try to slow the economy a bit? Well, you have to read between the lines, says Christopher Low, chief economist at FHN Financial. This has to do with concerns about the banking sector still lingering. And, it’s now more than three dozen states that have legalized cannabis products for medical use. But it’s not an affordable option for all patients.

Some see them in the $45 per night “destination fee” on the hotel bill. Or maybe the $25 charge for not booking a plane ticket on the internet. The Biden Administration is pressuring companies to stop with surprise or undisclosed charges, and to be sure people know in advance the cost of a product or service. Which leads us to two major ticketing companies saying they’ll end hidden fees so at least buyers using Ticketmaster and SeatGeek will have more transparency about the full price of a ticket up front. Also, Google parent company Alphabet warns its employees about using artificial intelligence chatbots. And, some economic implications of the 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court decision to let stand the Indian Child Welfare Act.

From the BBC World Service: Young Liu, the chairman of Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn, says the company is redrawing some of its supply chains as it navigates a new era of icy Washington-Beijing relations. Plus, Singapore will “progressively deploy” more patrol robots across the city-state after more than five years of small-scale trials. And, a multimillion dollar deal between audio streaming giant Spotify and the media group run by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has been canceled.

The French firm Thales is launching a credit card that talks. Not to embarrass users for their spending habits, but to make transactions more secure for people with a visual impairments. About 250 million people worldwide have some form of visual impairment, according to the World Health Organization, and in France they’re often targeted in fraud schemes because of their disability. The new Thales credit card connects users with a phone app that verbalizes transactions. In Paris, John Laurenson tagged along as one person tried it out.

Leaked documents lay out how the conservative American College of Pediatricians (not to be confused with the American Academy of Pediatrics) has influenced policy affecting the LGTBQ community. We’ll get into how this splinter group gained national attention and the problems it poses for medical misinformation. Also, we’ll discuss the aftermath of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott busing migrants to cities like Los Angeles. And a new Rubik’s Cube world record to smile about, followed by a Rubik’s Cube anecdote from Kai Ryssdal. Here’s everything we talked about today: “Documents show how conservative doctors influenced abortion, trans rights” from The Washington Post “Texas sends busload of 42 migrants to Los Angeles” from The Los Angeles Times “Talking With Kirsten Neuschäfer, the First Woman to Sail and Win the Golden Globe” from The New York Times “Max Park Sets World Record for Rubik’s Cube Solution” from Sports Illustrated “Cat lost amid Sonoma County firestorm in 2017 miraculously returns home 6 years later” from The Press Democrat Kimberly’s anime rec: “Dr. STONE” from Crunchyroll Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap. The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We’ll have news, drinks, a game and more.

With persistent inflation and high interest rates, Americans have good reason to feel rather glum about the economy. Yet through it all, consumers have kept on spending, further evidenced by May retail sales. What gives? Also, why health insurance might get pricier and how streaming deals for live sports are changing the political ad game.

What do you do when you find money? What if we’re talking about a lot of money? “This Is Uncomfortable” joins up with “Snap Judgment” to explore the ethics of finders-keepers.  To get even more Uncomfortable, subscribe to our newsletter.

The standards for determining this have changed yet again. And the latest ruling by the National Labor Relations Board brings back a method that could classify more people as employees. That’s making companies like Uber and Lyft pay close attention. Also, after the Federal Reserve skipped an interest rate hike yesterday, we’re already anticipating that they’ll increase rates at the next policy meeting. It’s part of the tightrope the Fed is trying to walk on inflation. And, what we pay for coffee beans reflects supply and demand on commodities markets … but not much else. Some in the coffee supply chain think the market needs restructuring to better reflect everything that goes into coffee, from labor to land to changing climate.

Along with a decision to hold interest rates steady, we got information about jobs, economic growth, inflation and, of course, the cost of borrowing from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell yesterday. Some of the takeaways: As of now it’s likely we get two more interest rate hikes this year to try to keep inflation down, and there’s very little chance interest rates are going to get cut at all in 2023. Marketplace Washington correspondent Nancy Marshall-Genzer was at the Fed press conference yesterday and has more. Plus, the world’s first comprehensive regulations governing artificial intelligence are taking shape across the Atlantic. European Union lawmakers have voted on new limits and safeguards for AI. And, the struggle to get community college credits to count toward bachelor’s degrees.

From the BBC World Service: It’s arguably the most secretive and isolated country on Earth. North Korea has cut itself off from the outside world, and its borders have been sealed for three years in response to the COVID pandemic. Some of those living in North Korea have risked their lives to tell the BBC about how they’re struggling to survive. Plus, Japan’s main stock market index, the Nikkei 225, has been enjoying a rally, hitting 33-year highs. We find out why. And, is there such a thing as Beyoncé-nomics? She’s being blamed for higher-than-expected inflation in Sweden.

Publishers of books, magazines and their digital incarnations have long hired artists to contribute unique visuals to their storytelling. It’s the kind of work Molly Crabapple cut her teeth on. Her illustrated journalism has been published by outlets like Vice, Rolling Stone and The New York Times. But she fears the format faces an existential threat from artificial intelligence image generators like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. Crabapple recently wrote an open letter about her concerns in collaboration with the Center for Artistic Inquiry and Reporting. She talked about it with host Meghan McCarty Carino.