The announcement of criminal charges against Donald Trump by the Manhattan district attorney’s office last night may not have come as a shock to markets, which were notably muted on the news going into Friday. We chat with Christopher Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, about what the reaction has been so far and what could happen going forward. Plus, we look at projections about a key consumer sentiment gauge before data is released this morning. And, the BBC reports on the Japanese government’s move to stop high-tech microchip exports to China.

How might the Trump indictment affect markets?

The Inflation Reduction Act has set out a slew of funding opportunities for government agencies and private companies looking to usher in the green transition. But as of right now, many industries crucial to that effort are facing an acute labor shortage, including trade jobs like electricians. Plus, a look with University of Michigan Professor Erik Gordon at how former president Trump’s indictment could affect markets. Also, the White House has outlined a plan to beef up regulation and oversight of mid-sized banks. And, Amtrak is seeking record funding this year on the heels of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

America’s energy transition has a worker shortage problem

From the BBC World Service: Japan is planning to impose export restrictions on equipment used to manufacture semiconductors. The trade controls align with an American push to limit China’s ability to make advanced chips. Plus, the outgoing head of the World Bank, David Malpass, tells us he’s concerned about some of the loan conditions China has been giving to low income countries. And, we talk to the man behind one of the most successful ever cell phone games — the Candy Crush Saga.

Japan moves to restrict China chip exports

We’re so used to it by now — people sharing every little detail of their lives online. And when it comes to content about parenting, it’s basically a whole industry. You can find “momfluencers” and family channels for any style of parenting or worldview you can think of, to the point that there’s now a generation of kids who have grown up in the social media eye. And, as you might imagine. not all of them are thrilled about it. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Fortesa Latifi, features reporter for Teen Vogue, who recently dove into this culture and its effects on the children involved.

The pitfalls of being the child of a parenting influencer

Donald Trump has become the first former president to be charged with a crime. A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump after hearing evidence about payments given to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 election run. We’ll discuss the significance of the case and what may follow in the days and week’s ahead. Plus, an age-defying story that made us smile.
 
Here’s everything we talked about today:
 



“Trump indicted by N.Y. grand jury, first ex-president charged with crime” from The Washington Post



 



“Donald Trump indicted; 1st ex-president charged with crime” from AP News



 



“U.S. Considers Asking Black Americans on Census if They Are Slave Descendants” from The Wall Street Journal



 



“High egg prices send profits at largest US producer soaring more than 700%” from CNN



 



“Egg Producers Accused of Price Gouging After 718% Profit Revealed” from Newsweek



 



“Eggflation rate lower, milk prices decrease, in February 2023” from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics



 



“Coloring eggs, eating fesikh: how Egyptians celebrate Sham El-Nessim?” from Egypt Today



 



“How low unemployment lifts workers at the bottom” from Marketplace



 



“Lamborghini’s plug-in hybrid supercar runs for a cool six miles in electric-only mode” from Engadget



 



“Japanese Surfer, 89, Still Plans To Be Catching Waves At 100” from Huffpost




 
Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap and the cherry blossom festival! 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.

It all comes down to the (hush) money

The Inflation Reduction Act channels hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy projects. But “electrifying America” could be short-circuited by the nationwide shortage of electricians. Today, we’ll hear from the companies and programs hoping to draw a new cohort of electricians to the field. Also, a preview of tomorrow’s economic data dump, a short-lived urban exodus and five child care workers on the industry’s joys and challenges.

A labor shortage may stall the clean energy transition

The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said yesterday in remarks to the House Financial Services Committee that the agency’s board would vote in June on a new bank assessment fee to make up for the money spent in the rescues of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. We look at the details. Plus, China has issued warnings to the U.S. over its brief hosting of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. And, we talk to Sophie Pedder, The Economist’s Paris bureau chief, about what’s been going on in France amid unrest over the government’s pension reforms.

FDIC hints at who will end up paying for recent bank rescues

Tax season is upon us, and that means an age-old debate is resurfacing amongst accounting nerds far and wide — why do Americans still have to file tax returns? Another simpler, and arguably better, system called return-free filing is used across the world. Chris Farrell walks us through the potential benefits of adopting such a system in the U.S. Plus, why plateauing mortgage rates are leading to more applications from would-be homebuyers. And, a look at some of the rule changes coming to Major League Baseball as teams start playing regular season games today.

Why return-free tax filing isn’t — but probably should be — a thing in the U.S.

From the BBC World Service: When President Biden unveiled the Inflation Reduction Act last summer, the subsidies on offer turned heads around the world. Today the UK is unveiling its plans for a net-zero economy, and the European Union already has its Net Zero Industry Act. But do the policies cut the mustard with business? Plus, The Guardian newspaper has faced up to the slavery links of its founder. It now plans to invest around $12 million over the next decade in a program of restorative justice.

How U.S. green subsidies are forcing other nations to act

First to leave was Sheryl Sandberg, the longtime chief operating officer at Facebook and Meta known for her bestselling book about women in leadership “Lean In.” Last summer, she stepped down after 14 years. Then, last month, Susan Wojcicki, the only woman CEO in Big Tech, announced her departure from YouTube, a role she’d served in for nine years after joining Google in its earliest days. They’ve left a void of visible women at the pinnacle of the tech world. It’s a trend columnist Beth Kowitt recently wrote about for Bloomberg News. And she tells Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino the way women leaders in tech are often described gives us a clue about what they face as they rise to the top.

Why women in tech hold high-profile positions, but rarely CEO

In times of financial turbulence, banks head to the Federal Reserve’s (virtual) discount window for short-term emergency loans. The week after SVB failed, U.S. banks borrowed over $150 billion from the central bank. One listener called in to ask: Why didn’t SVB do the same? We’ll get into SVB’s fruitless attempt to secure rescue funds and answer more of your questions about faux job openings and what really counts as consumer spending. Plus, what should you look for in a personal financial adviser?
 
Here’s everything we talked about today:
 



“What Is the Fed Discount Window and Why Are Banks Using It So Much?” from The Washington Post



 



“How the Last-Ditch Effort to Save Silicon Valley Bank Failed” from The Wall Street Journal



 



“Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake” from The Wall Street Journal



 



“Survey: Job Seekers Beware of Ghost Jobs” from Clarify Capital



 



“The Fed monitors job openings for inflation decisions. But many listings aren’t real.” from CBS News



 



“Why job openings data might not mean what we think it means” from Marketplace



 



“Consumer Spending” from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis



 



“Introduction to U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending” from the Congressional Research Service



 



“Fiduciary Definition: Examples and Why They Are Important” from Investopedia



 



“Regulators Revive 401(k) Fiduciary Effort in New Legal Landscape” from Bloomberg Law



 



Laura Adams’ “Money Girl” podcast”




 
Got a question about the economy, business or technology? Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.

Why didn’t Silicon Valley Bank knock on the Fed’s discount window? 

Spring is when flowers, and For Sale signs, tend to start popping up. Today we learned that pending home sales rose for the third straight month in February, which seems puzzling given climbing interest rates. Could it signal a thawing housing market? Plus, a look at the debate about public funds for home-schooling and how a tight labor market benefits the poorest workers.

A bumpy ride for mortgage rates means bumpy home sales

A single mother of two in Chicago was working and taking classes to become an addiction counselor when her life fell apart. The father of her youngest child assaulted her so badly it put her in the hospital. Worried for her safety and the safety of her children, she fled to Milwaukee and signed up for welfare, hoping it would live up to the promise of providing employment and self-sufficiency.
Instead, she ended up in a Kafkaesque maze of “work activities” that didn’t lead to a real job or independence. When her life hits another crisis, things really start to fall apart.
Host Krissy Clark examines the roots of this cookie-cutter regime and discovers that a fundamental part of the problem lies in how the federal welfare reform bill measures success– in a way that has little to do with whether the program is helping participants gain family-sustaining employment.
Give today to help cover the costs of this rigorous reporting. Every donation makes a difference!
https://support.marketplace.org/uncertain-sn

Chapter 2: The compliance machine

This week, we’re sharing a preview of “Other People’s Pockets” from Pushkin Industries and Little Everywhere.
Have you ever wondered how your friend bought that vacation home or why that colleague of yours makes everyone meticulously split the tab down to the last Diet Coke? “Other People’s Pockets” is a show from Pushkin and Little Everywhere about other people’s money. Journalist Maya Lau asks people from all walks of life to get radically transparent about their personal finances in order to learn more about who we are and level the playing field along the way.

“Other People’s Pockets” (from Pushkin)

Lawmakers on Senate Banking Committee yesterday grilled bank supervisors and other government financial regulators over alleged failures in oversight leading up to the recent bank collapses. Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, walks us through what’s been said so far — and what could be in store for today’s hearing. Plus, housing prices remain all too high for many people, but recent data suggest a tapering in the rate of rent inflation. And, a look at the economic and environmental effects of having a lead smelting plant in the Los Angeles area, one of the few remaining in the country.

Bank supervisors under bipartisan fire from Senators

As the trend of fully-remote work ebbs and employers push to bring workers back into offices, there’s been an increasing focus on what makes a positive and productive workplace — or a company’s “culture”. We check in with consultant Keith Ferrazzi, who argues that in an increasingly hybrid work world, companies can do a lot more to connect with employees, starting by fostering empathy and personal connection in their teams. Plus, a look into why Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has split into six different entities. And, a new California law is aiming to stem supposed price gouging by fossil fuel producers in the state.

How do you improve hybrid work culture? Empathy, for starters

From the BBC World Service: The European Union has approved a landmark law that ends the sale of carbon-emitting cars by 2035. The new law was expected to make it impossible to sell internal combustion engine cars, but Germany won an exemption for those running on ‘e-fuels’. We explore what they are, and why German industry pushed for their inclusion. Plus, officials in the Dutch capital Amsterdam have launched a digital campaign to reduce the influx of British tourists coming in search of drugs, sex and limitless alcohol. And, we examine how the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank affected startups in Africa.

EU agrees on shift to electric cars, but the internal combustion engine may survive

Earlier this month, OpenAI released its newest and most powerful chatbot, GPT-4, along with a technical paper summarizing the testing the company did to ensure its product is safe. The testing involved asking the chatbot how to build weapons of mass destruction or to engage in antisemitic attacks. In the cybersecurity world, this testing process is known as red teaming. In it, experts look for vulnerabilities, security gaps and anything that could go wrong before the product launches. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Aviv Ovadya, a researcher at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center who was on the red team for GPT-4. He said this kind of testing needs to go further.

GPT-4 needs more robust testing, “red team” member says

Today, women in the United States are paid 22% less than men on average. Twenty years ago, that number looked about the same, despite women’s many advancements in education and the workforce.
 
The gender pay gap is stark, stubborn and often misunderstood in its intricacies.
 
On the show today, Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, unpacks why the gender pay gap hasn’t really budged in the last two decades, what people get wrong about it and what needs to change to finally close it.
 
In the News Fix: One Republican lawmaker is stalling military promotions to keep service members from getting better access to abortion care. His colleagues are not pleased. And, the Senate has started hearings on the failures of SVB and Signature Bank. We’ll discuss the mind-blowing speed of the banks’ meltdowns and the group chat behind it all.
 
Later, one listener tells us about a restaurant subscription they love. And in the spirit of cherry blossom season, this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question comes from Diana Parsell, author of “Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees.”
 
Here’s everything we talked about today:
 



It’s Equal Pay Day. The salary gap between men and women isn’t shrinking. from NPR



 



“‘Women’s work’ and the gender pay gap: How discrimination, societal norms, and other forces affect women’s occupational choices—and their pay” from the Economic Policy Institute



 



“As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops” from The New York Times



 



“Gender pay gap figures: debunking the myths” from The Guardian



 



“Why do some people get paid more than others?” from Marketplace’s “Million Bazillion”



 



“The Republican senator who is stifling the Pentagon over abortion” from Punchbowl News



 



“Defense chief slams Tuberville’s hold on Pentagon nominees over abortion policy” from The Hill



 



“‘It’s a powerful effect’: Austin fires back at GOP senator’s blockade of military promotions” from Politico



 



“US Officials Signal New Rules for Banks After SVB, Signature Failures” from Bloomberg



 



“Senate holds its first hearing into SVB and Signature Bank failures” from NBC News



 



The FTC wants to make it easy to cancel subscriptions from The Washington Post



 



Diana Parsell’s “Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees”




 
What have you been wrong about lately? We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question! Leave us a voice message at 508-U-B-SMART, and your submission may be featured in a future episode.

Demystifying the gender wage gap

On this program, we’ve discussed a somewhat confusing dynamic: Consumers are sour on the economy despite a job market that’s historically strong. Today, we’re joined by Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell to help piece the puzzle together and tally inflation’s mental and financial tolls. Plus, why recent banking turmoil may slow nonresidential construction and what one reporter learned walking from Washington, D.C., to New York.

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