Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Ariana Rosas

Producer

Ariana is a producer for “Marketplace Morning Report.”

Latest from Ariana Rosas

  • Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

    Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is now jumping with both feet into social media: He has acquired a 9.2% stake in Twitter and will join the company’s board of directors. As one of Twitter’s superusers, Musk has also been vocal on free speech and other issues. What can Twitter expect with his arrival on the board? President Biden is expected to extend the moratorium on student loan payments. We take a look at the war in Ukraine from the perspective of a Ukrainian gift shop in Chicago. 

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  • DASHAVA, UKRAINE - SEPTEMBER 18:  A worker, at the request of the photographer, grasps a hand wheel on a valve at the Dashava natural gas facility on September 18, 2014 in Dashava, Ukraine. The Dashava facility, which is both an underground storage site for natural gas and an important transit station along the natural gas pipelines linking Russia, Ukraine and eastern and western Europe, is operated by Ukrtransgaz, a subsidiary of Ukrainian energy company NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. Ukraine recently began importing natural gas from Slovakia through Dashava as Ukraine struggles to cope with cuts in gas deliveries by Gazprom of Russia. As Russia has cut supplies many countries in Europe that rely heavily on Russian gas fear that Russia will increasingly use gas delivery cuts as a political weapon to counter European economic sanctions arising from Russian involvement in fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine.  (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

    From the BBC World Service: As European Union leaders discuss a fifth round of sanctions against Russia, they’re under mounting pressure to take a hard look at their oil and gas imports. Plus: It’s not just governments taking action, companies have shut down their operations across Russia. Now French luxury brand Chanel is clamping down on who buys its goods. And, with the cost of living crisis continuing to worsen as a result of the war in Ukraine, new data show reliance on food banks in the U.K. is at an all-time high. 

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  • Bond investors expect inflation to pick up this year, though Fed Chair Powell doesn't expect it to have a lasting impact on overall inflation.
    Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

    The U.S. is ratcheting up the economic pressure on Russia by targeting its ability to make bond payments. So far, Russia has managed to avoid a default on sovereign debt. But, the Treasury Department has now started blocking Russia’s ability to access assets held at U.S. banks. Shipping costs rose to major heights during the pandemic, but they actually went down in March.

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  • "It's really important that we don't let young people who fell through the cracks lose their chance at an education entirely," said Measure of America's Kristen Lewis.
    Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

    The term “disconnected youth” covers people from the age of 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school. The U.S. actually had a declining youth disconnection rate over at least 10 years, but that all changed when the pandemic hit, according to a study from Measure of America of the Social Science Research Council. We spoke to Kristen Lewis, Measure of America’s director, about the study’s findings. We look into what another round of sanctions against Russia could look like after news of possible human rights violations surfaced. President Biden is looking to close a loophole in the Affordable Care Act.

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  • Sanctions on Russian energy supplies would present a significant challenge for many EU countries.
    Alexey Furman/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Four rounds of sanctions measures have already been approved against Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. Plus, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed finance minister has resigned after less than 24 hours in the job. Protesters are increasing their calls for the country’s president to go amid the worst economic crisis in decades.

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  • Union organizer Christian Smalls speaks following the April 1, 2022, vote for the unionization of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York.
    Andrea Renault/AFP via Getty Images

    It’s the difference between getting the right to collective bargaining and coming up with an actual contract. After the first successful union drive at Amazon, we speak with a labor expert about what this moment means for workers organizing in the U.S. and what comes next. And, we start the week with a look at how inflation can make inequality even worse.

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  • A Starbucks logo hangs in the window of one of the chain's coffee shops in the Loop on January 4, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.
    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz is returning to the company. He says a pause on repurchasing shares will give the company more room to invest in staff and stores. Plus, an effort by the Biden administration to bring more production of batteries for electric vehicles to the U.S. And, Amazon, Apple, CVS, General Motors, Kellogg’s and Starbucks are among the household brands that have come out against anti-LGBTQ laws in various states. We look at the business backlash to laws like the one Texas recently instituted, which orders the state to investigate parents for child abuse if their kids receive gender-affirming health care.

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  • War in Ukraine worsens Turkey’s cost-of-living spiral
    Burak Kara/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: Inflation in Turkey soared to 61.1% in March, a new record high. We take you to Istanbul to hear why higher commodity prices resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine have exacerbated the problem in Turkey. Also, the rising cost of living is a problem being acutely felt by those in rural areas of France. And in Sri Lanka, an economic crisis has forced a series of cabinet resignations.

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  • "I like to say that we're not doing something new, we're doing something that people have done for thousands of years, which is use everything that's grown and not throw it out," says Anna Hammond, founder of Matriark Foods.
    Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

    Economists say inflation is being driven by a number of factors, from supply chain disruptions to higher wages. But what about competition? In the food industry, restaurants that face more industry competition aren’t able to raise prices as much as food-at-home services. We spoke to Trevon Logan, a professor of economics at Ohio State University who helps us break down how a lack of competition in some markets could be contributing to rising prices.

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  • BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 09:  (EDITORS NOTE: Image was created using a variable planed lens.) The natural-gas fuelled Heizkraftwerk Berlin-Mitte power and heating plant of Swedish energy company Vattenfall on February 9, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Natural gas has become a central issue for Germany in its policy considerations regarding the simmering situation over the Russian troop build-up on the border to Ukraine. While Russian natural gas makes up half of Germany's foreign gas imports, Germany is also Europe's biggest importer of Russian natural gas. Should war break out and western countries impose tough sanctions on Russia, Moscow could retaliate by temporarily cutting off Germany and other European countries from its natural gas supply. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

    This week, Germany has begun the early part of an emergency plan that could lead to the rationing of natural gas. The Kremlin is demanding payment for gas in rubles from countries sanctioning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, threatening to cut off supplies if its conditions aren’t met. We spoke to Stephen Richter, publisher and editor in chief of The Globalist and director of the Global Ideas Center, who is trying to conserve energy at home in Berlin. President Biden announced that the U.S. will release a lot more of its oil reserves over the next six months – could other countries follow suit?

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Ariana Rosas