Marketplace All-in-One Marketplace

PCE inflation was at an annual rate of 2.7%; Cconsumer spending slowed in April to a 0.2% annual gain; eurozone inflation climbs to 2.6%; Saudi monarchy to sell $12 billion in shares of oil giant Aramco.

Earlier this week, we took a look at the economies of Gaza and the West Bank before and during the current conflict. On today’s show, we’ll examine how Israel’s economy was doing before Oct. 7. (To hear how Israel’s economy has been altered by war, check out this episode.) Plus, inflation is stuck at a rate higher than the Federal Reserve would like to see.

Starting next year, more people will be able to file their taxes directly and electronically with the IRS without a middleman. This past tax season, the IRS ran a small trial run in a few states and says it went well, so the agency’s making its free direct file program permanent. It’s expanding eligibility for the program too. Also: the Israeli economy and how it’s changed as a result of war.

From the BBC World Service: The U.S. needs to stop interfering in the affairs of Taiwan — that was the verdict of China’s defense minister, Admiral Dong Jun, who made the comments during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a security conference in Singapore. Then, parts of India are experiencing an extreme heat wave, and Mexico’s citizens go to the polls on Sunday in a historic election.

In the early days of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a chatbot query required about 10 times the electricity of a typical Google search. And as people do more with generative artificial intelligence, we’re going to burn through even more power. Plus, the ’80s are back — on TikTok. A new dance trend is getting Gen X parents to show their Gen Z kids how they danced back in the day, to the tune of Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy.” Also this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that consulting and professional services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is now OpenAI’s largest customer and the first reseller of ChatGPT’s enterprise tier, which is aimed at businesses. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at Collab Capital, about these headlines for this week’s Tech Bytes: Week in Review.

A former OpenAI board member dropped a bombshell allegation about CEO Sam Altman and the company’s ethics. But this isn’t the first time employees have expressed safety concerns about the company. We’ll explain. Plus, a new rule aims to protect buy now, pay later users. And, how college sports might finally get recognized as a multibillion-dollar business.

Here’s everything we talked about today:


“The Golden Triangle: How the CHIPS Act is changing one Arizona neighborhood” from Marketplace
“What really went down at OpenAI and the future of regulation w/ Helen Toner” from The TED AI Show
“Former OpenAI board member explains why they fired Sam Altman” from The Verge
“Commissioner Sankey: ‘There’s no better time to be a student-athlete’” from SEC Sports
“What to know about House v. NCAA settlement and a historic day for college sports” from The New York Times
“Klarna CEO on CFPB declaration: Wise to put regulations around this” from CNBC
“CFPB Takes Action to Ensure Consumers Can Dispute Charges and Obtain Refunds on Buy Now, Pay Later Loans” from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
“Buy now, pay later debt grows but is hidden from credit bureaus” from Marketplace

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 and play a round of Half Full/Half Empty.