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Federal campaigns get much of the spotlight, but state and local races can be as consequential for residents’ lives. Funders know that. Today, we’ll trace some of this year’s campaign spending behind state elections, local elections and ballot initiatives. We’ll also hear about a G7 plan to use seized Russian assets to help Ukraine. Plus, inflation for wholesalers was negative last month. What’s a central bank to do with that?

Gay bars are often a fixture of queer nightlife and can help foster a sense of community. Yet across the country, gay bars have shuttered at an alarming pace, down around 45% between 2002 and 2023. But queer nightlife isn’t disappearing — it may just be evolving. We’ll hear more. But first: Interest rates are staying where they are, so where do we go from here?

From the BBC World Service: Demonstrators argued that the measures, which include cutting state spending and watering down workers’ rights, will hurt millions of working Argentinians. Meanwhile, leaders of the G7 are meeting in Italy to discuss increasing economic pressure on Russia in response to its war against Ukraine. And around the world, hundreds of thousands of tons of nuclear waste are piling up in temporary storage, but Finland thinks it has a solution.

The general public doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with economists on why inflation happens or on how to fight it, a new survey finds. We’ll unpack. Plus, a resilient U.S. economy lifts global economic outlook. And later: The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged today. But let’s revisit the ’70s and ’80s, when the Fed was battling double-digit inflation and didn’t have the luxury of patiently holding interest rates steady.

It’s been called the largest economic development project in Georgia’s history. And it’s massive — six times the size of Disneyland. When Hyundai’s Metaplant comes online, it will pump out up to 300,000 electric vehicles per year, plus batteries. Jobs at the plant will pay more than the area average, and job training will be free of charge. We’ll hear more. Also on the program: banishing medical debt from credit reports.

From the BBC World Service: The European Commission will add tariffs to electric vehicles coming into the European Union from China, and China’s not too happy about it. Then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has blamed major industries — tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels and alcohol — for 2.7 million deaths a year in Europe. Also: news on bread in Egypt and spicy ramen noodles in Denmark.