Marketplace Morning Report Marketplace

On today’s program, we’re taking a closer look at immigration and entrepreneurship. Immigrants are more likely to start a new company than U.S.-born citizens, studies show. And those new businesses need to make hires — turns out, immigrant entrepreneurs are associated with a net gain in jobs. We’ll discuss. Also, a boost in the Internal Revenue Service budget seems to be making a difference, and investors respond to rising tensions in the Middle East.

Today is Tax Day. While payers in 12 states have the opportunity to use a pilot IRS system to directly file their taxes online, tax software companies like Intuit and H&R Block have introduced generative artificial intelligence assistants to be more competitive. But do they work? Then, Samsung beats out Apple for title of the world’s biggest smartphone maker, and we examine how residents of “news deserts” access their local news.

From the BBC World Service: Tensions continue to run high in the Middle East after Iran’s recent drone and missile attacks against Israel. We’ll delve into how this weekend’s events could make a bad situation worse for Iran’s heavily sanctioned economy and the people living there. Plus, we’ll hear how the ongoing war in Ukraine could provide another big hit to energy prices, and we’ll preview the outlook for Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency.

The unemployment gap between Black and white workers has consistently been around 2 to 1 ever since the government started disaggregating the data more than five decades ago. While the Black unemployment rate is relatively low historically, the gap remains. We’ll discuss the institutional reasons why and how best to tackle the issue. Also on today’s program: the return of standardized testing and a preview of Senate hearings centered on Boeing’s manufacturing and safety practices.

Next month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will tell us how much of the income generated by workers’ toil actually went to them in Q1. That stat is called labor share of national income — and it’s shrinking. Plus, a government committee that scrutinizes deals between foreign companies and American firms may be getting more power. And 14 states are opting out of a summer EBT program that would help families buy groceries.

Wanna learn more about labor share of income and see Marketplace reporter Nancy Marshall Genzer get a pie in the face? Check out the Marketplace TikTok feed.

From the BBC World Service: Thousands of victims of a huge investment scam believe police in London have nearly $4 billion worth of bitcoin that belongs to them and want the British government to give it back. Then, The European Central bank held interest rates steady but gave strong hints about future rate cuts. Plus, we hear about padel, one of the world’s fastest growing sports, and its Olympic ambitions