The stock and bond markets may tumultuous right now, but gold prices have been on a tear. This week, they hit an all time high of $3,500 an ounce. In this episode, why nervous consumers, investment firms and even central banks are trading in cash for gold. Plus: The Trump administration announces incentives to get self-driving cars on the road and the largest passenger ship in the U.S. prepares to be sunk for science.

 

The Trump administration hopes that tariffs will encourage more products to be made in America. But a new report out this week also says the president's tariffs will be an effective tax increase, with low-income consumers hit the hardest. We'll unpack. Plus, by one analysis, California's economy is now the fourth largest in the world. And later: how the Trump administration is pushing the limits of authority over independent agencies.

In the months since President Donald Trump's re-election, a lot has changed between the United States and Canada. New import taxes and talk of Canada becoming the 51st state, for example. It all adds up to a strained relationship where Canadians feel both betrayed and uncertain about the future. Today, we're visiting Thunder Bay, Ontario to hear more. Plus, we're looking at why more farmers are struggling to pay back their debt.

From the BBC World Service: The U.K.'s Post Office continues to pay millions of dollars to use the bug-ridden Horizon IT system, whose failings resulted in hundreds of wrongful fraud convictions. We'll unpack why the Post Office has failed to switch systems yet. Then, India revokes visas and Pakistan halts trade after a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. Plus, we'll examine the rise in the price of gold.

It's the last Friday in April and it's time for Marketplace Tech Bytes Week in Review.

This week, we'll talk about how the Federal Trade Commission is suing Uber over its subscription service.

Plus, how the VC world is navigating the uncertainty created by the trade war.

But first, a nonprofit pivot is facing some challenges. Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT was founded about a decade ago as a nonprofit research lab. It's now looking to restructure as a for-profit — specifically, a public benefit corporation

But that transformation is facing resistance.

About 10 former Open AI employees, along with several Nobel laureates and other experts, have written an open letter asking regulators in California and Delaware to block the change.

They argue that nonprofit control is crucial to Open AI's mission, which is to “ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."

Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at Collab Capital, about how unusual it is to see this kind of conversion.

More on everything we talked about

An Open Letter - Not For Private Gain

Ex-OpenAI workers ask California and Delaware AGs to block for-profit conversion of ChatGPT maker - from the Associated Press

OpenAI’s Latest Funding Round Comes With a $20 Billion Catch - from the Wall Street Journal

FTC Takes Action Against Uber for Deceptive Billing and Cancellation Practices - from the Federal Trade Commission

FTC sues Uber over difficulty of canceling subscriptions, “false” claims - from ArsTechnica

White House Considers Slashing China Tariffs to De-Escalate Trade War - from the Wall Street Journal

VC manufacturing deals were already declining before tariffs entered the picture - from Pitchbook

Ever had an awkward encounter around money while dating? Host Yanely Espinal speaks with author and financial therapist Aja Evans about how to have better money conversations in your romantic life.

Think you’re financially inclined? Dig deeper into money and dating:

- More suggestions for how to talk about money while dating from Ellevest 

- Grow your financial intimacy with NPR’s “Life Kit”

- Check out The Knot’s 50 affordable date ideas 

Are you in an educational setting? Here’s a handy listening guide.

Thanks for listening to this episode of “Financially Inclined”! We’d love to hear what you learned from it or any questions you’d like us to answer in a future episode. You can shoot us an email at financiallyinclined@marketplace.org or tell us using this online form.

This podcast is presented in partnership with Greenlight: the money app for teens — with investing. For a limited time, our listeners can earn $10 when they sign up today for a Greenlight account.

The Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund supports lenders in far-flung and underserved areas. It also made a laundry list of federal programs President Trump deemed unnecessary and ordered to be “eliminated” last month. In this episode, how local banks are preparing for the possibility of losing that critical funding. Plus, leaders in the past who championed tariffs, retailers fret over consumer stress and apartment construction tapers off.

 

Today, we’re answering questions from our listeners about everything going on in this economy (we know, it’s a lot). Like, whatever happened to that bipartisan bill that would pass authority over tariffs back to Congress? We’ll get into the status of the legislation and how states are jumping into the fight. Plus, we’ll discuss the legality of the Trump administration’s funding freezes and how foreign trade zones are helping some companies avoid sky-high tariffs.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“Congress gave presidents power over tariffs. They could aways take it back” from CNN Politics

“12 States Sue Trump Over His Tariffs” by The New York Times

“Trump says he has 'no intention' of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell” from AP News

“If Trump wants rate cuts, he would likely need to replace the Fed's full board along with Powell” by CNBC

“How Congress — and not the president — controls how taxpayer money is spent” from Marketplace

“Trump tariffs lead to surge of companies parking imports in tax-free 'foreign trade zones’” from CNBC

“How Foreign Trade Zones In The U.S. Came Into Existence” by NPR

Got a question or comment for the hosts? Email makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

“This Is Uncomfortable” returns with four brand-new episodes about life and how money messes with it.

This season: Two best friends, struggling with work and unaffordable child care, come up with an unconventional solution that reshapes their relationship. A woman walks away from a Hollywood career to take a vow of poverty. Our “Money Fight” series is back, following a couple whose search for a dream home turns into a power struggle. And in our new advice series, "Work Drama," we tackle your uncomfortable work questions on toxic offices and pay discrepancies.

New episodes drop starting May 1.

Scientists say they have developed a way to measure how much liability individual corporations have for the economic damage caused by climate change. The total cost over decades is calculated at $28 trillion, with 10 fossil fuel companies responsible for more than half of that amount. Plus, we'll read between the lines of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book and hear how a Baltimore community college is rising to meet a hunger for welders.