🥡Planet Money https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At <em>Planet Money</em>, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.<br /><br /><em> Support public media by joining NPR+ at </em><a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank"><em>plus.npr.org</em></a><em>. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Planet Money.</em> no http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification pod2gen v1.0.3 https://pod2gen.caproni.fm Fri, 06 Nov 2026 01:30:12 +0000 NPR podcasts@npr.org (NPR) Wed, 04 Nov 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At <em>Planet Money</em>, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.<br /><br /><em> Support public media by joining NPR+ at </em><a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank"><em>plus.npr.org</em></a><em>. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Planet Money.</em> The history of light (classic) https://www.npr.org/2026/11/04/nx-s1-6027986/william-nordhaus-yale-nobel-obituary-history-light
For thousands of years, getting light was a huge hassle. You had to make candles from scratch. This is not as romantic as it sounds. You had to get a cow, raise the cow, feed the cow, kill the cow, get the fat out of the cow, cook the fat, dip wicks into the fat. All that — for not very much light. Now, if we want to light a whole room, we just flip a switch.

Nobel-winning economist Bill Nordhaus passed away last week. He was known for his work on the economics of climate change, but he also came up with this idea that the history of light explains reveals why the world today is the way it is. It explains why we aren't all subsistence farmers, and why we can afford to have artists and massage therapists and plumbers. (And, yes, people who make podcasts about the history of light.) The history of light is the history of economic growth — of things getting faster, cheaper, and more efficient. It shows us the pie can get bigger, sometimes, there can be a type of progress where everyone is better off. 

On today's show, one of our all time favorites: How we got from dim little candles made out of cow fat, to as much light as we want at the flick of a switch, and how that is a measure of what economic progress means. 

(Note: This episode originally ran in 2014.)

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Today's show was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum. It was originally produced by Caitlin Kenney and Damiano Marchetti. Today's rerun was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d7ae601b-8465-47f2-835c-21fba48f631d Wed, 04 Nov 2026 08:00:00 +0000 no Is this how the great international borrowing spree ends? https://www.npr.org/2026/10/30/nx-s1-6023794/france-protests-students-bonds-debt
France is in a lot of debt. It has been borrowing record amounts of money. So have many other countries including the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Canada. For more than a decade, there has been an international borrowing spree going on. Now, as interest rates climb, that borrowing spree might have to come to an end. And the consequences could get ugly.

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore and Sierra Juarez. Jimmy Keeley and Travis Hagan engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ebb86052-61b6-4d13-b078-f19589376677 Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:15:00 +0000 no Politicians are afraid to fix taxes. So 100 citizens tried. https://www.npr.org/2026/10/28/nx-s1-6019535/connecticut-citizen-assembly-property-tax-lottery
Today on the show, Connecticut’s citizens assembly. It's like jury duty, but for taxes. About hundred random people from all around Connecticut come together to try to solve the state’s property tax problem. They wrestle with whether they should raise taxes, cut spending, find efficiencies, or a mix of everything. Will this alternative attempt to solve the unsolvable succeed, or will it be politics as usual?

It’s a modern case study of what happens when politicians step aside to let citizens decide what’s best. Come along as we talk to the professor who helped put this assembly together, learn from the citizens involved how this experiment changed them, and meet the politician who agreed to take their proposals to the state legislature. 

Planet Money will be at Kilkenomics Festival 2026. Tickets here.

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed with reporting help from Áine Pennello. It was edited by Jess Jiang, Sierra Juarez is our fact-checker, and Jimmy Keeley & Travis Hagen engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money..

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e2b2c030-eb87-48c0-9069-31a7def930b0 Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:57:50 +0000 no How surveillance crept up on us https://www.npr.org/2026/10/23/nx-s1-5991699/surveillance-new-york-city-nypd-police-security
In the wake of 9/11, the New York Police Department built one of the most sophisticated and omnipresent surveillance systems in the country. 

And while decisions were being made about what tech to adopt and how much to pay for it, few outside the NYPD were consulted. Not the City Council nor the public. For over a decade, the only paper trail of these purchases were offline, stored in filing cabinets, inaccessible to the public. 

Today on the show, how the country’s largest police department built its surveillance system, and the fight to get police everywhere to tell us how they’re watching us. 

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This episode was produced by Vito Emanuel and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Funky Space Mama," "Sunday Lights," and "Blammo"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a6b63a1f-36c3-49e5-96db-8ac77ff0014a Fri, 23 Oct 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no We try to fix election polling (update) https://www.npr.org/2026/10/21/nx-s1-6009849/midterms-polling-election-marist
Today on the show, we head to Marist College — home of the Marist Poll — to learn how to be pollsters ourselves. We learn the great moments in polling history, the latest science of polling, and find out all the tricks that pollsters use to get people to finish their surveys. Then we get on the phone and give it a try ourselves. And offer some of our own solutions. 

This episode was originally published before the 2022 midterm elections. 

We have an update on our idea to save polling, which Marist is still testing, and we find out what it might be able to tell us about the 2026 midterms. 

Music: "Partyline, "The Danzig Connection, and "Saku"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e23755e3-6b21-4507-a5e7-3620e2f4618e Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Anatomy of a movie market https://www.npr.org/2026/10/16/nx-s1-6005392/sundance-hollywood-movies-apple-disney Little Miss Sunshine, Napoleon Dynamite and Precious got sold. And we learn the strategies that might make the difference in whether or not a film makes it onto screens around the world. 

For more episodes about the entertainment industry:  

"Based on a true story"
On the Oscars campaign trail
Why platforms like HBO Max are removing streaming TV shows
The summer I turned binge-y
The Writers Revolt (UPDATE)

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Annlie Huang. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Lone Star Desert Surfer," "The Westerners," and "Tucson Arizona"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 515a052e-a76b-4127-a5f4-9c6a9d70c1ac Fri, 16 Oct 2026 21:30:00 +0000 no Wanna slow down AI? These biologists can help. https://www.npr.org/2026/10/14/nx-s1-6002910/ai-scientific-regulation-conference-asilomar
We ask because some top AI industry leaders are saying the technology they’re pushing forward is moving too quickly … and might kill us all. They’re effectively saying, ‘Please, please regulate us! Slow us down! Tie our hands!’ 

But, by and large, they’re not slowing down, because they don’t want to be left behind. In other words, it’s a classic collective action problem. A type of problem that’s scary, but solvable. We’ve been here before. 

In 1975, a group of scientists holed up for four days on California's foggy Central Coast to stop the runaway technology of their generation: a new DNA splicing technology that they feared could cause mass death. On today’s show, how they set aside ambition and competition to stop a runaway technology. 

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This episode was produced by Vito Emanuel. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Travis Hagan. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Left Coastingg," "Going Nuts," and "Unsatisfied Reflection"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> b297c28a-87e4-4b96-92e0-e64b7b581948 Wed, 14 Oct 2026 21:30:18 +0000 no Should we all be getting tariff refunds right now? https://www.npr.org/2026/10/09/nx-s1-5996901/days-of-our-tariffs-refunds-video-games
It seems simple, right? We paid higher prices for imported goods because of tariffs. Then the tariffs were ruled illegal. Courts said the money paid to the U.S. government had to be refunded. Companies are getting that money now. 

It would seem like we, the customers, should get paid back, too. But … it’s not so simple. 

Once again, we’re dipping back into the drama of import tax law. We’re engrossed in the ups, downs, betrayal, and romance of … the Days of our Tariffs. 

In this edition:  “Refunds and Regrets.” 

How and why some companies and people are getting their IEEPA tariff refunds and other people are out of luck. 

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by our executive producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Special thanks this week to everyone who wrote in with a tale of tariff drama.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 71c5cc76-b7f6-4479-9835-26b8d7e16c67 Fri, 09 Oct 2026 21:07:00 +0000 no Charles Ponzi's scheme (plus a new scam) https://www.npr.org/2026/10/07/nx-s1-5992800/charles-ponzis-scheme-plus-a-new-scam
He caught a lucky break in August, when he received a letter from Europe. In the envelope was an International Reply Coupon, a clever way to prepay for international postage. Ponzi realized he might be able to use these coupons to make his fortune. All he needed was investors.

What happened next made him a household name. This is the story of the man behind the eponymous Ponzi scheme — a tale of financial fraud that lives up to its linguistic legacy.

(Note: The original version of this episode ran in 2023.)

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This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, mastered by Natasha Branch, and edited by Jess Jiang. It's based on the book Ponzi's Scheme, by Mitchell Zuckoff.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 422e04c9-24e3-4eca-bae9-fdd71d614953 Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Where all those weird new drinks are coming from https://www.npr.org/2026/10/02/nx-s1-5989651/flavorman-adaptogens-probiotic-functional-soda-seltzer-drink
Today on the show, we go behind the scenes at one of the nation’s top-secret beverage laboratories. The food scientists in this lab have quietly helped companies design many of the new drinks on the shelves these days. We taste things we have never tasted before, including a sports hydration … broth? We learn what a strawberry has in common with a block of cheese. And we discover why the business of beverages will never be the same again. 

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and edited by Jess Jiang. Vito Emanuel is our fact-checker, and Kwesi Lee engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f35873ff-fecc-4857-bc2d-0f8a1a1202d5 Fri, 02 Oct 2026 23:14:21 +0000 no Who’s gonna pay for your Social Security? https://www.npr.org/2026/09/30/nx-s1-5985851/social-security-payment-solutions-retirees
Today on the show, we look at some of the most talked about possible solutions; and exactly whose wallets we’ll have to rifle through to find the money to pay for each. Then we’ll run the options by the Social Security Administration's former Chief Actuary. The guy Congress used to call to crunch numbers and give them the bottom line. 

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo, it was produced by James Sneed, and edited by Marianne McCune. Sierra Juarez is our fact-checker, and Annlie Huang & Robert Rodriguez engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 84e80865-2556-470a-9f62-d1106c5aede6 Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:55:43 +0000 no Middlegarchs are the new Oligarchs https://www.npr.org/2026/09/25/nx-s1-5981194/stealthy-wealthy-everywhere-millionaires-pass-through
Look beyond Silicon Valley. Look beyond Wall Street. Look beyond the “oligarchs”. There's a much larger class of wealthy Americans hiding in plain sight. And, often, they got rich in mundane ways. They own car dealerships. They sell hot dogs and frozen mini-quiches. They run waxing salons. They supply fabricated metal and urinal cakes. They are dentists.

Collectively, these "Main Street millionaires" control much more wealth than the billionaire lightning rods who launch rockets into space, appear on manosphere podcasts, and have Hollywood movies made about them. Many of these millionaires have also grown rich enough to afford superyachts, 10,000-square-foot homes, and pet tigers. 

At the center of their story is a quiet revolution in the American economy: the rise of a particular kind of private business. On today’s show, how did the power of the “stealthy wealthy” millionaires come to rival that of the billionaire oligarchs? And, how are they shaping policies that lower their taxes and raise your prices?

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This episode was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune with fact checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Collectible Kicks," "Blazed and Emboldened," and "Arturo’s Revenge


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 10652924-571e-4b6e-bd4f-11f819c1dc21 Fri, 25 Sep 2026 21:46:44 +0000 no Is our national debt finally too much? (update) https://www.npr.org/2026/09/23/nx-s1-5978114/national-debt-rogoff-dynan-red-line 2024.)

$40,000,000,000,000. Four commas. Thirteen zeroes. It’s an eye-popping, almost infinite-sounding pile of money. And every time the debt passes a big round number, almost everyone asks the same question: How much debt is too much?

It’s maybe the most important question in macroeconomics. It’s also surprisingly hard to answer. When two economists tried to answer it back in 2010, it ignited a research slugfest that lasted a decade. 

We did a show on this question in 2024, outlining everything we know and don’t know about when the national debt becomes a problem. But a lot has changed. Interest rates have risen and stayed high. Spending has steamrolled ahead. Doves have become hawks. 

So on today’s show, we update our 2024 episode to revisit the age-old question: Is our debt finally too much? 


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Our original episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Molly Messick. This update was reported and produced by Vito Emanuel. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee. And it was edited by Alex Goldmark, Planet Money’s executive producer. 


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 278cf0c2-d1cc-46c4-ba0d-cde6a2902f5b Wed, 23 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no The Domino’s Pizza Tracker Theory of Everything https://www.npr.org/2026/09/18/nx-s1-5974101/dominos-pizza-tracker-labor-illusion
When you order a Lyft or Uber, you get texts every few minutes about your car approaching and arriving. When you have a package coming, you get a notification when it’s shipped, when it’s en route, and when it’s out for delivery. Why do so many companies send these constant updates?

We have a theory: It’s because of Domino’s. In 2008, Domino’s launched the Pizza Tracker, a novel tool that delighted customers by allowing them to obsessively monitor their pizza’s progress from order to oven to delivery. The Pizza Tracker became a canonical model for other companies trying to improve their customers’ experiences of waiting for all kinds of products and services. And now? Pizza Trackers are everywhere. 

On today’s show: how the Domino’s Pizza Tracker shaped the internet, and how trackers went from transparently sharing information with consumers to — in some cases — actively deceiving us. 

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This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alex Mayyasi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Liza Yeager, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f22761e6-409c-4d57-91d6-5d9a8cca840b Fri, 18 Sep 2026 20:00:00 +0000 no How investing is getting riskier (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2026/09/16/nx-s1-5970391/margin-calls-sports-betting-investing Planet Money’s daily podcast The Indicator about the ways investing is changing, and getting riskier.

According to one study, more than half of Gen Zers are using investment dollars for sports gambling. On average, this is not a smart strategy for the long term. It might be that sports betting today is like day trading was for a previous generation of young investors: something a lot of young people, typically men, do, lose money at for a while, then quit. We review the early research on this trend and meet a state legislator proposing ways to stem problem gambling.

More, generally younger people are also investing with borrowed money. Trading on margin is at an all time high of over $1.5 trillion. In the past, high levels of margin investing have led to crashes. We hear those stories and find out what the Fed might do to reign in the risk. 

Related Indicator episodes
— How AI might mess with financial markets
— Prediction markets are threatening national security. Who's gonna fix it?

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These episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money were produced by Corey Bridges and Cooper Katz-McKim. They were engineered by Travis Hagan and Cena Loffredo, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. They were edited by Julia Ritchey and Kate Concannon. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1dadb75e-d29b-400a-bb49-f6df18e28213 Wed, 16 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no The loan at the heart of a new foreclosure crisis https://www.npr.org/2026/09/11/nx-s1-5966574/baltimore-foreclosure-crisis-dscr-loan
But these loans are also raising questions. Are they a financial innovation that’s helping the housing market? Or ... a sign that Wall Street might be forgetting the mistakes that led to the Global Financial Crisis? 

On today’s show, we head to Baltimore, where abandoned rowhomes have become a familiar sight. Reporters Hallie Miller, Jack Bologna and Sahana Jayaraman from The Baltimore Banner have been following this new loan as it’s been bringing millions of dollars into some of Baltimore's most distressed neighborhoods. 

But, a few years ago, two local landlords quickly and quietly amassed what might be one of the largest private real estate portfolios in Baltimore: Over 700 homes and $100 million dollars in borrowed cash. Using this hot new loan. And then they tried to disappear. We talk with the Banner reporters about what they found at the heart of this mystery, and why it might have implications for the rest of the country. 

Read the Banner’s reporting:

The housing hustle igniting a foreclosure crisis in Baltimore
Before mass foreclosures, DSCR loans looked good for Baltimore 
Could a few 'bad actors' upend Baltimore's housing hopes?
Baltimore will investigate New York investor group for housing discrimination 
Baltimore is striking fear into private lenders across the country 
From $3.7M to $9.9M: Federal probe focuses on 42 Baltimore homes sold again and again
The FBI is investigating the New York investors behind Baltimore’s foreclosure wave
Fake deeds, real money: New York investors accused of another Baltimore scam
How do you build a huge portfolio of Baltimore rentals? It helps to know a guy.
The loans behind Baltimore’s foreclosure crisis are surging in cities across the nation  
Baltimore ballroom ‘icon’ survives a life of grit with glamour

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Travis Hagen. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Music: Universal Production Music - "Slick Groove," "Seven Secrets," and "Jazz Move"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e4a2224f-f462-445a-9401-ad628eaee491 Fri, 11 Sep 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no Cost-cutting, quiet guilt and the inflation generation https://www.npr.org/2026/09/09/nx-s1-5961504/economy-coupon-inflation-retirement-wages
One one hand, the stock market is on a prolonged, upward trajectory. Unemployment is low and inflation has come down from its peak. But on the other hand, inflation is frustratingly sticky and higher than we want, job turnover is extremely low making looking for work an endless grind, and more than 75% of Americans say they’re stressed about money. 

So we asked you – our listeners – how is the economy working for you? We got a range of responses. Some people are going to great lengths to save money and make ends meet, others are thriving and feel kind of guilty about their good fortune. We also heard from a new generation being shaped by this economic moment into hyper cost-conscious shoppers. You might call them the inflation generation. Each story helps us understand what’s actually going on in the economy and what the stats aren’t capturing. 

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Alex Goldmark. Reporting help from Charlotte Isidore. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Special thanks to all our listeners and all of you who wrote in to let us know how you’re doing. 

Music: NPR Source Audio  - "What I Need," "Feel the Love," and "Red Line"


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9e77d9d8-97df-4750-a7c6-503e3ed2da9f Wed, 09 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Trump drinks Venezuela’s milkshake https://www.npr.org/2026/09/04/nx-s1-5958648/us-venezuela-oil-deal-reserves-trump announced a deal that would give the “U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer.”

The exact nature of this deal has been … obscure, to say the least. But today, we wanted to know, from someone who’s been through this before, what does this mean for Venezuela?

José Ángel Pereira Ruimwyk is both optimistic … and wary. He’s a longtime Venezuelan oil insider. When Venezuela invited in foreigners, decades ago, he was there to greet them. And when Venezuela wanted them out? Well, that’s how he ended up in a jail cell. 

On today’s show, we’re going to hear from one third-generation Venezuelan oilman who has seen everything … up until this, of course.

Check out our other episodes about Venezuela:  
- Chevron, Venezuela and the Paradox of Plenty
- How Venezuela imploded 

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This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Erika Beras and produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact checked by Emma Peaslee with help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Josephine Nyounai with help from Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 70775d03-ff2f-4143-9d1b-df6bd2cb60b3 Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 no Love in the time of Palantir https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/nx-s1-5953112/palantir-software-data-surveillance
That event, deep in the heart of Manhattan, is called: “Singles Dating Matching Using Palantir Data.” The evening promised: “Data analysis!” and “Pattern matching!” We decided that we needed to know more. 

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This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and Maggie Luthar and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Music: Universal Production Music - "Silvana’s Theme," "Masseria Del Sud," Sunset in Florence," and "An Italian Romance"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 43627a93-796f-4805-89ae-76c7bed4997d Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” the true story behind the anthem (bonus) https://www.npr.org/2026/08/30/nx-s1-5948176/dolly-partons-9-to-5-the-true-story-behind-the-anthem-bonus Wait, this is messed up. This is real. This is a problem we need to fix. Like, why does it have to be this way?

That is the spirit of the song, why it became an anthem, and the heart of the movie 9 to 5. 

There’s so much to say about Dolly Parton, about her music, acting career, her business savvy, not to mention Dollywood. Today though, we wanted to bring you the audacious true story of 9 to 5, the movie and the song. 

Between the 1960s and 1980s, there was a real sense that big workplace changes were just beyond the horizon. At the time, a very common job for women was clerical work. In 1973, a group of secretaries in Boston formed a women's labor organization. They called themselves the "9to5."

Today on the show, we revisit our 2021 episode where we meet the women behind the movement that inspired the movie. And a look at how far we have — or haven't — come since then.

This is a special Sunday bonus episode. For our latest episode on inventing new tomatoes, scroll down the feed or click here. 

(Note: This episode originally ran in 2021.)

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Today's episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Sonari Glinton. The original episode was produced by Nick Fountain and James Sneed and edited by Mitra Kaboli. The update was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Music: "9 to 5," "5 to 9," and "Fly on the Wall." 


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 532d6947-be95-4fff-981e-ff2bfdcc26f8 Sun, 30 Aug 2026 07:00:02 +0000 no Branded fruit: How produce got “Honeycrisp-ified" https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5947931/tomato-varieties-nixon-apples
And now – it’s happening in the tomato bin too! Where once there were just plain old cherry or grape tomatoes, now there are Sugar Bombs, and Flavor Bombs, and Lolli Bombs and Sprinkles.

Today, we are partnering up with Dan Pashman – host of The Sporkful food podcast – and heading to New Jersey where we hope to taste an up-and-coming competitor: Rutgers University's Scarlet Sunrise grape tomato. We talk to the inventors to understand why this explosion in branded fruits and veggies has happened and how you go about making a new piece of produce.

Plus, we talk to Cornell agricultural economist Miguel Gomez about whether or not the fruits and veggies spread in our produce aisle are, perhaps, reaching the point of market saturation.

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Dan Pashman. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo & Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Correction, Aug. 31, 2026: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the University of Washington developed the Cosmic Crisp apple. It was Washington State University.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9ac6cc5f-1327-48c1-8539-61e6fb1d39e4 Fri, 28 Aug 2026 19:19:07 +0000 no The continent nobody owns & everyone benefits from (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/08/26/nx-s1-5943609/summer-school-antarctica This episode is packed with your best economic ideas from around the world and a penguin interview. It all comes together in this final session of Summer School 2026.

Pack your parka, we’re headed to Antarctica.

First, we’ll travel back in time to the late 1970s when NPR was a scrappy young network, with a synth soundtrack, and tons of heart. Science reporter Ira Flatow took a trip to the South Pole that put NPR on the news industry map. We’ll hear an excerpt where he brings us along through what life is like on the ice, including a memorable interview with the wildlife.

Then we look inside McMurdo Station, the largest human settlement and research base on Antarctica to hear from a listener who managed the store at the base back in the 1980s. Normal retail rules do not apply. We’ll also speak with an economist who has estimated the continent’s monetary value, while asking questions like “why put a price tag on this uninhabitable land”? She makes the case we should consider the environmental benefit as a service.

But, we can’t let the episode and the series wrap without marking our achievements! You did it! As part of our graduation celebration, we hear from your fellow members of the summer school class of 2026. Listeners like you who have written in from around the globe with provocative economic ideas that could make life better for all of us if we just have the will to do it. Man did you all deliver on sending in ideas. We’ve curated our favorites. Way better than speeches.

And don’t forget your totally real, but not legal, diploma by taking our short online test. Don’t worry if you need a refresher, catch up on past seasons of Planet Money Summer School here.

Featured Episodes:

Featured Terms:

  • Ecosystem as a service 
  • Consórcios (a type of ROSCA, a Rotating Savings and Credit Association)
  • Social housing
  • Natural capital
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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Schuyler Swenson and Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore and engineered by Annlie Huang.
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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 267391af-c63f-4343-a9be-55a5446379a0 Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no Who decides what big box sells? Our GAME got us answers https://www.npr.org/2026/08/21/nx-s1-5940897/buyer-boardgame-bigbox-target-walmart
Learn more about the story of Pantone: The company that owns colors 


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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Jimmy Keeley. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Silly Sevens," "Adventure Time," and "Virtual Machine"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> b23000fa-66fb-4df2-a3be-455bf17c5477 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 21:17:27 +0000 no Getting entrepreneurial in Korea (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5936481/korea-summer-school-entrepreneurial

Then later in this episode – how entrepreneurial endeavors look different on the other side of the 38th parallel. We’ll follow a woman who started her own small business selling goods in North Korea. How are the Donju, members of the affluent entrepreneurial class, faring and can capitalism exist in a highly restrictive socialist society?

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  • Volatility
  • Inflation expectations
  • Capital controls
  • Austerity


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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Schuyler Swenson and Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore and engineered by Annlie Huang.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d3594708-49b5-464f-a29c-1f92c115d119 Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no You bet your life insurance https://www.npr.org/2026/08/14/nx-s1-5885879/life-insurance-settlements
You don’t have to actually die to get some of your life insurance money. Thanks to a secondary market for life insurance policies, you might be able to claw back money from beyond the grave. You just sell your policy to an investor. So when you die, the payout goes to them, instead of your family or beneficiary. 

On today’s show, how the wheels of finance transformed a desperate deal made during the AIDS crisis into a multi-billion dollar industry. 

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7408d7f6-3eab-4ebd-b88d-ccb2f6327204 Fri, 14 Aug 2026 20:56:00 +0000 no Currency Chaos in Argentina (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-5914841/summer-school-argentina-inflation-currency-volatility
Over the years, we at Planet Money have checked in on Argentina as it tried to recover from economic collapse in 2001 and 2002, and as inflation shot up and the country defaulted on its debts. This week on our Summer School World Tour, we fly to Buenos Aires, mapping the moves of their economy through the eyes of people who live there – from tango classes and shoe shopping to a Coldplay concert that sparked a special exchange rate. 

We’ll consider the different attempts from the government to staunch inflation and why they’ve led to so many unintended consequences. But the heart of this week’s trip is the resilience of everyday economic actors, regular people. When the value of your currency is so in flux, average people become monetary contortionists just to navigate work, shopping, saving and to keep small businesses afloat. This adaptability becomes a special kind of skill and wisdom. So, we’re harvesting that everyday economic insight for tips on how we can all face uncertainty a little better. And, to appreciate the high costs of volatility. 

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Featured Terms: 

  • Volatility
  • Inflation expectations
  • Capital controls
  • Austerity
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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and Schuyler Swenson and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2e6155cd-e5f7-4427-acfc-c8b0e0848efc Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no Older workers aren’t retiring. Should they be forced to? https://www.npr.org/2026/08/07/nx-s1-5918646/forced-mandatory-retirement-baby-boomers-mid-career-workers
It used to be legal to force people to retire when they hit a certain age. The trend used to be earlier and earlier retirement. Now it’s later and later retirement. And younger workers say it’s impacting their career advancement and their ability to save for their own retirement.

At the same time, older workers are living longer, Social Security and Medicare funding are less secure than ever … and many people want to keep working.

Age in the workplace is a tricky thing to talk about. But today on the show, we’re talking about it. On the latest Planet Money, a law professor who says retirement should be mandatory at age 70. And an economist who says, actually … people should delay retirement even longer. 

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This episode was reported by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Eric Misitzis Mennel, and fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio: “Don’t Cross The Line,”  “Aventure Burlesque,” and “Hollywood.”


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c8fefeb8-8aaa-4b93-b648-2eb72051cce3 Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:55:00 +0000 no Sand heists and property rights in the Caribbean (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/08/05/nx-s1-5913981/summer-school-caribbean-property-rights-sand-heist
This week on our Summer School World Tour we make port on the small economies of island nations, a great place to explore how different experiments play out. Every small change – the good and the bad – has big consequences.

First, the fascinating test case on the island of Barbuda, where the people there have found a way to run things without the usual, formal land rights.

Then, we consider the vulnerabilities of small nations as we dig into a mysterious sand heist in Jamaica. A stolen beach – yes, you read that right – and something called “sand forensics” reveal the importance of this seemingly infinite resource and the challenges of protecting public spaces when there’s money to be made.

Along the way we found ourselves asking: Does property have to be private? What happens when it’s not? How can you protect scarce resources when they’re part of the vast, public spaces everyone shares?

Featured Episodes:
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  • Tragedy of the commons
  • Property rights
  • Path dependence
  • Ownership in common

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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Leyla Doss and engineered by Annlie Huang.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 08584965-fc01-4cb2-bc20-65c8f85576f0 Wed, 05 Aug 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no What makes a toy go viral https://www.npr.org/2026/07/31/nx-s1-5913719/squishy-dumpling-toy-slime-viral
Today on the show, we have the story of the once-humble squishy dumpling and what it teaches us about how to make a viral hit and how to manufacture it, without getting left holding the bag. Hear it all firsthand from the creator of this trendy toy. 

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Melty Heart," "Summer Escape," and "Twilight Sparkle"


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a00277d1-9d4f-47b0-9804-0575f581359a Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no How to beat the resource curse in Norway (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/07/29/nx-s1-5909323/summer-school-norway-glut-resource-curse-oil
Norway! It’s expensive, wealthy, and abundant in resources. We’re going to compare two of them in particular today: deep reservoirs of oil and icy waters full of salmon. While one resource was heavily in demand, the country had an oversupply of the other.

In this episode, we learn how Norway built its wealth by carefully avoiding the pitfalls of discovering oil that have plagued countries in the past and how it creatively created demand for its raw fish abroad.

How do you dodge the dreaded resource curse? What clever ways can you benefit from oversupply? And lastly, how do you get rich and stay that way?

Featured Episodes:
Featured Terms:
  • Resource curse / Dutch disease / paradox of plenty
  • Coordination problem
  • Free-rider problem

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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo with help from Annlie Huang and Robert Rodriguez.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 840c0c66-7c50-4de2-909a-e50d5ce84a0e Wed, 29 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School) https://www.npr.org/2026/07/24/nx-s1-5894830/summer-school-kenya-nigeria-cash-development-experiment
In Kenya and Nigeria, economics isn’t just theory, it’s real life. We’ll look at some radical experiments that turned out to be enormously successful.

What are the building blocks of health, education and prosperity for all? How does a nation grow rich? What is the most effective way to spend a dollar to fight poverty? We find answers in a town that became the laboratory for new concepts in economic research that netted some researchers the most prestigious prize in economics.

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  • Randomized controlled trial
  • Human capital
  • Missing middle
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The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. This episode was fact-checked by Leyla Doss, with engineering by Annlie Huang.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 114d32ca-0f46-4a42-b717-ff63f75bec77 Fri, 24 Jul 2026 20:00:00 +0000 no Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine https://www.npr.org/2026/07/22/nx-s1-5903288/taylor-farms-lettuce-cyclospora-taco-bell-explosive-diarrhea
So on today’s show, we tell you just how much lettuce Americans eat every year (SO MUCH!), how bagged lettuce came to dominate grocery store shelves, what that means for food safety, and why these outbreaks continue to happen — despite the FDA’s efforts to stop them.

Check out other related episodes:
Food Scare Squad
How refrigeration took over the world

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Emma Peaslee. It was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune and it was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Annlie Huang. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Electric Leak," "West Green Road," and "Melty Heart"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f5759b18-4ed5-43dd-95ea-0f827a18d5d0 Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:16:26 +0000 no New NPR Series: "We Keep Us Safe" from the Embedded podcast
In this eight-part series, hosts Sydney Brownstone of The Seattle Times and Will James of KUOW team up with NPR's Embedded to investigate Antonio's death. They track down key eyewitnesses and surface crucial evidence that's never been made public.

Find "We Keep Us Safe" in the Embedded podcast feed.

Listen to Embedded wherever you get your podcasts, including the NPR App, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and via RSS.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5c9cd9bd-343a-4b84-a924-4ef562a0bcab Tue, 21 Jul 2026 21:00:01 +0000 no Can World Cup mania grow MLS in the U.S.? https://www.npr.org/2026/07/17/nx-s1-5897877/world-cup-fifa-major-league-soccer-mls-messi-mbappe
In between World Cup matches, NPR Sports Correspondent Becky Sullivan has been following Major League Soccer executives as they try to figure out how best to get a foot in the door with sports fans in the U.S.

In this episode, we tag along to see if U.S. and Canadian professional soccer can harness 2026 for the mythical World Cup bump in soccer interest. What strategies are teams using? And does it stand a chance to work?

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Becky Sullivan and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed with an assist from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Annlie Huang. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a4c11ff1-cb3a-4de6-b907-453e907a1479 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:43:18 +0000 no Building things and breaking things in China (Summer School World Tour) https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/nx-s1-5889516/summer-school-china-engineering-state-china-central-planning
High-speed trains that connect every town. Gleaming new bridges and skyscrapers. An apartment (or two) for every family. No country on Earth has seen the kind of economic growth that China has over the last 50 years. China has become the factory to the world, a grand experiment in central government planning mixed with personal ambition. 

It was all enabled by what our guide for today calls, an engineering state, a central planning mindset where leaders believe they can engineer their way out of economic problems. And problems are mounting. 

Today on the show, the perils of prosperity and the despair of success as China deals with overbuilding. 

We’ll travel back to China’s free-wheeling boom-era of the early 2000s and hang out with a property developer who amassed his wealth at the center of the action – private jet rides, thousand-dollar fish soup, casual bribes. Then, as the economy slows, we ask what can we learn from the despair of success. Does rising youth unemployment signal a less prosperous future? With young people struggling to find white-collar jobs, some of them are opting out of work altogether. 

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Featured Terms: 

  • Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
  • Engineering State
  • Malinvestment


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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7dbc0704-6032-48cf-aeb5-d344fa8a4d65 Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no Seven allegedly fake Chanel bags vs The RealReal https://www.npr.org/2026/07/10/nx-s1-5879253/chanel-realreal-secondhand-luxury-market
Some online resellers claim to have solved this problem. They say they’ve developed a process of authentication, and so buyers can trust that the bag is really Gucci or Cartier or Hermès or whatever. But according to some luxury brands, authenticity is something that is often imitated but never replicated.

In today’s episode of Planet Money, the fight between Chanel and The RealReal. And how luxury brands are reacting to the enormous and growing secondhand market for luxury goods.

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Charlotte Isidore, who also fact checked this episode. Jess Jiang edited the show and it was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2f8474b9-9c7c-4ab5-a2ca-6f74926433e0 Fri, 10 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no Our mission: Find the world’s best economic ideas (Summer School World Tour) https://www.npr.org/2026/07/08/nx-s1-5877869/summer-school-australia-new-zealand-inflation-speculators
From the beaches of Barbuda to the fjords of Norway, there's money (and money problems) everywhere. For this summer travel season, Planet Money Summer School will take you on a world tour for your ears. Pack that sense of wonder and nose for adventure, this is our semester abroad. We’re going to explore exotic locales and discover cultural norms, but we’re also going to buckle down and learn the biggest economic lessons around the world from our guides.

We start as far away as you can get from Planet Money headquarters, New Zealand and Australia. We’ll visit a sheep farm to observe an innovative but controversial market for the most important substance on earth, and we’ll ask when do speculators help and when do they hurt the rest of us? Then, we’ll get to know the economist – and jazz musician – who changed how the entire world fights inflation when he released a secret number to tame the dreaded wild beast. How did that work? Spoiler: it was the great leap forward in economic mind tricks.


Featured Episodes:

Featured Terms:
  • Multiple equilibria
  • Inflation targeting
  • Speculators (impact on liquidity)
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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Annlie Huang with help from Robert Rodriguez.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "The Boy from Ipanema," "Desmontes," "Long Drive,” and “Bondi.”


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9a23f11d-8868-438b-b78f-dfe229b22fd7 Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:30:00 +0000 no How to win a penalty shootout (with game theory) https://www.npr.org/2026/07/03/nx-s1-5879357/world-cup-penalty-kick-game-theory
According to game theory, there’s an optimal strategy for taking penalty kicks. This strategy involves an idea that was once somewhat controversial in economics — that is, until economists started studying soccer players in real life. 

On today's show, we kick it over to the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast to explain how game theory has changed soccer, and how soccer has changed game theory. 

Watch the penalty shootout between Manchester United and Chelsea in the Champions League final in 2008. 

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Annlie Huang. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

The Soccernomics episode was originally hosted by Ashish Malhotra, Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski and sound designed by Alex Roldan.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3a1cc7b7-7691-4070-a761-e9465a7b8f42 Fri, 03 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no Can the Trump administration make college cheaper? https://www.npr.org/2026/07/01/nx-s1-5876467/student-loans-debt-bennett-hypothesis-tuition
The Department of Education thinks so. It has a new plan to bring down tuition costs. Starting today, July 1st, it’s going to cap how much it’s willing to loan to graduate students. 

You read that right. To reduce the burden of school…the plan is to give students less money to pay for school. 

This plan is, in part, based on an idea that’s been floating around higher education circles for decades: The Bennett Hypothesis, which claims there’s a direct relationship between student borrowing and tuition prices. And therefore, if the Department of Education — the biggest student loan provider in the country — limits how much students can take out, then schools will have no choice but to charge students less. 

This hypothesis was floated roughly 40 years ago...without evidence. But now, as the Trump administration rolls out their Bennettian plan, we have decades of data to see how true this hypothesis is.

Today on the show: NPR Education Correspondent Cory Turner explains this theory, and what the new plan influenced by it will mean for borrowers this fall.

Other notes:

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This episode was hosted by Cory Turner and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - “Morning Chorus,” “Belle Mar,” and “The Sky Was Orange.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> b399f628-3ce1-444d-8247-72ecd9c20f59 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no We almost had a smartphone in the 90s. Why did it fail? https://www.npr.org/2026/06/26/nx-s1-5872785/general-magic-sony-magiclink-constraints
On today’s show, a theory about why this device failed. General Magic had generous investors, world-class talent and creative freedom. But is it possible what they needed was constraints?


Further reading and viewing:

David Epstein’s book is Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better.

Tony Fadell’s book is Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Make Things Worth Making.

Sarah Kerruish and Matt Maude’s documentary is called General Magic.

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This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Emma Peaslee. It was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley with help from Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 328df0bb-82ab-4cd3-a519-2dd8a03a1c8d Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:30:00 +0000 no Before Kalshi and Polymarket there was the Iowa Electronic Markets https://www.npr.org/2026/06/24/nx-s1-5868659/history-prediction-market-forecasting-betting-economics
There was an entire political era when party bosses were expected to conspicuously gamble on their candidates (even if they secretly hedged).

And in the 1980s, a few economists designed an election market that beat out election polling 74 percent of the time.

Today, we’re running an excerpt from our friends at Throughline, NPR’s excellent history podcast. Subscribe right now if you don’t already. And, listen to their extended version of the episode to hear about the early markets for betting on terrorism and military uses of prediction markets.

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Today's episode was produced for Planet Money by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Alex Goldmark, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. The original Throughline episode was produced by Rund Abdelfatah, Casey Miner, Cristina Kim, Devin Katayama, Sarah Wyman, Julia Redpath, and Kyana Moghadam. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 43f179b1-4f92-40bd-970a-92304623a98b Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no The real horror of ‘Alien’ and how it explains why we’re not paid enough https://www.npr.org/2026/06/19/nx-s1-5863604/alien-monopsony-wages-inequality
Weyland-Yutani is a sort of extreme example of what economists call a monopsony — when one employer dominates a labor market and gains power to underpay and mistreat workers. Sure, it’s science fiction. But a growing number of economists argue that monopsony power is a much bigger deal in the real world than previously thought.

We watch scenes from the movie Alien with labor economist Arin Dube, whose new book, The Wage Standard, shines a spotlight on the problem of monopsony power in the modern economy. We ask Arin what policy ideas he has that would have maybe prevented the worker tragedy seen in Alien. And we use his answer to try and rewrite the movie (spoiler: the movie becomes much shorter and less exciting).

Plus, we speak with Fede Álvarez, the director and co-writer of Alien: Romulus, which puts Weyland-Yutani’s poor treatment of workers front row and center.

For more on monopsony and anti-trust:

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Today's episode of Planet Money was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f3c388d8-29eb-404a-b6d8-0c0376706b65 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 21:30:00 +0000 no Can computer hackers get inside your mind? https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5859441/computer-malware-security-iran-stuxnet-fast16
The U.S. and Israel have long been in conflict with Iran over their nuclear development program. Some of that conflict has been out in the open, with bombs and blockades, but some of it has been invisible. 

Recently some security researchers discovered a cyberweapon likely tied to that invisible conflict. It looks like it was designed to hide on nuclear scientists computers, then throw off their calculations--just as they got close to achieving their goals.

Sounds like something out of science fiction. But it was created 20 years ago. 

On today’s show: a whodunit about hackers, ‘Cyber Paleontologists’, spy-vs-spy protocols, cryptic intelligence leaks, nuclear physics, high-precision math, and epistemological warfare.

Pictured: Juan Andres Guerrero Saade (JAGS) and his ‘Fast16 - NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CARRY ON’ tattoo. 

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This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Erika Beras. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune with help from Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Charlotte Isidore and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - “High Tech Expert,” “Digital Wave,” and “Hyper Pop.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e12a72a9-57e6-4467-95bc-6685a74f3056 Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no It’s my tree. Why can’t I cut it down? https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5856509/property-rights-zoning-laws-trees-portland-oregon
That's because trees are important for air quality, for flood control, and for public health. They help keep neighborhoods cool on hot days. But some think that tree protection laws have gone too far — that they might even be unconstitutional.

On today's episode, it's the latest showdown between property rights and local zoning laws. Typically, towns and cities enjoy a lot of power when it comes to zoning and permits. They can ban certain types of buildings. They can make you paint your house a certain color. But can they make it illegal to cut down a tree? And what does it mean to "own" a piece of property anyway?

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Jeff Guo and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by James Sneed and Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang, and fact-checked by Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e64308bf-b503-4f1d-af97-cff9d525fa99 Fri, 12 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0000 no Two indicators for lowering the rent https://www.npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s1-5851902/housing-affordability-corporate-landlords-boarding-houses
Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies show they do the opposite. When corporate landlords come to town, they do buy up homes, which can raise the price to buy, but at the same time lower rents. We’ll parse the impact as we consider a Trump administration plan to restrict corporate home ownership.

Related episodes:

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The original episodes of the Indicator were hosted by Darian Woods and Wailin Wong. They were produced by Julia Ritchey, Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges with engineering by Travis Hagan and Robert Rodriguez. They were fact checked by Vito Emanuel and Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon edits the show. This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Murphy. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0a75fa68-5d50-4f41-b8dd-c1955184e397 Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:15:00 +0000 no Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work? https://www.npr.org/2026/06/05/nx-s1-5847893/why-is-there-a-supplement-craze-if-they-dont-even-work
On today's show, we tell the story of a century-long battle between the U.S. government and … you, the people, blinded by your love of a magic pill.

We’re talking about protein powders, pre-workouts, creatine, stuff for gut health, joint health, vitamin C, turmeric supplements. All that. You might not wanna hear this.

Sources mentioned in the episode:

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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Jane Black. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Marianne McCune, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez with help with Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez with help from Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 85e1ca1e-0e9b-4bb8-8897-e7a8deec92a1 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no There's no business like dough business https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5844617/hyperfixed-wetzels-pretzels-franchising-clustering-impulse
Today’s show is one such example. Our pals at Hyperfixed got a knotty question we just had to help them untangle: Why are there so many Wetzel’s Pretzels so close to one another at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station?

To find out, Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi followed the dough all the way to the top. His journey led him to a jolly pretzel executive, a franchisee with a deep-fried American dream, and a brush with mall security.

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This episode was hosted by Alex Goldman and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. Hyperfixed is produced and edited by Emma Courtland, Amor Yates, Sari Soffer Sukenik and Tori Dominguez Peak.  The music is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Alex Goldman. It was engineered by Tony Williams. Fact checking by Naomi Barr. The Planet Money version was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 92074c80-6417-4f52-b24e-ebdb46757077 Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food https://www.npr.org/2026/05/29/nx-s1-5836552/fda-gras-food-chemicals-additives-rfk
It was supposed to require FDA approval for new additives. But food companies and chemical makers found a workaround. And the FDA formally okayed the loophole in the 90s — in the process bringing attention to a loophole to the loophole.

The FDA has essentially admitted it doesn’t have the capacity to verify the safety of new food chemicals. So they leave it up to food companies and chemical makers to declare their brand new chemicals are safe. These chemicals are used in everything from chocolate and smoked fish, to tea bags, protein drinks, popcorn, and seeds.

So, how’d the loophole get there, and what does it tell us about the priority the U.S. places on safety versus speed and innovation? And, how much can one lawyer do about it?

Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodrguez with help from Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.  

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ff454b2f-c829-44f7-9c40-88c4390fb9f8 Fri, 29 May 2026 19:59:00 +0000 no The leaked tapes that show how the rich avoid taxes https://www.npr.org/2026/05/27/nx-s1-5835164/malta-tax-evasion-avoidance-loophole
On today’s show, a collaboration with Tax Notes, we listen in on the secret tapes that show how the wealthiest Americans avoid taxes. 

We trace the lifecycle of a tax loophole: how it was born (in Malta), how it grew, how the Feds cracked down, and how the industry came to its rescue -- with the help of one high-ranking Trump administration official.  

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This episode was produced by Luis Gallo and Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 27366322-a1c5-4739-af4e-dc35acf7996e Wed, 27 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no The giant factory town that might be a giant mistake https://www.npr.org/2026/05/22/nx-s1-5831786/brazil-manaus-middle-income-blueprint
And if there's a poster child for the middle income trap, many would point to Brazil. For a time, Brazil had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. On today's show, we head to Brazil to understand why the old blueprint for economic development might not work so well anymore.

The story starts in the Amazon rainforest. With an audacious plan to industrialize the country as fast as possible.

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed and Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, translation help from Sarah Robbins. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

A very, very special thanks to Carrie Kahn and Valdemar Geo from NPR’s Rio bureau. Also to Otaviano Canuto and Denis Minev.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 05ff4671-6419-4b74-bfa7-f00e08bae61e Fri, 22 May 2026 22:25:00 +0000 no Vacation and why Americans take so little https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5827074/vacation-holiday-europe-time-off
Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No matter how long they’ve been at a company. No matter how low paying the job is. Vacation is a right. 

In fact, all but one of the richest countries in the world guarantees paid vacation, except: the U.S. 

According to a 2019 study, people in Japan get 10 paid vacation days and 15 paid holidays; in Australia it’s 20 paid vacation days and 8 paid holidays; and in Spain it’s 25 paid vacation days and 14 paid holidays. 

And it’s not just a rich country thing: Mexico, Afghanistan, Thailand, Tanzania - they all guarantee paid vacation from work, at least in the formal job sector. 

In the U.S: Zero paid vacation days and zero paid holidays. 

So, why is the United States the outlier? We go to several labor economists and historians, to find out what makes Americans different from Europeans. It’s a winding journey, so maybe put in a request for some paid time off and take a listen!

Note: This episode originally ran in 2023.

Some articles we mention in this episode:

“No Vacation Nation”
“Study: A Record 768 Million U.S. Vacation Days Went Unused in ‘18, Opportunity Cost in the Billions”
“Why the US is one of only a few countries with no paid time off”

This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by Maggie Luthar, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

Book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> b965eb50-f69e-42d4-a642-3b6a7860ada7 Wed, 20 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Jerome Powell and the Future of Fed Independence https://www.npr.org/2026/05/15/nx-s1-5823832/jerome-powell-federal-reserve-term-end-future
It’s impossibly important for the Federal Reserve to steer monetary policy without political interference – an ideal pushed to its brink during Jerome Powell’s time as Fed Chair.

Powell’s Fed faced a once-in-a-century pandemic, oversaw the economy as inflation spiked to about 9 percent … went back down to nearly 2 percent … and has started to go back up as the U.S. has gone to war and continued to try and implement the most comprehensive tariffs since the early 1900s.

But perhaps Powell will be best remembered as a target – of angry tweets, speeches, and ultimately a criminal investigation, by the very president who nominated him in the first place.

On Powell’s last day as chair, we ask where his story fits into the sweep of history. We’ll hear from someone who was on the Fed Board when Powell was appointed … and when President Trump started to pressure Powell. Plus, we learn what to watch for to see if Fed Independence is crumbling – or holding – as a new Fed Chair nominated by President Trump takes office.

Recommend Listening:

- Happy Fed Independence Day
- The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
- A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
- Trump's unprecedented attack on the Fed
- Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?
- Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed
- What happens to central banks under pressure?

Book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Cena Loffredo. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4c84b0b7-88ea-49de-ac4d-0da672ca9fe3 Fri, 15 May 2026 19:59:43 +0000 no The secret meeting that launched OPEC https://www.npr.org/2026/05/13/nx-s1-5819610/opec-oil-explainer-uae-leaving
“It would be so awesome if you guys could do an episode explaining OPEC to us,” she emailed us. She wanted to know: why does OPEC exist? Why does it limit the supply of oil? And now that the United Arab Emirates has dropped out, what will happen to gas prices?  

We love when our listeners write in (and send us voice notes!). The simplest questions can reveal how the complicated web of the economy works.

On our latest: we answer our listener’s questions… and the questions behind those questions! 

Related episodes:
• Chevron, Venezuela and the Paradox of Plenty  

Book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0c7cf1b8-ee27-40ce-b398-c8e4bdf4b7d6 Wed, 13 May 2026 22:03:21 +0000 no Diary of a WNBA negotiator https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/nx-s1-5816448/wnba-new-season-contract-negotiations
Alysha is the oldest player in the league – and when she started she was making a yearly salary of about $36,400. The players flew economy, the rookies in middle seats. They doubled up in hotel rooms. The league was just starting out, wasn’t bringing in money, and, as Alysha says, “That's just what you got.”

Jump forward to 2025 and fans are crowding into stadiums, games are on primetime TV, and the WNBA has a 3.1 billion dollar media rights deal.  

So when the players’ contract came up for renewal, they had a once in a generation opportunity to change the future for all of women’s basketball. Maybe all of women's sports. Today on the show, we hear Alysha’s minute by minute account of what it’s like to be a rookie doing high-stakes bargaining. It came right down to the buzzer. 

Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life is in stores now. 

Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and James Willets. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Nights Like This," "Funk Dive," and "Tropical Heat"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4aae727c-b1d5-4a05-be31-4d2e51a4f45f Sat, 09 May 2026 02:26:37 +0000 no How we got free agents in baseball https://www.npr.org/2026/05/06/nx-s1-5812912/baseball-free-agency-curt-flood
Flood argued that the league should act like any other business and let workers sell their labor to whichever team they liked. But for decades, courts had ruled in favor of the team owners. Curt’s fight would destroy his career and change the sport forever.

If you want to learn more about Curt Flood’s story, check out Business History’s original episode. 

Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life is in stores now. 

Support: Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find us on Socials: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok 

Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was hosted by Jacob Goldstein, Robert Smith and Keith Romer. It was produced and fact-checked by Emma Peaslee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Thanks to Gabriel Hunter Chang and Ryan Dilley at Business History.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0d1db389-9f27-4e97-9b49-af63ac9ab7fb Wed, 06 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no How to make a BOOK into a bestseller https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5785166/how-best-seller-lists-get-made
Today on the show, the fourth episode in our series: Planet Money sets out to make the Planet Money book a best seller, and along the way, we uncover all the outlandish strategies that people have tried to hack their way onto the New York Times Best Seller List. There will be mass hallucinations, legal exorcisms, shady book launderers, and scarlet daggers. And we learn the hard way how trying to engineer your way onto the list, just might be the thing that keeps you from getting there.

Related:

- “Night People's Hoax On Day People Makes Hit With Book Folks” 
- New York Times: “Jacqueline Susann Dead at 53; Novelist Wrote 'Valley of Dolls'”
- New York Times: “Blatty Sue Times On Best-Seller List”
- New York Times: “Court Bars A Suit Over Books List”
- Bloomberg Businessweek: “Did Dirty Tricks Create A Best Seller?” 
- Episode 1: Inside a BOOK auction
- Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain 
- Episode 3: BOOKstore Economics
- Series: Planet Money makes a book
- Laura McGrath’s new book: Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction


Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life is in stores now. 

Support: Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find us on Socials: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok.

Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Quirky Episodes," “Dramedy Scheme,” "Unforeseen Consequences,” and “Impractical Jokes.” 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a427ed39-ae7c-4dda-bc1d-5ffa22df9fed Sat, 02 May 2026 00:24:38 +0000 no Spirit Airlines and the future of cheap flights https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5804507/budget-airlines-bailout-spirit
Today on the show, we go back in time to when Spirit was riding high and pressuring the whole industry to cut costs. We talk with then-CEO Ben Baldanza about his radical vision for cheap air travel and then travel to the present day to hear how legacy airlines beat Spirit and other budget airlines at their own game. Plus, what happens to us passengers if Spirit does go away. 

Newsletters:
Greg’s weekly deep dive
The brand new Indicator link roundup

Related Episodes: 
People Express and how flying got so bad (or did it?)

Book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life is in stores now. 

Support: Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find us on Socials: 

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok 

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Greg Rosalsky, Jacob Goldstein, Zoe Chace and Emma Peaslee. It was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5aea8fe9-7752-425d-b3a6-c4d3938727ff Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:13:51 +0000 no Battlefield rare earths: How the U.S. lost to China https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/nx-s1-5798742/rare-earths-mining-china-usa one U.S. company monopolized the rare earths industry. Then China took over the industry. Can the U.S. bring it back?

Rare earths are critical to making, like, everything. From smart phones to electric vehicles to microwaves. They’ve also become a powerful political weapon for China, which controls the majority of mining and processing of rare earths. 

Today, we have the story of the rise and fall of America’s rare earth industry told through that single company. It’s a corporate saga made for prestige television about the elements that literally, once, made prestige televisions. 

Live event info and tickets here. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> f01cfa0b-1245-4c00-887a-3f49c693a6b1 Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:00:00 +0000 no Live: Anthropic co-founder on AI and jobs https://www.npr.org/2026/04/22/nx-s1-5794326/anthropic-artificial-intelligence-mythos-redfin
We have been crisscrossing America doing live shows to help promote the new Planet Money book. In each city, we’ve been doing interviews with special guests. And since we won’t be able to make it to every city in America (or most cities) we wanted to bring the tour to you!

Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode of Planet Money was edited and produced by Eric Mennel and Emma Peaslee. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> fe103503-bf80-41e1-a389-253d028853ed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Do prediction market bettors make anything better? https://www.npr.org/2026/04/17/nx-s1-5789382/kalshi-polymarket-prediction-market-ceo-tarek-mansour
If none of that made sense to you, then we have the perfect episode for you. 

Prediction markets have taken off in the past few years, using the same legal loopholes as the crypto market to essentially claim they are a “swap,” or “futures market,” similar to that of the totally legal grain and pork belly markets, and less like the state-regulated sports gambling market. 

And they are great for the bondsharps who print on the regular (or, in English, “well known market makers who often make a lot of money”). 

These prediction market companies exist because they’ve convinced regulators that they’re also great for the rest of us. They're adding new knowledge to the world. Making us more informed about the future. 

On today’s episode, the case Kalshi has been making to regulators, the courts and the public as to why what looks like gambling and seems like gambling … is not. Why that argument’s kinda been working. And – if no one stops them – what prediction markets could do to our future.

For more, listen to former CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson on The Indicator from Planet Money.

Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Bobby Allyn and Mary Childs. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 67659bec-3226-4db8-9435-cd13553693a7 Sat, 18 Apr 2026 02:00:00 +0000 no How to get through the Strait of Hormuz https://www.npr.org/2026/04/14/nx-s1-5785290/strait-hormuz-iran-trump-open-blockade insinuated that one part of the Strait — the part near Oman — is not safe. Which means that captains had to go right by Iran’s shores to get through the Strait … effectively creating a chokepoint for the global economy. 

On today’s show, a source inside Iran tells us how ships had been getting through the strait, and how the tollbooth Iran set up works. And we ask: What does this all mean for the global economy? 

Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 52fe0cf1-8566-457b-aab0-b32791f4940f Tue, 14 Apr 2026 23:06:36 +0000 no BOOKstore Economics https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5751214/how-books-get-to-bookstores
Today on the show: the third episode in our series. Planet Money sets out to actually sell a book. We burrow behind the bookstore shelves to learn the secret codes that publishers use to try to convince booksellers to carry the book, from little mom and pops to airport juggernauts. There will be corporate intelligence networks, bargain bin shenanigans, and a giant industrial saw chewing up books by the thousands. Call it Pulp Non-fiction.

Related:

- Fisher Nash’s Substack
- Episode 1: Inside a BOOK auction
- Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain 
- Episode 4: How to make a BOOK into a bestseller
- Series: Planet Money makes a book

Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - “A Peculiar Investigation,” “Round Round,” and “Neighbourhood Watcher.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f8ad589c-6503-4d8d-81b2-4a64dce7f60f Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:30:43 +0000 no A pro-worker experiment in private equity https://www.npr.org/2026/04/08/nx-s1-5776833/private-equity-pete-stavros-employee-ownership Live event info and tickets here. 

If your company got bought by a private equity firm, how would you feel? Maybe a little nervous? You might find yourself wondering if there will be layoffs.

And you’d be right to worry about that. Research shows that while private equity ownership can boost a company’s productivity, it does generally result in job cuts. 

But one private equity executive is trying to do things a different way – giving workers equity, little cuts of ownership in their own companies. To see if doing so can improve outcomes overall. 

On today’s show, private equity is not widely beloved for its societal costs – job losses, product degradation, worsening inequality. And this one guy at this one firm can’t solve all of his industry’s ills. But for the past 15 years, he’s been running a large-scale, real-world experiment to see if giving workers ownership can fit into the big bad world of PE. And maybe lead to more … equity. 

Recommended Listening/Reading:

What Do Private Equity Firms Actually Do?
The risk of private equity in your 401(k)
Here's what happens when private equity buys homes in your neighborhood (newsletter)
JScrewed 

Find the Planet Money book. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Wailin Wong. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang with an assist from Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, engineered by Cena Loffredo with help from Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Music: Universal Production Music - "Make Me Want You," "Baby I Surrender," and "Bye Bye Bye"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f8f64ab2-a47e-47be-a04d-84fa79404e47 Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Reese’s heir vs. chocolate skimpflation https://www.npr.org/2026/04/03/nx-s1-5773425/reeses-peanut-butter-candy-chocolate-egg-easter-hershey-brad Live event info and tickets here. 

When ingredient costs skyrocket, companies have three basic options: They can raise their prices (a sort of product-specific inflation), shrink the size of the products (often called “shrinkflation”), or, sometimes, find more creative ways to reduce costs by degrading the quality of their products - which our very own Greg Rosalsky has dubbed as  “skimpflation.” The latest alleged culprit? Hershey’s.

The Hershey Company is using ingredients in some of their Reese’s candies that — legally — they cannot call milk chocolate or peanut butter. This has infuriated Brad Reese, a grandson of H.B. Reese, the inventor of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. 

On today’s show, why chocolate makers might be skimping on chocolate and peanut butter, what else might explain these ingredients, and how Brad Reese has launched a skimp-shaming campaign to get Hershey’s to go back to using classic Reese’s ingredients.

And – EXCLUSIVE – you’ll hear Planet Money break some big news to third-generation peanut butter cup scion Brad Reese.

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Kenny Malone, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e74f6070-692b-4be4-af83-4e2b3ddf34a0 Sat, 04 Apr 2026 02:24:15 +0000 no Dark times for Cuba’s economic experiment https://www.npr.org/2026/04/01/nx-s1-5770721/cuba-oil-blockade-trump-power-crisis Live event info and tickets here. 

For more than 60 years, Cuba has survived on two seemingly contradictory economic strategies: leaning on friendly communist and socialist countries, and flirting with capitalism. And right now it seems the US is making both strategies impossible.

Since January, the U.S. has been preventing almost all oil from reaching the island. Doctors can’t get to the hospitals where they work, many buses aren’t running, trucks can’t deliver food and medicine where they’re needed. And there have been frequent blackouts. On more than one occasion over the last few weeks, the entire country has lacked power. 

It’s hard for people to even talk on the phone because they can’t always charge them or get cell service. So we asked them to send us voice notes describing this moment in Cuba’s history. 

We also wanted to know: How did Cuba get here? On today’s episode: a brief history of Cuba’s communist-capitalist experiment. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This show was hosted by Erika Beras and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.  


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> da96fc88-0920-4aca-938c-7287124381fa Thu, 02 Apr 2026 02:51:50 +0000 no The skyscrapers that NIMBYs and zoning couldn't stop https://www.npr.org/2026/03/27/nx-s1-5764334/squamish-nation-senakw-vancouver-indigenous-construction-housing-nimby LIVE SHOW TOUR INFO HERE. New stories, live tapings, special guests, book signings and more. 

What would you build on a piece of land when all the normal rules go out the window?

On today’s show, how the Squamish Nation reclaimed a sliver of prime urban real estate and were liberated from zoning restrictions, to the consternation of their wealthy NIMBY neighbors.

We trace the 100 year saga of what might be the most interesting real estate development in North America right now: There’s a violent eviction, a tense legal battle, and a giant, tough decision for the Squamish Nation that culminates in the daring project that they’re building today.

It’s a story with lessons for every city trying to lower housing costs and build more.

This episode is adapted from Planet Money: A Guide To The Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Pre-order before April 7 and you can get a poster. Details here. 

The working paper we mentioned on “ready-to-issue” permits in Los Angeles.

Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1689a44a-a66a-4008-aabd-7e745227f152 Sat, 28 Mar 2026 01:59:58 +0000 no Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5751213/planet-money-book-factory-printing-press
On today’s episode, the second episode in our series: Planet Money sets out to actually write, design, and manufacture a book. We go spelunking deep inside the bowels of the publishing industrial complex. There will be trade wars, sunken cargo containers filled with lost cookbooks, deforestation regulations, and just a whiff of scratch and sniff. 

Related:
- Watch our book being printed: TikTok, Instagram, Spotify
- Episode 1: Inside a BOOK auction
- Episode 3: BOOKstore Economics
- Episode 4: How to make a BOOK into a bestseller
- The laws of the office revisited 
- Series: Planet Money makes a book 

Live event info and tickets here. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. 


Music: NPR Source Audio - “Motivation Or Mayhem,” “Missing A Deadline,” and “No Limits After All.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f6be2d45-7151-4edc-a6dc-2e0c08785835 Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:26:04 +0000 no Inside a BOOK auction https://www.npr.org/2026/03/20/nx-s1-5751177/book-deal-proposal-auction-publishing
So when Planet Money was approached to make its own book, not only did it present an opportunity to spread the gospel of whimsical economic infotainment to new audiences everywhere, but it also presented an opportunity to get a rare peek behind the curtain of the notoriously opaque world of publishing.  

On today’s episode, the first chapter in our series on the making of a book: Planet Money sets out to land a book deal. We enter the high stakes, high school drama of the publishing industry, where literary agents try to woo powerful book editors. And we learn what happens when lofty artistic ideals meet the cold logic of the market. It’s a courtship dance with millions of dollars potentially on the line. There will be whale fights, corporate speed dating, and a literary shotgun wedding.

Related: 

- Episode 2: Our BOOK vs. the global supply chain
- Episode 3: BOOKstore Economics
- Episode 4: How to make a BOOK into a bestseller
- Series: Planet Money makes a book 

Live event info and tickets here. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. 

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a3fcc983-fcc3-43a6-80cc-bc5873816305 Sat, 21 Mar 2026 01:42:03 +0000 no The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon https://www.npr.org/2026/03/18/nx-s1-5751251/amazon-brazil-forest-fish-aquarium-trade
Not so long ago, most of the world's supply of cardinals came from just one place. It's a little town deep in the rainforests of Brazil, where locals still catch these fish by hand. But the business that this town has relied on for decades has come under threat. 

Recently, we hopped on a plane to see this unusual economy for ourselves — and, two different visions for how to save it. 

For more information about these fish, check out Project Piaba. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was co-reported and produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 02259892-b745-4c3d-80ef-89308ad7b47a Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Chef vs. Robot https://www.npr.org/2026/03/13/nx-s1-5733110/automation-chef-wok-restaurant-industry
Automation has changed many industries. But automation only started entering restaurant kitchens in the past couple decades. Which raises the question – what will robots mean for the restaurant industry? How will automation change jobs and how will it change the very food we eat?

Today on the show, we talk with a Nobel prize-winning economist, Daron Acemoglu, about when automation is complementing or displacing workers. And we decide to put this wok-bot to the test. We pit a human chef against Robby the wok-bot in a head-to-metalhead smackdown. 

Further Listening/Reading:
Get your book tour tickets here. / Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift.

Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Justin Kramon. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez with help from Cena Loffredo. Interpretation help from Huo Jingnan. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> e60b15c2-c171-4b4c-8b11-9586ca73086c Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000 no The laws of the office revisited https://www.npr.org/2026/03/11/nx-s1-5726849/laws-of-the-office-poster Live event info and tickets here.

If something is going wrong in your workplace, there's probably a law that explains why. Meetings always seem long, and never end early? There’s Parkinson’s Law, which says work expands to the time allotted, or, restated: meetings will always take up all the time blocked on Outlook calendars. Is your boss bad at managing? Check the Peter Principle, which says people are promoted to their level of incompetence. A good worker does not a good manager make. And yet … here we are. Once you hear these laws, and a few others, you start to spot them everywhere. 

Today on the show, we picked a few of the most famous and powerful ‘laws of the office’ and tested them out on each other. 

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone, Sarah Gonzalez, and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. Bryant Urstadt edited this show. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> ce256bc4-53d4-445d-8ed9-e0e3040b60dc Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000 no Planet Money vs. the NBA’s tanking problem https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/nx-s1-5739178/nba-draft-tanking
Tanking has gotten especially egregious this year. Even NBA Adam Silver has called out teams for tanking. He recently announced that league bigwigs are considering “every possible remedy” to “align incentives.”

Today on the show — Planet Money fixes the NBA’s tanking problem by … fixing the NBA draft. We get solutions from Hockey Hall of Famer Jayna Hefford, World Cup Champion Sam Mewis, and long-time NBA analyst Zach Lowe. 

Handles for the NBA fans in the episode: thevoiceofevan, fullcourtblitz, ashleynevel, igotnxtpodcast, finesse.wes, basketballsavant, and mikedaddino__.

Live event info and tickets here / Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the NPR app

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with an assist from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 59d66c41-1d61-4f2b-ac1c-5be01952d968 Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:15:00 +0000 no The Business of Heated Rivalry https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s1-5736077/pivot-kara-swisher-heated-rivalry Heated Rivalry, the steamy hockey romance show, was made for about $2 million per episode.  That is remarkably cheap for an hour-long drama.

Today on the show, a conversation with Heated Rivalry creators Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady about their television miracle on ice.

It’s not just that the show was made efficiently and cleverly. Heated Rivalry comes from a Canadian economic system of making TV and movies that is completely different from how we do things in the US.

In this episode of Planet Money, in partnership with the Pivot podcast co-hosted by Kara Swisher, we hear about a Canadian production model for making TV and movies and how it’s different from the U.S. model. And we learn what the experience of making Heated Rivalry teaches us about the current state of both industries.

Live event info and tickets here.

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

The original Pivot episode from New York Magazine and The Vox Media Podcast Network was hosted by Kara Swisher, produced by Lara Naman, Zoë Marcus and Taylor Griffin and engineered by Brandon McFarland. Nishat Kurwa is Vox Media's Executive Producer of podcasts. This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Kenny Malone, produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Lara Naman. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 23620594-fbe9-4538-8ba8-86087587067e Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:58:15 +0000 no Don't hate the replicator, hate the game https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5720653/replication-crisis-games-abel-brodeur
Economist Abel Brodeur has come up with one way to help fix this crisis: he’s invented an internationally crowdsourced surveillance system, designed to keep social scientists honest. He calls it the “Replication Games.” 

Further Listening:


This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by James Sneed and Emma Peaslee, with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 30afa319-c21f-4b7d-b602-75e687fe9405 Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:05:00 +0000 no The ICE hiring boom https://www.npr.org/2026/02/25/nx-s1-5725491/ice-recruiting-hiring-detention-centers Live event info and tickets here.

ICE is scaling up, with rapid new hiring. So we ask, has training new officers changed? At what cost? 

Also, the Trump administration has plans to pour billions of dollars into warehouses for mass immigrant detention centers, which can totally change the economy of some areas. We hear from a rural town in Georgia that wants an ICE facility in its own backyard. 

These episodes were originally published on Planet Money’s sister daily podcast The Indicator.

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The episodes of The Indicator were produced by Julia Ritchey, with engineering by Jimmy Keeley. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is our show's editor.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Planet Money’s Executive Producer, Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 46365717-63d4-4477-8d5f-256cfe49bfbd Wed, 25 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000 no The Supreme Court struck down a bunch of Trump's tariffs. Now what? https://www.npr.org/2026/02/21/nx-s1-5721118/supreme-court-justices-ruling-trump-tariffs-section-122 Live event info and tickets here.

The Supreme Court has spoken. Those big, sweeping tariffs that President Trump imposed early last year? They’re illegal. 

On today’s show: Why were those tariffs struck down? Will anyone get refunds? And …what about this new 10 percent tariff the President just announced today? 

Plus — a growing market for tariff refunds.

Further Listening:

- Worst. Tariffs. Ever. 
- Tariffs: What are they good for? 
- What "Made in China" actually means
- The 145% tariff already did its damage 
- Are Trump's tariffs legal?
- Days of our Tariffs 
- Trump's backup options for tariffs 
- What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs? 

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Mary Childs, and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f1dfec6a-dd9f-4207-b17a-8d09af66a51a Sat, 21 Feb 2026 06:09:00 +0000 no How to get what Greenland has, with permission https://www.npr.org/2026/02/18/nx-s1-5711616/trump-buy-greenland-rare-earths-arctic Book tour and ticket info here.


Greenland has said it is not for sale. Denmark has said it can’t even legally sell Greenland. And at a security conference in Munich over the weekend, U.S. lawmakers spent a lot of time trying to walk back some of President Trump’s recent threats to try to buy, or even take over, the territory. 

But whether Trump can or will or should try to control or purchase a territory that doesn’t want to be sold is not the interesting question. What is interesting is how we got to this moment. And, how we might gracefully get out of it. 

Greenland is valuable for its minerals and because of its physical location in the world. (It’s easy to keep an eye on other countries from Greenland).

Our latest: How the U.S. dropped the ball on the rare earths race. And one way the U.S. gets strategic locations without threatening to buy or take over an entire territory.


Further listening: 

- Is Greenland really an untapped land of riches?

- Add to cart: Greenland


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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune. Fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: Universal Music Production - "The Attraction,” “Carnivore,” and “Walls Come Out.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 76e31f39-1d5e-4d26-ae84-1e570e5ae78b Wed, 18 Feb 2026 20:43:12 +0000 no Betty Boop, Excel Olympics, Penny-isms: Our 2026 Valentines https://www.npr.org/2026/02/13/nx-s1-5713954/2026-planet-money-valentines-day Book tour event details and ticket info here.

An iconic cartoon character liberated from copyright, journalism from the world of competitive spreadsheeting, a controversial piece of US currency. Each year the Planet Money team dedicates an episode to the things we simply love and think you, our audience, will also love.

In this year’s Valentine’s Day episode:


Download THE OFFICIAL Planet Money valentine here.

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Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, engineered by Cena Loffredo & Kwesi Lee, and edited by our executive producer Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ab7d49f9-d234-4ecb-85f7-3503ad21ddb3 Fri, 13 Feb 2026 23:23:30 +0000 no The Invention Invention https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5707856/singer-sewing-machine-patent-pool-antitrust-mpeg Book tour tickets and details here.

Today, the story of three inventions. The first, the sewing machine, was created by a selfish and ambitious inventor who wanted all the credit and was willing to fight a war for it. 

The second, a more modern invention, was made by an Italian inventor who wanted only to connect the world through video, so “evvvvverybody can talk with evvvvverybody else.”

And, a third invention that tied them both together across more than a century. The patent pool.

How do people get motivated to invent, and how do they get rewarded for their ideas? Usually through a patent. And, when the thicket of patents becomes too thick, how do we simplify, and make it so inventors can work together? The answer will involve bitter rivals, a sewing machine war, the nine no-no’s of anti-trust, and something called a gob-feeder. 

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This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was produced by Luis Gallo and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 20992888-a881-48ed-b5bb-903ec0a34ba0 Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000 no Iran, protests, and sanctions https://www.npr.org/2026/02/06/nx-s1-5704815/iran-protests-us-sanctions Book tour tickets and details here.


The recent protests in Iran are about so many things. Human rights, corruption, freedom. But this time – they are also motivated by economic hardship. Hardship caused, in part, by US sanctions. 


The US has been sanctioning Iran in one way or another for 47 years. But sanctions, as a tool, only work some of the time, and US sanctions on Iran have not always conformed to what experts consider best practices.


On today’s episode: What did US sanctions do to Iran's economy? How did they feed into the latest protests and crackdown in Iran? Sanctions are supposed to avert war, but how different from war are they?


To learn more about the protests in Iran and the country’s history, check out our great friends at Throughline:

Iran Protests Explained

Iran and the U.S., Part One: Four Days In August

Iran and the U.S., Part Two: Rules of Engagement

Iran and the U.S., Part Three: Soleimani’s Iran

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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keeley. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4a8e203d-7e07-4a9c-b7ac-b1b8d8a24c05 Sat, 07 Feb 2026 03:16:10 +0000 no Riding with the repo man (update) https://www.npr.org/2026/02/04/nx-s1-5698499/three-sides-of-a-car-loan-update Planet Money book tour ticket info and dates here. 

A record number of Americans with poor or just okay credit are behind on their car payments. And once last year’s numbers are tallied, an estimated 3 million cars will have been repossessed in 2025. That would be on par with how bad it got during the Great Recession. What’s going on? And why now? 

Today on the show, we focus on the micro part of the story to answer the macro question. First, we hear a favorite story of ours from 2019. We follow the lifecycle of a delinquent car loan from three different perspectives: the salesman, the driver, and the repo man. Then we’ll hear an update from them in 2026 as we try to find out why so many Americans are behind on their car payments. 

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This episode is hosted by Kenny Malone and Preeti Varathan. It was originally produced by Darian Woods and edited by Bryant Urstadt. Our update was reported by Vito Emanuel and produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and edited by Planet Money’s executive producer, Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8e7ceb2c-8338-4587-a521-591c18a3b278 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000 no Can Trump make buying a home more affordable? https://www.npr.org/2026/01/30/nx-s1-5690291/affordability-housing-market-own-home-trump-davos Book tour dates and ticket info here.

Housing is too expensive. Everyone knows this. Democrats know that talking about it plays well with voters. And now – in a midterm election year – President Donald Trump seems to be focused on it, too. 

His administration has recently started talking more about affordability. And they’re taking action with two new initiatives that aim to make buying a house easier. 

Today on the show, we’re gonna take a close look at these two moves. And ask: Will they work?

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "No Problem,”  “Fruit Salad,” “Checking In” and “Day Dreamer.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f9d86fe5-6140-4f8b-96d9-50fc6280972b Sat, 31 Jan 2026 01:28:14 +0000 no Can transforming neighborhoods help kids escape poverty? https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5691692/hope-vi-public-housing-opportunity-insights-raj-chetty
For years though, there wasn’t a clear answer to whether this approach actually succeeded. A new working paper from Raj Chetty and the team at Opportunity Insights finally provides some answers. On today’s show: Who really benefits when people living in poverty are more connected to their surrounding communities? Are there lessons from the HOPE VI experiment that could apply to other kinds of policies aimed at fostering upward mobility?

More about Opportunity Insights’ study and a link to their interactive map here.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ccc902c3-3887-455a-ac40-cb253f1cc533 Wed, 28 Jan 2026 22:45:17 +0000 no A trip to the magic mushroom megachurch https://www.npr.org/2026/01/23/nx-s1-5686773/psychedelic-mushroom-church Book tour dates and ticket info here.

Just as every market has its first movers, every religion has its martyrs — the people willing to risk everything for what they believe. Pastor Dave Hodges just might be a little bit of both. He’s the spiritual leader of the Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants, in Oakland, California which places psilocybin mushrooms at the center of their religious practice.

Today on the show, like its 130,000+ members, we’re going to take a trip through the psychedelic mushroom megachurch. We’ll meet one of the lawyers trying to keep psychedelic religious leaders like Pastor Dave from running afoul of the law, and get a peek into how the government decides whether a belief system counts as sincere religion.

This episode was reported with support from The Ferriss – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship. 

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This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Eric Mennel. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e7efd285-4021-49bd-bbfa-de4c62e5cb71 Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:10:35 +0000 yes When designing a GAME, what's in a name? https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5683932/planet-money-board-game-episode-3
We have a great game mechanic and a set of rules. Now all we need is a good name and theme. 

Turns out, that is way harder and way higher stakes than any of us could have imagined. 

In the third episode of our series, we learn the importance of a good game name and theme and try to come up with one for our game. 

Find our other episodes in the board game series, here and here.

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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Willa Rubin, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2ffbf42c-503f-4b51-9462-af3c5626c900 Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:48:46 +0000 no Chevron, Venezuela and the Paradox of Plenty https://www.npr.org/2026/01/16/nx-s1-5680400/chevron-venezuela-oil-industry-petrostate
Today on the show, the story of their intertwined histories. Before Saudi Arabia, before Iran… there was Venezuela, the first petrostate. The first country whose entire economy became dependent on oil. With the blessing of oil, an entire economic textbook of complications opened up: from the Dutch Disease, to the resource curse, to mono-economic vulnerability.

And, oddly, along for that ride…Chevron. 


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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Erika Beras and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Luis Gallo with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 20e14ed3-7dd8-43ac-a467-7f9ab01a1858 Sat, 17 Jan 2026 03:58:28 +0000 no How much money President Trump and his family have made https://www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5677024/trump-profits-merch-hotels-crypto

David has done a full accounting for what the family has been up to, and even using conservative estimates, David says Trump and his family have made almost $4 billion dollars “off of the presidency,” in just about a year.


Today on the show: we look at every new business and business deal and financial transaction that David says likely would not have happened if Trump wasn’t the president of the United States. And we stop at the most innovative ways Trump and his family have made all that.


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Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. ??Listen to our playlist on Federal Reserve independence here.


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Today’s episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Mary Childs. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Robert Rodriguez engineered it. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 82c87af0-621b-4680-87eb-f7e8e5b5c949 Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:30:00 +0000 no So are we in an AI bubble? Here are clues to look for. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/09/nx-s1-5672643/market-ai-what-is-a-bubble

On our latest: How do economists detect a bubble? And, how much should society be worried about bubbles in the first place? 


Related shows:


- How to make $35 trillion ... disappear

-What is a bubble? (featuring Nobel prize winning economics Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller)

-What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill


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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


Music: NPR Source Audio - “The best is yet to come,” “Marsh mellow,” and “Sunshine beat”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8e813358-f9df-4e62-bdb0-36c6fd5f9d0b Sat, 10 Jan 2026 02:03:46 +0000 no How Black hair care grew Black power https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5669460/how-black-hair-care-grew-black-power
For decades, Joan and George Johnson owned and ran Johnson Products Company, a Black hair care company out of Chicago. Their intimate understanding of what Black people wanted and needed – for their hair and for their lives –  helped grow the Black middle class and became an engine for Black culture and power. They helped turn the Black haircare industry into what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. But although they helped create this industry, they no longer have a part in it. 

Today on the show – the story of the rise and fall of Johnson Products. We’re gonna tell you this story in three hairstyles. The conk, the afro… and the jheri curl. 

Related episodes:

This Ad’s For You

'Soul Train' and the business of Black joy

Fashion Fair's makeover


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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sonari Glinton and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7dae09ac-f8ea-485d-9cdf-cbb7c913da62 Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:38:35 +0000 no Venezuela’s recent economic history (Update) https://www.npr.org/2026/01/04/nx-s1-5666322/venezuela-hyperinflation-maduro-gonzalez
The original version ran in 2016, with an update in 2024.

Back in 2016, things were pretty bad in Venezuela. Grocery stores didn’t have enough food. Hospitals didn’t have basic supplies, like gauze. Child mortality was spiking. Businesses were shuttering. It was one of the epic economic collapses of our time. And it was totally avoidable.

Venezuela used to be a relatively rich country. It has just about all the economic advantages a country could ask for: Beautiful beaches and mountains ready for tourism, fertile land good for farming, an educated population, and oil, lots and lots of oil.

But during the boom years, the Venezuelan government made some choices that add up to an economic time bomb.

Today on the show, we run through the decisions that foreshadowed the collapse, and we hear from people in Venezuela in 2016 at a particularly low point for the economy, then again and in 2024 after a bounce back and a stabilization, in part due to the unlikely impact of the U.S. dollar. 


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This original episode was hosted by Robert Smith and Noel King. It was produced by Nick Fountain and Sally Helm. Our update in 2024 was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sean Saldana, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Neal Rauch. Today's episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and produced by James Sneed. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer. 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator and Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 537b0f9c-14cf-4503-829f-683473110cc0 Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:07:54 +0000 no Indicators of the Year, Past and Future https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662590/indicators-of-the-year-past-and-future
We will square off in a family feud to make our case, debate, and decide it. 

Also, as we enter 2026, we are watching the trends and planning out what next years stories are likely to be. So we’re picking  which indicators will become next years most telling. 

On today’s episode, our indicators of this past year AND our top indicator predictions for 2026.


Related episodes:

The Indicators of this year and next (2024)

This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble 

What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs?

What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill 

What indicators will 2025 bring? 


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This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed. The episodes of The Indicator were produced by Angel Carreras, edited by Julia Ritchey, engineered by Robert Rodrigez and Kwesi Lee, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is the editor of the Indicator. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator and Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e177b62c-a7d9-4d42-87f1-2aa7b2a69c04 Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:21:02 +0000 no Why economists got free trade with China so wrong https://www.npr.org/2025/12/29/nx-s1-5660865/why-economists-got-free-trade-with-china-so-wrong With the year coming to a close, we're sharing our most popular Planet Money bonus episode of 2025! 

As U.S. trade with China exploded in the early 2000's, American manufacturing began to shrivel. Those workers struggled to adapt and find new jobs. It ran counter to how mainstream economics at the time viewed free trade ... that it would be a clear win for the U.S. Greg Rosalsky talks with David Autor about why economists got free trade with China so wrong. 
 
Autor, an MIT economics professor, and his colleagues published a series of eye-opening studies over the last 15 years or so that brought to light the costs of U.S. trade with China. We also hear Autor's thoughts on the role of tariffs and get an update on his research. With better, more precise data, Autor says we have a more nuanced and "bleaker" picture of what happened to these manufacturing workers. 

You can read about Autor's research and sign up for The Planet Money Newsletter here. 

To hear more bonus content like this and support NPR and public media, sign up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Regular episodes remain free to listen!

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1cf9f59f-9761-47cf-80c0-daa6421d571e Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:05:16 +0000 no The Rest of the Story, 2025 https://www.npr.org/2025/12/26/nx-s1-5657342/subscription-diamond-gaza-games-book-saw-brot
We call this tradition "The Rest of the Story." And we bring you updates on the stories we've reported, and from the people we've met along the way.

Today, we check in on an engineer and patent attorney who made a safer saw; we get an update on the Planet Money game; an update on money in Gaza; and we have updates on a diamond that may or may not have had a second life. 

Listen to the original stories:

The Subscription Trap 

Planet Money buys a mystery diamond 

In Gaza, money is falling apart 

BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game  

How to save 10,000 fingers 


This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Alex Goldmark, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry.

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Play the new version of our game here. Version 4.

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 49c1f4e9-4bb4-483e-8f54-375f8f63008d Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:15:00 +0000 no The summer I turned binge-y https://www.npr.org/2025/12/24/nx-s1-5646673/stranger-things-season-netflix-binge-drip-watching-tv

The strategy of releasing an entire season at the same time has been key to taking Netflix from a little startup that used to lend us DVDs in the mail … to a company so big and powerful, it is maybe going to buy Warner Brothers and own Bugs Bunny and Tony Soprano and the Harry Potter movies.


But even Netflix may be flirting with some slightly less binge-y models of content release. Are we entering … the end of the binge drop?


On our latest: what data tells us about binge watching. Was it the greatest business decision, and who does binge watching really benefit? 


Here’s some of the research. 


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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Dania Suleman and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> bab5e043-be1a-4902-9fd5-76c8843ec248 Wed, 24 Dec 2025 08:30:00 +0000 no What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill https://www.npr.org/2025/12/19/nx-s1-5649814/ai-data-center-electricity-bill the thing in the US economy. 

But along with that growth have come a lot of questions. Like where is all the electricity to run these data centers supposed to come from? And how much are residential customers’ electric bills increasing as a result?

On today’s episode, we go to Ohio to trace one electric bill back to its source, to see what exactly is causing the big price increases people are seeing. We take a tour of a data center hot spot, and get to the bottom of how prices are set from inside the power company.

Related episodes:
- Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI? 
- No AI data centers in my backyard! 
- What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you 
- Is AI overrated or underrated? 
- Green energy gridlock

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Today's show was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> efd02e70-ff9e-4f94-a168-2f80dfa7413a Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:15:21 +0000 no PM does a pop culture draft: 1999 edition https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5645069/pop-culture-draft-1999 Planet Money Pop Culture Draft! In today's episode (a Planet Money+ episode we’re releasing into the main feed) we're gonna go back to the year 1999. Three hosts, Kenny Malone, Wailin Wong, and Jeff Guo, go head to head and each drafts a “team” of economic pop culture. So a movie, a song, and a wild card pick that best represents the Planet Money spirit!

It could be a movie related to business or maybe a song about money … as long as it came out in 1999! Listen to hear each of them make the case for why their team should be crowned the winner!

If you want more bonus episodes like this one and to support our work, sign up for Planet Money+.

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone, Wailin Wong, and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Viet Le and edited by Planet Money’s executive producer Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e3fc6445-533a-4753-9a44-376dc3330bce Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:59:12 +0000 no When Chicago pawned its parking meters https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5642708/chicago-parking-meter-privitization
The plan: have private companies bid on operating the meters, modernizing the system, and keeping the profits for a certain number of years. In exchange, they would give Chicago a big lump sum payment. The winning bid was $1.16 billion dollars for a 75-year lease. 

Today’s episode is the story of how that bid got put together, and how it came to be hated. There are kidnapped parking meters, foot chases through City Hall, and trash bags filled with secret documents. 

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Luis Gallo and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 15ee9adc-0916-43e6-99ee-29bf79e6a52d Fri, 12 Dec 2025 23:59:37 +0000 no Strange threadfellows: How the U.S. military shaped what we all wear https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/nx-s1-5639211/military-fashion-army-surplus-gear-outdoor-m65 Articles of Interest, the influence of the US military is, in many ways, even more intimate than that, shaping much of the clothing we all wear everyday. 

On today’s show, a tale of Army surplus economics. How military designs trickled down from the soldiers on the front lines to the hippies on the war protest line to the yuppies in line at Banana Republic. And why some of your favorite outdoor brands may just be moonlighting as U.S. military suppliers, while keeping it as under the radar as they can.

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Articles of Interest is produced by Avery Trufelman, edited by Alison Beringer, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Jocelyn Gonzalez.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c3407de7-5cc9-451a-bef3-118eb4f0c5a5 Wed, 10 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000 no How hurricanes became a hot investment https://www.npr.org/2025/12/05/nx-s1-5622088/catastrophe-bonds-jamaica-hurricane-melissa A few years ago, the Jamaican government started making an unusual financial bet. It went to investors around the world asking if they'd like to wager on the chances a major hurricane would hit the island in the next couple of years. 

In finance terms, these kinds of wagers are called "catastrophe bonds." They're a way to get investors to share the risk of a major disaster, whether that's a Japanese earthquake, a California wildfire, or a Jamaican hurricane. 

This market for catastrophe has gotten really hot lately. And it’s changing the way that insurance works for all of us. 

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Kwesi Lee. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: Universal Music Production - “Lagos to London,” “Sleazy Does It,” “The Sundown Set.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d35e0dd6-ed81-453b-8926-e1facae812ee Fri, 05 Dec 2025 23:54:30 +0000 no Is AI slopifying the job market? (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-5629273/ai-job-search-recruiters-entry-level Vote for us in NPR’s People’s Choice Awards: npr.org/peopleschoice 

AI is already reshaping how people find work. Fewer entry-level jobs, robot recruiters, and ever-changing new skill requirements all add up to a new, daunting landscape for humans trying to find dignified work.

Today on the show: two stories from the edges of a changing labor market. First we’ll assess claims that AI is causing a white collar job apocalypse. What does the data actually say? We meet an economist who has found one small but fascinating way to measure the impact of AI on workers. 

Then, we go face-to-face, or at least voice-to-voice, with AI. We meet a robot recruiter for a job interview and find cause to ask, ‘When might that actually be preferable to a human recruiter?’

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The original Indicator episodes were hosted by Wailin Wong, Darian Woods, and Adrian Ma. They were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Debbie Daughtry. They were fact checked by Sierra Juarez. They were edited by Paddy Hirsch and Kate Concannon. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2cd52213-02ae-418c-a7a1-9ba0d245a04c Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000 no Capitalism (Taylor's Version) (25-minute Podcast Version) https://www.npr.org/2025/11/28/nx-s1-5622117/capitalism-taylors-version-25-minute-podcast-version Taylor Swift reaches new heights with her latest album, which is both divisive and record-breaking. And it’s fueled by an elaborate series of business choices that propel profits but also chart numbers. Today’s episode comes from our friends at Today Explained, Vox’s lively, smart daily news podcast. 

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This episode was hosted by Noel King. It was produced by Ariana Aspuru, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and engineered by Adriene Lilly.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9f88cdc2-7e26-46e5-a0db-0db80a83a0b6 Fri, 28 Nov 2025 22:05:00 +0000 no Saving lives with fewer dollars https://www.npr.org/2025/11/26/nx-s1-5622126/usaid-ngo-givewell-effective-altruism
Today on the show: GiveWell let us in on their decision-making process, as they try to reconcile the urgency of the moment with their normal diligence. We get to watch as they decide if they can back one project, to support health facilities in Cameroon.

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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3e301d8f-d4e9-46df-b023-476bf97a9d48 Thu, 27 Nov 2025 01:25:32 +0000 no The Consumer Sentiment vs. Consumer Spending Puzzle https://www.npr.org/2025/11/21/nx-s1-5616629/consumer-sentiment-spending-wealth-gap Wherever consumer sentiment goes, consumer spending usually goes too. They’re like buddies that do everything together. Consumer sentiment wants a hair cut, its buddy consumer spending does too.

But lately, these friends are drifting apart.

While consumer sentiment about the economy is down … spending remains strong. 

And not just that… Interest rates are still high, inflation is growing, tariffs have made the prices of goods go up. And yet, consumer spending looks good. What gives?

Today - a consumer spending mystery. Is the economy actually healthy? Or is something distorting our view of the economy?

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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Meg Cramer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8c058f6f-4c88-4eb5-be4c-26397318ee79 Fri, 21 Nov 2025 22:35:48 +0000 no Days of our Tariffs https://www.npr.org/2025/11/19/nx-s1-5608384/tariffs-consumers-shipping-shopping-prices

On today’s episode, we run full-on at the twisty, turny drama of life with broad-based tariffs and tackle perhaps our most asked question: Are we, regular U.S. shoppers, feeling the tariffs yet? When we’re at the grocery store or the coffee shop, are we paying more for things because of the tariffs?


We now have the data to get a very clear answer to that question. Plus, we hear a cautionary tale from our dear colleague James Sneed, who ordered a collectible doll and wound up with a surprise tariff bill at his door.


Related episodes:


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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez with research help from Vito Emanuel. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.


Music: NPR Source Audio - “Mirror,” “Remorse,” “Endless,” “Secrets,” “Schmaltzy,” “Water Mirror.”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9d021a52-6a8a-4d6b-98a0-918745420098 Wed, 19 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000 no The obscure pool of money the US used to bail out Argentina https://www.npr.org/2025/11/14/nx-s1-5609382/argentina-loan-bessent-treasury-bailout

Its history goes all the way back to the Great Depression. But, in the 90 years since its creation, it has only been used one time at this scale to bailout an emerging economy: Mexico, in 1995. That case study contains some helpful lessons that can be used to make sense of Bessent’s recent move. Will this new credit line to Argentina work out as well as it did the last time we tried it? Or will Argentina’s economic troubles hamstring the Exchange Stabilization Fund forever?


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This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Erika Beras. It was produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Eric Mennel and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a3736841-1b0e-4f5d-b837-dd1205cd0575 Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:08:44 +0000 no Buy now, pay dearly? (update) https://www.npr.org/2025/11/12/nx-s1-5605981/buy-now-pay-dearly-update (Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2022.)

Every time you shop online and make it to the checkout screen, you see those colorful pastel buttons at the bottom. Affirm. Klarna. Afterpay. Asking: Do you want to split your payment into interest-free installments? No credit check needed. Get what you want, right now. 

That temptation got shoppers like Amelia Schmarzo into some money trouble. Back in 2022, she maxed out her credit card after a month of buying now and paying later. She’s not alone. Buy now, pay later is everywhere now. And you can finance almost anything with it. Your clothes, your furniture … even your lips. 

But if these companies don’t charge interest, how do they make money? In short, people buy more stuff using these services and so sellers are willing to pay up. Which makes buy now, pay later, something of a threat to credit card companies. Cue the tussle for your impulse-buying clicks. 

Today on the show, we find out how the companies work, who’s most likely to use these services and who’s getting a good deal. And a warning: those little loans will soon be on your credit report. 


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This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee, engineered by Josh Newell and edited by Molly Messick. Our update was reported by Vito Emanuel, produced by Willa Rubin, engineered by Gilly Moon and edited by our executive producer, Alex Goldmark.

Music: Universal Music Production - "Retro Funk," "Comin' Back For More," "Reactive Emotion," and "EAT."


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> bddd79b3-75ee-4d4f-932f-c0f41a1ac5a2 Wed, 12 Nov 2025 17:00:00 +0000 no A new experiment in remote work … from the inside https://www.npr.org/2025/11/07/nx-s1-5601059/maine-prisoners-remote-work-jobs

Today on the show, we have reporting from Maine Public Radio’s Susan Sharon about a new experiment in prisons: remote jobs … paying fair market wages, for people who are incarcerated. 


Listen to Susan’s original reporting here: 


- In Maine, prisoners are thriving in remote jobs and other states are taking notice 

- Cracking the code: How technology and education are changing life in Maine prisons 


Related episodes:

- Fine and Punishment  

- Getting Out Of Prison Sooner 

- The Prisoner's Solution 

- Paying for the Crime 


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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez with reporting from Susan Sharon. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with reporting help from Vito Emanuel. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez, with help from Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8fb00e7a-27bd-495a-a410-b6b0b2a1f075 Fri, 07 Nov 2025 21:00:00 +0000 no Everything’s more expensive!! Pet care!! Concert tickets!! (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2025/11/05/nx-s1-5598476/everythings-more-expensive-pet-care-concert-tickets-two-indicators Indicator from Planet Money is tackling a special series on the rising cost of living. Today, two stories from that series. 

First, what’s making ticket prices go up? We look at the economics behind the ticket market and how “reseller bots” are wreaking all sorts of havoc. The industry is not a fan, and yet they do serve an economic function. 

And… why pet care costs have surged. It comes down to unique skills, people’s love for their pets and something called the “Baumol effect.” 

Related episodes:
- The Vet Clinic Chow Down
- What Do Private Equity Firms Actually Do? 
- Kid Rock vs. The Scalpers
- Ticket scalpers: The real ticket masters 

Subscribe to Planet Money+ 

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This episode is hosted by Darian Woods, Adrian Ma, and Wailin Wong. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Angel Carreras. Cooper Katz McKim produced this episode. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator’s editor. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5ba9b0d8-298a-4c28-a4b8-6edce470a94c Wed, 05 Nov 2025 08:05:02 +0000 no After the shutdown, SNAP will still be in trouble https://www.npr.org/2025/10/31/nx-s1-5593039/snap-ebt-food-stamps-oregon
For the entire history of the food stamp program, the federal government has paid for all the benefits that go out. States pay part of the cost of administering it, but the food stamp money has come entirely from federal taxpayers. This bill shifts part of the costs to states.

How much will states have to pay? It depends. The law ties the amount to a statistic called the Payment Error Rate -- the official measure of accuracy -- whether states are giving recipients either too much, or too little, in food stamp money.

On today’s show, we go to Oregon to meet the bureaucrats on the front lines of getting that error rate down -- and ask Governor Tina Kotek what’s going to happen if they can’t.

Looking for hunger-relief resources? Try here.

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This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin, edited by Marianne McCune and Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f0597504-f269-4221-a394-c5b6f0460eaa Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:29:42 +0000 no The remittance mystery https://www.npr.org/2025/10/29/nx-s1-5590256/remittances-surge-central-america-immigration
People who have come to the U.S. from a handful of countries — especially some Central American countries — have been sending more money back to their countries of origin. And it’s a bit of a puzzle because … you might think the opposite would be the case.

As immigration plummets, we try to figure out why remittances are surging in some countries, and not others. And we learn why a surge in money sent home inspires joy — but also fear.

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Register here for our live Zoom event about our board game project on November 1st.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Luis Gallo with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune with fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1d2b8d1f-8dec-417a-9003-0c611e4a2433 Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:34:25 +0000 no Should the fine have to fit the crime? https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/nx-s1-5585267/ken-jouppi-plane-beer-excessive-fines
Ken is a bush pilot. He used to run an air taxi service in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 2012, police caught one of Ken’s passengers with a six-pack of Budweiser in her luggage. Over that six-pack, Ken was convicted of bootlegging. As punishment, he was ordered to forfeit his $95,000 Cessna.

The Supreme Court is now considering whether to take Ken’s case. And what’s at stake here is more than just a plane. Hanging in the balance is an increasingly popular — and controversial — business model for criminal justice.

More on economics and the law:
- Fine and punishment
- The prisoner's solution
- Paying for the crime
- Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune

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Today’s episode was produced by James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Luis Gallo. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Tagasugi Chernovin with help from Robert Rodriguez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d862c07d-e2b7-4d7c-80dd-e1682111c594 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 21:29:00 +0000 no TikTok’s Trojan Horse Strategy https://www.npr.org/2025/10/22/nx-s1-5582749/tiktok-massive-music-sonic-brand-sound-indentity-logo
More and more companies are paying to develop a “sonic identity” – a series of sounds, songs, and micro-jingles to help maintain a unified brand.

In this episode, in conjunction with the sound design podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz, we hear the backstory to possibly the most successful audio branding campaigns in history. It’s a tale of guerilla marketing and the power of sonic suggestion.

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This adapted episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Dallas Taylor. It was produced by Casey Emmerling and James Sneed. The episode was edited by Jess Jiang. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4e055a9d-1cae-41fd-ad4b-bc3251c44807 Wed, 22 Oct 2025 20:37:38 +0000 no How Russia’s shadow fleet is sailing around oil sanctions https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5577076/shadow-fleet-russian-oil-tanker-sanctions-boracay

He’d stumbled on a shadow fleet of hundreds of tankers ferrying sanctioned oil out of Russia … with near impunity. 

Today on the show, how those ships are transforming the global oil market and fueling the war in Ukraine. And why this all might be a financial and environmental disaster waiting to happen.


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This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Daniel Ackerman. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> fa70538f-b354-4ff8-912e-b8175749e970 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:00:00 +0000 no The year NYC went broke https://www.npr.org/2025/10/15/nx-s1-5575106/new-york-city-1975-default
Rescuing the city required the cooperation of the state of New York, the banks, the city workers unions, giant property owners and … the White House. But President Gerald Ford was adamantly opposed to bailing out NYC, prompting the famous New York Daily News headline — “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”

On today’s show, the story of a group of private citizens who were deputized by the state of New York to try to save the city’s finances. Led by investment banker Felix Rohatyn, the group had to put together a grand bargain that everyone would be willing to agree to, and to come up with the billions of dollars the city needed to survive.

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Today’s episode of Planet Money was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Julia Ritchey. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Cena Loffredo. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Special Thanks: Denis Coleman, David Schleicher, Liall Clarke, Kevin Hennigan and everyone at Classical King FM in Seattle.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8688f10d-4e1a-428f-93e7-6d7c51e8978e Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:13:37 +0000 no How the government got hedge funded https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5565181/trilemma-treasury-market-auctions-goldman-sachs-basis-trade
But lately, Treasurys have started to look riskier. 

In part because, in recent years, there’s a new buyer at the table: hedge funds, those loosely-regulated financial companies that invest on behalf of institutions and wealthy clients. They have started doing a special trade called the “Treasury basis trade.” And, depending on who you talk to, this trade could destabilize our entire financial system. Or help the U.S. government borrow more money. Or both. 

On the latest episode: how and why are hedge funds getting into Treasurys? We follow how a Treasury travels from the nest into the hands of hedge funds. And we speak to someone from one of those hedge funds, about what they’re doing and why.

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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 59aab8a8-d97c-4805-bc50-487b87f6f875 Fri, 10 Oct 2025 20:46:00 +0000 no Two ways AI is changing the business of crime (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5564762/two-ways-ai-is-changing-the-business-of-crime-two-indicators Pre-order the Planet Money book here for your free gift. 

Our sister show, The Indicator, is chronicling the evolving business of crime for its Vice Week series. Today, we bring to you two cases of crime in the age of AI. 

First, cybercriminals are using our own voices against us. Audio deepfake scams are picking up against individuals but also against businesses. We hear from a bank on how they’re adapting defenses, and find out how the new defenses are a game of AI vs AI. 

Then, we move over to the stock market to witness AI market manipulation. A new breed of trading bots behave differently. They could collude with each other, even without human involvement or instruction, so researchers are asking how to think about blame, and regulation in a world of more sophisticated trading bots. That’s assuming regulators could even keep up with the tech in the first place. 

Indicator Vice Series 
Head to The Indicator from Planet Money podcast feed for the latest on the Indicator Vice Series including an episode on data breaches . If you don’t already subscribe, check it out. Each episode explains one slice of the economy connected to the news recently, always in 10 minutes or less. 

Subscribe to Planet Money+ 

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode is hosted by Darian Woods, Adrian Ma, and Wailin Wong. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Cooper Katz McKim and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator’s editor. Alex Goldmark is the Executive Producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - “Diamond High” 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 23888612-b034-4ed7-bce9-6c7be9e2f761 Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:00:05 +0000 no How to design an economics GAME https://www.npr.org/2025/10/03/nx-s1-5561924/planet-money-board-game-episode-2 Download here.)

In this episode, the story of how we arrived here. Ride along as our game-making partners at Exploding Kittens help us turn our (sometimes wild) economics game ideas into the next blockbuster game. It’s a behind the scenes look at how to design a game from scratch — a game that is somehow filled with economics, impossible to put down, but does not feel like you’re cramming for school. Which is… harder than we thought.

After months of trying to find the perfect balance of ideas and entertainment, the Planet Money game is ready for our next phase. And that’s where you come in, listeners! We need you to playtest the Planet Money game to help us perfect it.

Find our other episodes in the board game series, here and here.

Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c72dfd06-9621-41c3-a0bc-728f21d410fa Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:18:34 +0000 no We're making a GAME https://www.npr.org/2025/10/01/nx-s1-5558425/planet-money-board-game-episode-1 hugely popular and basically little economy simulators, after all.)

Well, turns out, it’s quite hard!

We’re in a golden age of tabletop games. Thirty years ago there were around 800 new games each year. Now it is more like 5,000. Just a handful of those get to be hits. 

In the first episode of our new series, Planet Money sets forth on an epic quest to beat the odds. 

Find our other episodes in the board game series, here and here.

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Gilly Moon and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4c9d63b4-4438-4a66-a671-519992502acc Wed, 01 Oct 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no How refrigeration took over the world https://www.npr.org/2025/09/26/nx-s1-5553615/gustavus-swift-m-e-pennington-refrigeration
The cold chain is the name for the end-to-end refrigeration of our food from farm to truck to warehouse to grocery store and ultimately to our fridges at home. And it’s one of the great achievements of the modern world. 

On today’s show, Nicola Twilley, food journalist and author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, tells us the story of how our world got cold, and what that’s meant for the economy.  

We’ll hear about two pioneers of cold: The cheapskate meat baron Gustavus Swift, and the train-hopping chemist Polly Pennington. And we’ll take a look at whether all this refrigeration might have created some new problems. 

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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Today’s episode of Planet Money was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 31b19970-0ffc-4aa6-89ea-c4875b6932c5 Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:00:00 +0000 no How Jane Street’s secret billion-dollar trade unraveled https://www.npr.org/2025/09/24/nx-s1-5551163/jane-street-billion-dollar-options-india
But last year, one of Jane Street’s biggest and most lucrative trading strategies was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom. The news ricocheted around the world. It drew the attention of competitors and regulatory agencies, destabilized billions of dollars worth of trades, and called into question some of the most fundamental strategies in global finance. 

Some Planet Money episodes about finance:
- The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management
- How George Soros forced the UK to devalue the pound

Further reading: 
- Jane Street Group, LLC v. Millennium Management LLC, Douglas Schadewald, and Daniel Spottiswood
- “Jane Street’s Indian Options Trade Was Too Good,” from Bloomberg
- SEBI's report: "Interim Order in the matter of Index manipulation by Jane Street Group"
- “Jane Street Defends India Trading Activity, Blasts Regulator,” from Bloomberg

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Mary Childs. It was produced by Eric Mennel, with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Cooper Katz-McKim. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5897fb30-fa9d-4985-9f66-670864289f10 Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:52:33 +0000 no In Gaza, money is falling apart https://www.npr.org/2025/09/20/nx-s1-5547307/gaza-palestine-israel-shekel-cash-shortage
Two best friends, one in Gaza and one in Belgium, are now trying to get money in.

But how do you get money into a bank account in Gaza? And how do you get that money out, in Gaza, when there are no functioning banks or ATMs? And almost no electricity. And spotty internet. And what is there to buy? How does money even work in Gaza right now? 

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo, Robert Rodriguez, and James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> de1313a3-e55a-4317-9fc3-ea6cda3e9763 Sat, 20 Sep 2025 04:00:01 +0000 no When CEO pay exploded (update) https://www.npr.org/2025/09/17/nx-s1-5543496/when-ceo-pay-exploded 2016.)

It’s no secret that CEOs get paid a ton – and a ton more than the average worker. More than a hundred times than what their average employee makes. 

But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did this gap get so vast? And why? 

On today’s episode … we go back to a specific moment when the way CEOs were paid got changed. It involves Bill Clinton's campaign promises, and Silicon Valley workers taking to the streets to protest an accounting rule. And of course, Dodd Frank. 

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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This episode was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and Stacey Vanek Smith, and was originally produced by Nick Fountain. This update was reported and produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Alex Goldmark.


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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 41b12af7-be58-4018-8d63-1f8be2953f9a Wed, 17 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no The U.S. now owns a big chunk of Intel. That’s a huge deal. https://www.npr.org/2025/09/12/nx-s1-5540076/intel-trump-industrial-policy-socialism
This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesses like this. Some have accused the president of taking a step toward, well, socialism.

But the Intel deal didn’t come out of nowhere. It's actually the latest chapter in one of the most aggressive economic experiments the United States has ever attempted. An experiment that Trump is now taking in a surprising new direction. 

On today's show, we unpack the Intel deal. Where did it come from, and what does it say about President Trump’s unconventional approach to managing the economy. 

For more:
- The President's Golden Share in U.S. Steel 
- Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight 
- A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.  

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e1da4dcb-e46c-45da-9de5-6175157ce7dd Fri, 12 Sep 2025 21:41:53 +0000 no Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI? https://www.npr.org/2025/09/10/nx-s1-5534485/ai-onet-jobs-safe-list Is my job safe from AI?”

Dozens of you, our listeners, have written to us about this. Saying things like, “Maybe my yoga teacher side gig is actually my safest bet now,” and “My parents were in real estate, and I never thought I’d say it ... but maybe that’s what I should do?”  

If only there were a list that could tell you which jobs are safe from AI. We go looking for that list … and find that the AI future is going to be even weirder than we’d imagined.

Today on the show: We talk to two researchers who have come up with some first drafts of the future. We learned more about the machines that might be coming for our jobs, and also, more about what it actually means to be human.

Further Reading:
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs
- The EPOCH of AI: Human-Machine Complementarities at Work

Subscribe to Planet Money+

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Today’s episode was produced by Eric Mennel and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f186fa3d-9045-4564-b71a-8c36d27bf42a Wed, 10 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no What happens to central banks under pressure? https://www.npr.org/2025/09/05/nx-s1-5532144/central-bank-independence-federal-reserve
Enter the watchers. The people who’ve had their eyes trained on central banks all over the world, for years, notebooks out, scribbling down their observations. They’ve been trying to gauge just how independent of political pressure central banks actually are – and what happens when a central bank loses that independence. 

Today on the show, we sidle up next to three of the leading central bank watchers, to watch what they’re watching.

Further reading:
- Carolina Garriga’s: Revisiting Central Bank Independence in the World: An Extended Dataset
- Lev Menand’s: A New Measure of Central Bank Independence
- Carola Binder’s: Political Pressure on Central Banks

Further listening:
- Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed
- A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
- The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
- A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed

Subscribe to Planet Money+

Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez and Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d404a24e-eb9e-485b-ab30-fac4d2e0d8f3 Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:18:51 +0000 no The million dollar mystery behind Milk.com https://www.npr.org/2025/09/03/nx-s1-5526903/domain-name-value-milk-dot-com Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?  

Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.  

On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind.

Planet Money is writing a book! Sign up for updates about pre-sale special gifts and for book tour events.

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This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3976d222-1cd2-4130-a0f0-c9389b240e3d Wed, 03 Sep 2025 16:00:24 +0000 no Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5522330/lisa-cook-trump-lawsuit-federal-reserve-independence
And on Monday, Trump posted a bombshell. He said that he was removing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, “for cause.” Lisa Cook has told NPR she intends to remain in office, and is now suing Trump. 

On today’s show: inside the Fed Board of Governors. How realistic is a plan to control monetary policy through loyalists on the Board? We hear from former Board governors to understand what the job is, and what we might be in for. 

Further listening on the Fed and Fed independence:

- A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
- Happy Fed Independence Day
- The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
- A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed
- Trump's unprecedented attack on the Fed
- Turkey's runaway inflation problem 
- Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 24dc5da2-486f-47c0-b288-58967226289c Fri, 29 Aug 2025 23:12:17 +0000 no Summer School 8: Graduation LIVE! https://www.npr.org/2025/08/27/nx-s1-5518210/summer-school-8-graduation-live Get your own personalized summer school diploma here.

Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute the unsung heroes of government service. And we will pick our valedictorian from among you of the class of 2025. 

Editorial Note:

President Trump attempted to fire Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee to the Federal Reserve Board. Our daily podcast, The Indicator, has coverage on their latest episode. We’ll have an episode in the Planet Money feed soon, in the meantime, here’s some background listening on why this is so important. 

Years before she joined the Fed, we profiled the work of Lisa Cook. Listen here.

Also these: 

Happy Fed Independence Day
A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
Turkey's runaway inflation problem 
Arthur Burns: shorthand for Fed failure? 
Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?
Can the Federal Reserve stay independent? 
It's hard out there for a Fed chair 

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f76ab18e-cfc1-478f-9618-de57b9113880 Wed, 27 Aug 2025 07:00:02 +0000 no Buy discount Ozempic here now click this link https://www.npr.org/2025/08/22/nx-s1-5511707/ozempic-zepbound-wegovy-monjauro-knockoff-generics
Now, in most industries, if a product goes viral like this, it’s a golden ticket. And thanks to government-granted monopolies designed to encourage innovation, the big drug companies behind these blockbuster injections are currently the only ones allowed to make them.

In theory, anyway. 

But, what if that explosive demand backfired, opening the door to legal knock-offs? You’ve maybe seen them - copycats advertised as the same thing as Ozempic. So, what’s the difference? And just how legal are they? On today’s show - a drug that’s changing people's lives is also challenging the traditional way we buy and sell medicine.

This episode was hosted by Sydney Lupkin and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Gilly Moon and Debbie Daughtry. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: Source Audio - “Subtly Silly Thug,” “Got The Moves,” and “Vive le Punk”

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4d8562a7-28fc-41d7-84d8-ff8c92b87742 Fri, 22 Aug 2025 23:16:11 +0000 no Summer School 7: Trade blocks and blockages https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5500202/summer-school-7-trade-blocks-and-blockages
We bring you the classic story of what happens when you try to protect an American industry and end up hurting another American industry. Well intentioned plans turn into trade barriers that make our lives more expensive. 

Check out our Summer School video cheat sheet TikTok.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8302191c-23bd-40c4-a3b9-8cdd344ec679 Wed, 20 Aug 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no When our inflation infeelings don’t match the CPI https://www.npr.org/2025/08/15/nx-s1-5500523/when-our-inflation-infeelings-dont-match-the-cpi
Food prices are almost 30% higher than they were five years ago. It’s bad. And those new, higher prices aren’t going away.

At the same time, prices are no longer inflating at a wild pace. For the last two years, the rate of inflation has slowed way down. And yet, our fears or feelings that things will spiral out of control again? Those have not slowed down.

This mismatch has been giving us all the... feelings. Inflation feelings. Infeelings. 

On our latest show: we sort through our infeeltions. We talk to the economists who have studied us. We learn why our personal inflation calculators don’t always match the professional ones.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e25b8754-44b1-4c67-a711-7686a6090564 Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:30:00 +0000 no What happens when governments cook the books https://www.npr.org/2025/08/08/1256971798/bls-bureau-labor-statistics-greece-argentina
So: we looked at two countries that have some experience with data manipulation. To ask what happens when governments get tempted to cook the books. And...once they cook the books... how hard is it to UN-cook them?

It's two statistical historical cautionary tales. First, we learn how Argentina tried to mask its true inflation rate, and how that effort backfired. Then, we hear about the difficult process of cleaning up the post-cooked-book mess, in Greece.

For more:
- Can we just change how we measure GDP?
 - The price of lettuce in Brooklyn
 - What really goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
 - Can we still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
 - How office politics could take down Europe
 - The amazing shrinking economy might stop shrinking

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 17784ea8-a13b-4969-a825-7054897c3272 Sat, 09 Aug 2025 02:48:51 +0000 no Summer School 6: When the markets need a designer Tickets here. (PM+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the code!)

In economics, a market is a place (even virtual) where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods or services. Economists love markets. It's like all of our supply and demand graphs have come to life. Almost everything you buy goes through some sort of marketplace—your cup of coffee came from trading in the bean markets. Your spouse might have come from the dating marketplace on the apps. Even kids will tell you one Snickers is worth at least two Twix.

But sometimes, as we'll see today, markets can go terribly wrong; greed can run out of control; lives can be at risk. That's when the government often steps in and gives the market a little nudge to work better. Today's episode: Market Design.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 671363da-44b1-4151-a21e-cd05cac5678f Wed, 06 Aug 2025 10:35:07 +0000 no Summer School 5: The many ways governments influence industry https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2025/07/30/1256812311/summer-school-industrial-policy-blackberry-solar Tickets here.

Traditional economics says the market is guided by the forces of supply and demand. Customers decide what they want to buy, and private enterprise responds to that need.

So what makes government think that it's smarter than capitalism? Why offer tax breaks to Hollywood or incentives to build silicon chip factories in Arizona? Why those industries and not others? And when does the free market fail and need government to step in?

Today, we discuss what happens when the government really wants to get its hands dirty and shape the direction of the economy, even decide which companies should prosper and which ones should fail, through industrial policy.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3d4a96bb-66a9-4eaf-8303-7c36e464516f Wed, 06 Aug 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no Would you trust an economist with your economy? https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/1256575142/trust-economics-trump-bls-bureau-labor-statistics-jobs
In decades past, economists whispered in the ears of presidents. Now, many politicians and voters are disenchanted with the field.

On today's show, we speak with economists about how distrust is messing with their minds and interfering with their work. Can they build up trust again?

Today's episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Marianne McCune with help from Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 08678b87-e9b1-49a6-9502-05e5670827d6 Sat, 02 Aug 2025 02:13:24 +0000 no Summer School 4: Who are all these regulations protecting? https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2025/07/23/1256100344/ip-regulations-rulemaking Tickets here.

There are occasional incentives in business that make it very profitable to do bad things; maybe cheat at the game and steal other people's ideas, or cut some corners on safety. In theory, the government as referee steps in to make the rules and enforce them, and manage competition in a way that hopefully makes things better for us all.

But you have to ask... When is the government protecting you and when is it protecting the already rich and powerful?

We'll meet a man trying to corner the market for frozen meat, with the help of patents. And then we'll head to the salon, and ask — Should the government really require dozens of hours of training for a license to braid hair?

Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the code!)

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 51314951-6f1d-4c8b-8efd-0a33ce83708b Wed, 30 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no The President's Golden Share in U.S. Steel https://www.npr.org/2025/07/25/1256217315/nippon-us-steel-golden-share LIVE SHOW ALERT: August 18th, NYC. Get your tickets here.

When news broke that a Japanese company, Nippon Steel, was buying the storied American steel company U.S. Steel, it was still 2023, just before an election.

And right away, politicians from both sides of the aisle came out forcefully against the deal, saying the company should remain American. Before leaving office, President Biden even blocked the sale.

But in a dramatic twist a few weeks ago, President Trump approved it. With a caveat: the U.S. would get what Trump called 'a golden share' in U.S. Steel.

On our latest show: what even is a "golden share"? When has it been used before, and why? And, could deals like this be a good way to get foreign investment in American manufacturing...or is it government overreach?

Related episodes:
- When Uncle Sam owned banks and factories
- How Big Steel in the U.S. fell

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. Research help from Emily Crawford and Emma Peaslee. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes, sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 372fa071-26f3-466d-a4e8-eef531c1af32 Fri, 25 Jul 2025 22:08:20 +0000 no Summer School 3: How government decides what to spend our money on https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2025/07/16/1269634359/budget-spending-debt-lobbying The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> e546c553-9166-478e-bb99-4d61bf8e5d4e Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no Why are we so obsessed with manufacturing? https://www.npr.org/2025/07/18/1255880057/manufacturing-america-tariffs-apprenticeships-wages
On today's show, what is so special about manufacturing? Is it particularly important for the economy? And if manufacturing jobs are so great, then why have companies been struggling to fill the manufacturing jobs we already have?

For more on manufacturing in the U.S:

- Made in America, an episode about what manufacturing work in the U.S. can be like for garment workers and how much they're paid to make each piece of clothing "made in the U.S."
- Why aren't Americans filling the manufacturing jobs we already have?
- What makes manufacturing jobs special? The answer could help rebuild the middle class
- Can bringing back manufacturing help the heartland catch up with 'superstar' cities?
- And, for more, check out the Planet Money newsletter's manufacturing series at npr.org/manufacturing

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes, sponsor-free listening, and now early access to new episodes of Summer School by signing up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or atplus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b16c9611-e4fd-45ec-a535-8953dc535aa9 Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:40:41 +0000 no Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 68f20634-257a-481c-9f82-ca0d844b4503 Fri, 18 Jul 2025 13:06:23 +0000 no Summer School 2: How taxes change behavior and the economy https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2025/07/09/1255755376/summer-school-taxes-poverty-behavior
Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code!)

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford and Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a2af077c-837b-4bb7-ab5b-dda91a328a30 Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000 no Made in America https://www.npr.org/2025/07/11/1255526971/garment-workers-clothing-made-in-usa
The U.S. does have a domestic manufacturing industry, including a garment manufacturing industry.

In today's episode: We buy a garment made by factory workers in the U.S. – a basic purple sports bra – and learn how many people it took to make it, how much workers got paid to work on it ... and whether garment manufacturing is a job Americans want, or even know how, to do.

Plus: why domestic garment manufacturing exists at all in the U.S., and whether the industry can grow.

Other episodes:

- What "Made in China" actually means

This episode was reported and hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and it was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez who also helped with research. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a28424f1-f91f-4321-b0cd-1a0539fe66d4 Fri, 11 Jul 2025 22:25:07 +0000 no Summer School 1: A government's role in the economy is to make us all richer https://www.npr.org/2025/07/09/1255376133/summer-school-government-inclusive-extractive-institutions
We're kicking off another semester of Planet Money Summer School asking the biggest question: Why are some nations rich and others poor? With stories from India, New York City and Peru, we look at the ways in which government bureaucracy can help make or break an economy.

Tickets for Planet Money Live at the Bell House available here. Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Go to plus.npr.org to sign up, if you haven't already, and listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Planet Money+ supporters get early access to new episodes of Summer School this season! You also get sponsor-free listening, regular bonus episodes, and you'll help support the work of Planet Money.

Sign up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a3aa64df-7056-4fbc-9310-edca9f805d76 Wed, 09 Jul 2025 07:00:59 +0000 no The simple math of the big bill https://www.npr.org/2025/07/04/1255224475/one-big-beautiful-bill-tax-cuts-tips-medicaid
We will make many big tax cuts permanent and pay for those tax cuts by cutting Medicaid and a few other things and also...by borrowing money.

A lot of money.

Even more than we've already been borrowing over the past twenty years. (And that was already a lot, too!)

Today: simple arithmetic with profound ramifications. Tax cuts, spending cuts, and whether they balance out. (Spoiler: no.)

We look under the hood to see how all this is calculated. And we ask: how will a bigger deficit play out for all of us, in our normal, regular lives?

We've covered a bunch more having to do with the big taxing and spending bill and the federal debt recently on Planet Money and our short daily show The Indicator:

- So, how's this No Tax On Tips thing gonna go?
 - A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem
 - The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'?
 - The debt limit, the origins of the X Date, and why it all matters
 - What's a revenge tax?
 - Is the federal debt REALLY that bad?

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 849acfd6-c030-4d74-84d9-bc0f18bacc61 Fri, 04 Jul 2025 20:19:18 +0000 no A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem https://www.npr.org/2025/07/02/1255100731/national-debt-crisis-growth-budget
This fantasy recurs again and again, because economic growth is a potent force. Over the next few decades, tiny changes in how fast our economy grows could decide the fate of the federal government — whether we can bring the massive national debt under control or whether we spiral into a fiscal crisis.

Today on the show, we talk to three economists who have been sifting through the latest evidence. They're trying to figure out what the government could actually do to make the economy grow faster. Could we even grow fast enough to outrun our national debt?

For a list of citations, check out our episode page.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 40583e55-df7a-4929-9c0a-e2102f485f94 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:46:56 +0000 no When Trump met crypto https://www.npr.org/2025/06/27/1254874796/bitcoin-conference-las-vegas-2025-trump
There are memecoins for Trump and the first lady. They own a stablecoin, a bitcoin mining operation, and a crypto financial services company. And, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Trump's media group announced they're raising 2.5 billion dollars from investors to buy bitcoin.

At that same conference, speakers included two White House advisors, two sons of the US president, the son of the U.S. Commerce Secretary, and a Trump appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a cryptocurrency built on independence from big government, this was a swerve.

So, what happens when the President of the United States showers his love on the crypto community ... while also becoming a crypto entrepreneur himself? We follow along as Trump Inc.'s Ilya Marritz and Andrea Bernstein spend three days at the Las Vegas conference center where convicts are cheered, oversight and regulation are booed, and the separation of crypto and state no longer applies.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6ade6ee7-667c-4bd1-b26e-fe94938948c0 Fri, 27 Jun 2025 22:39:14 +0000 no Econ Battle Zone: Budget Showdown https://www.npr.org/2025/06/25/1254697854/budget-medicaid-tax-cuts-national-debt
Can Mary explain what effect extending the 2017 tax cuts will have on economic growth AND make her entire segment rhyme? Will Erika be able to overcome her fear of singing and craft a country song about the history of Medicaid? Can Kenny put together a piece about what warning signs economists look for to know whether the national debt has grown too large... but as a romantic comedy?

Guest judges Betsey Stevenson and David Kestenbaum face a difficult choice... but only one contestant can claim the coveted Econ Battle Zone Belt.

Artists featured in this episode: Rexx Life Raj (IG: @rexxliferaj); Merle Hazard; Alison Brown; Tristan Scroggins; Matt Coles; and Garry West.

Special thanks to Liz Garton Scanlon, Robin Rudowitz and Sarah Rosenbaum.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 24315074-9975-4e07-86c4-223e1b10e440 Wed, 25 Jun 2025 23:17:46 +0000 no The U.S. is the world's bribery cop. Is that about to change? https://www.npr.org/2025/06/20/1254460243/foreign-corrupt-practices-act-bribery-glencore-sudan-oil
In this episode, we look at the FCPA case against Glencore, a large commodity trading company, found guilty in 2022 for paying cash bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts all over the world.

And we go back to the inception of the law, a time when using bribes to pay off foreign officials was considered "grease in the wheels" - a reasonable (if unethical) way to get business done.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Erika Beras. It was produced by Willa Rubin. It was fact-checked by Emily Crawford with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6f2ca878-dc72-4d7b-8fc0-0cc7f908e06e Fri, 20 Jun 2025 23:05:25 +0000 no Jay & Shai's debt ceiling adventure (Update) https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/1254350226/debt-ceiling-negotiation-deadline-x-date-extraordinary-measures-jay-powell version of this episode first ran in 2023.

Every year, the U.S. government spends more money than it takes in. In order to fund all that spending, the country takes on debt. Congress has the power to limit how much debt the U.S. takes on. Once we reach that limit, Congress has a few options so that the government keeps paying its bills: Raise the debt limit, suspend it, or eliminate it entirely.

Which is daunting, because if lawmakers don't figure something out in time, the ramifications for the global economy could be huge.

Shai Akabas, of the Bipartisan Policy Center, has become something of the go-to expert in calculating the exact date America would hit the wall and not be able to pay all its debts. This day is so terrifying it has a special name, the X-Date.

Today's episode is about how Akabas and Jay Powell — long before he became chair of the Federal Reserve — worked to create a system to determine the X-Date with the hope of helping us all never reach it.

We also have an update on this year's looming X-Date, which could arrive as soon as this summer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1a7fe6df-fc2a-47e8-9c49-67aa84e62abb Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:50:59 +0000 no Why I joined DOGE https://www.npr.org/2025/06/13/1254121714/doge-staffer-sahil-lavingia-musk-va-fired This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Bobby Allyn. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Neal Rauch. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f501bca5-0300-4788-ad40-4e7e1ea1c243 Sat, 14 Jun 2025 01:47:00 +0000 no Are Trump's tariffs legal? https://www.npr.org/2025/06/11/1253992700/tariffs-ieepa-trump-legal-emergencies-law
But Trump's advisors have an unusual new legal theory. They say that as long as there's a national emergency of some kind, Trump may be able to create whatever tariffs he wants. This is a creative interpretation of a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. To justify his latest tariffs, the president declared national emergencies involving illegal immigration, the fentanyl crisis, and the trade deficit.

But no president has ever tried to use the law in this way.

Now, the fate of Trump's tariffs — and the creative legal theory behind them — lies with the courts. About a dozen lawsuits have challenged his tariffs, claiming that they are unlawful and possibly even unconstitutional. And some judges have started to agree.

On today's show: What are the President's powers when it comes to tariffs? Where do they come from? What are their limits? And, what will be the fate of Trump's tariffs?

For more on Trump's tariffs:
- The 145% tariff already did its damage
 - Do trade deficits matter?
 - What "Made in China" actually means

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c3c376b3-4cb6-45f4-b8c4-23156121bee3 Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:42:18 +0000 no When Chinese manufacturing met Small Town, USA https://www.npr.org/2025/06/06/1253756223/manufacturing-ev-china-battery-factory
Today on the show – how a battery factory ignited a political firestorm over what kind of factories we actually want in our backyard. And what happens when the global economy meets town hall democracy.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and Sylvie Douglis. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Read Viola Zhou's reporting on the Gotion battery factory.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Collectible Kicks," "Arturo's Revenge," and "Liquid Courage"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7e7b34cd-4225-4c90-a700-db3d004ae2e9 Fri, 06 Jun 2025 23:25:59 +0000 no Trump's crypto interests (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2025/06/04/1253616093/trump-coin-stablecoin-tether
We bring you two stories from our daily show, The Indicator about President Trump and his ties to crypto. First, the Trump coin. We explain what it is, how the real Donald Trump profits from it, and yes, whether this whole crypto scheme is within the law. Then we take a look at Stablecoins: how they work, how they make money, and for whom.

The original episodes from The Indicator were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges. They were engineered by Harry Paul and Robert Rodriguez. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon edits the show. This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed and edited by Emma Peaslee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1f8cf62e-c5ca-45e8-b861-c1c1dc9c7262 Wed, 04 Jun 2025 07:00:59 +0000 no The U.S.-China trade war, according to game theory https://www.npr.org/2025/05/30/1253382272/us-china-trump-xi-jinping-trade-war
So, are Donald Trump and Xi Jinping competing in a simple game of chicken? Or is the game more like the prisoner's dilemma? On today's show, we try to decide which of four possibilities might be the best model for this incredibly high-stakes game. And we take a look at who is playing well and who might need to adjust their strategy.

For more on the U.S.-China trade war:

- The 145% tariff already did its damage
 - What happened to U.S. farmers during the last trade war
 - What "Made in China" actually means

This show was hosted by Keith Romer and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee with help from Robert Rodriguez and Cena Lofreddo. Additional production help from Sylvie Douglis. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2affdacc-e6ab-4dcc-b66b-856a80eb7902 Fri, 30 May 2025 21:36:41 +0000 no Why does the government fund research at universities? https://www.npr.org/2025/05/28/1253247256/-higher-education-federal-funding-universities-science-research
The Trump administration is cutting or threatening to cut federal funding for research. Federal funding for all kinds of science is at its lowest level in decades.

Today on the show: when did the government start funding research at universities? And will massive cuts mean the end of universities as we know them?

We hear from the man who first pushed the government to fund university research and we talk to the chancellor of a big research school, Washington University in St. Louis. He opens up his books to show us how his school gets funded and what it would mean if that funding went away.

This episode is part of our series Pax Americana, about how the Trump administration and others are challenging a set of post-World War II policies that placed the U.S. at the center of the economic universe. Listen to our episode about the reign of the dollar.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c8e0c134-2845-49ca-9a18-e5153fd387e1 Wed, 28 May 2025 23:27:32 +0000 no The secret world behind those scammy text messages https://www.npr.org/2025/05/23/1253043749/pig-butchering-scam-crypto-tether Long time no see" or "Hello" or "How are you." For investigative reporter Zeke Faux it was – "Hi David, I'm Vicky Ho. Don't you remember me?"

Many people ignore them. But Zeke responded. He wanted to get scammed. This led him on a journey halfway around the world to find out who is sending him random wrong number texts and why. After you hear this story, you'll never look at these messages the same way again.

To hear the full episode check out Search Engine's website.

Search Engine was created by P.J. Vogt and Sruthi Pinnamaneni. This episode was produced by Garrott Graham and Noah John. It was fact-checked by Sean Merchant. Theme, original composition, and mixing by Armin Bazarian. Search Engine's executive producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman and Leah Reis-Dennis.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> fe607d11-c475-48fc-93a1-686312703263 Fri, 23 May 2025 20:16:47 +0000 no How economists (and TikTok) know if a recession is coming https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/1252663619/recession-indicator-tiktok-yield-curve-sahm-rule
From the more practical (like sales for lipstick going up and men's underwear going down) to the absurd and nonsensical (like babysitter buns coming back into style?) — people are posting to social media every little sign they see that a recession is coming. And we LOVE it. Because between the trade war and the tariffs and the stock market, there has been a lot of economic uncertainty over the last few months and we want to talk about it, too.

Today on the show — we dig into the slightly wonkier indicators that economists look at when they're trying to answer the question behind the viral internet trend: Is a recession coming?

This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sarah McClure, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: Source Audio - "The Shirt Still Fits," "Chameleon Panther Style," and "Nighthawk."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 35f2429e-d259-4a76-8f00-8d46deb5d396 Wed, 21 May 2025 22:03:41 +0000 no The 145% tariff already did its damage https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/1251782092/tariff-us-china-pause-trade-war
Some companies got really unlucky. Like those whose goods arrived at U.S. ports before the pause. If a medium size company had a million dollars worth of goods imported, they had to pay an extra million and a half dollars on top of that – just for the tariff.

Today we are bringing you a portrait of this unfathomably high tariff. What a month of 145% tariffs looked like and felt like for three people in the global economy whose lives were all affected and still will be. The ones who got lucky and the ones who got really unlucky.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and fact-checked by Willa Rubin. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: NPR Source Audio - "Bass Talks," "Bassline Motion," and "What Da Funk"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 494f4800-0688-4988-b53d-03d2dbf5c734 Fri, 16 May 2025 22:42:13 +0000 no What happened to U.S. farmers during the last trade war https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/1251284848/american-farmers-trade-war-tariffs-crops-commodity-credit-corporation
U.S. farmers have been collateral damage in a trade war before. In 2018, President Trump put tariffs on a bunch of Chinese products including flatscreen TVs, medical devices and batteries. But China matched those tariffs with their own retaliatory tariffs. They put tariffs on a lot of U.S. agricultural products they'd been buying, like soybeans, sorghum, and livestock. That choice looked strategic. Hitting these products with tariffs hurt Trump's voter base and might help China in a negotiation. And in some cases, China could find affordable alternative options from other countries.

Today on the show: what happened in 2018, how the government prevented some U.S. farms from going bankrupt, and what was lost even after the trade war ended.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> da567ccc-68ab-48e4-9119-83b65e5a259e Wed, 14 May 2025 22:45:32 +0000 no Is the reign of the dollar over? https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/1250191994/reserve-currency-dollar-renminbi-euro
But what if that is changing? What if the world stops seeing the dollar as safe?

Today on the show, what is a "reserve currency"? Why is it the dollar? And if the dollar falls from favor, what will replace it?

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune with fact checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

The Dollar Trap by Eswar Prasad
Exorbitant Privilege by Barry Eichengreen
Our Dollar. Your Problem by Ken Rogoff

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "Virtual Machine," "Fake Blood" and "Successful Secrets"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a6a093b5-0d0a-4071-8f00-f030324d2331 Fri, 09 May 2025 22:20:24 +0000 no What "Made in China" actually means https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/1249592921/tariff-customs-made-in-america-china-france
But what does it really mean when something is a "Product of China"? How much of it actually comes from China? And how do customs officials draw the line?

Here in the U.S., the rules are delightfully counterintuitive. A product's country of origin is not necessarily where that product got on the container ship to come here. It's not necessarily where most of its ingredients are from or even where most of the manufacturing happened.

Our system is much stranger. The answers can be surprisingly philosophical — and at times, even poetic.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed with help from Sylvie Douglis. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> cf903258-adbf-42a4-90b7-87bdb5993bf4 Wed, 07 May 2025 20:22:43 +0000 no Why it's so hard to find a public toilet https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/1248664709/-public-good-why-it-is-hard-to-find-a-toilet
In the U.S., we used to have lots of publicly accessible toilets. But many had locks on the doors and you had to put in a coin to use them. Pay toilets created a system of haves and have nots when it came to bathroom access. So in the 60s, movements sprung up to ban pay toilets.

Problem is: when the pay toilets went away, so too did many free public toilets.

Today on the show, how toilets exist in a legal and economic netherworld; they're not quite a public good, not quite a problem the free market can solve.

Why we're stuck, needing to go, with nowhere to go.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune and engineered by Cena Loffredo. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: Audio Network - "Smoke Rings," "Can't Walk Away" and "Bright Crystals."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 69c7b059-f988-4fb1-ab50-0d8fac28cf25 Fri, 02 May 2025 23:03:32 +0000 no Planet Money complains. To learn. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/1248091506/complaints-emails-free-refills-appliance-repair
We at Planet Money are an ensemble show – each with different curiosities and styles. But we recently realized many of us have something in common: We're annoyed consumers.

So we're going to get ranty ... but then try to understand the people annoying us. Like stingy coffee shops, manufacturers that don't design things for repair ... and stores that send way to many emails every day.

Along the way, we learn a very sad thing about satisfaction and the future of skilled labor in the U.S.

(Also, we should all just stop using umbrellas. They have negative consumption externalities. Come on people.)

This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6ecf46ff-56aa-4739-862b-a845599b132b Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:00:59 +0000 no How 23andMe's bankruptcy led to a run on the gene bank https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/1247139353/23andme-data-genome-bankruptcy-privacy-customer-data
But last month, 23andMe filed for bankruptcy, and it announced it would be selling off that massive genetic database. Today on the show, what might happen to Vovi's genetic data as 23andMe works its way through the bankruptcy process, how the bankruptcy system has treated consumer data privacy in the past, and what this case reveals about the data that all of us willingly hand over to companies every single day.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Harry Paul and Neal Rauch and fact-checked by Tyler Jones. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "Lazybones," "Twirp," and "On Your Marks"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 93d87306-ab89-43ae-a2f6-243a773fb394 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:41:18 +0000 no A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/1246593555/federal-reserve-independence
Today on the show, three Indicators: a short history of the Federal Reserve and why it's insulated from day-to-day politics; how the Fed amassed a ton of power in recent years; and a Trump executive order that took some of that power away.

The original episodes from the Indicator were produced by Corey Bridges, Brittany Cronin, and Julia Ritchey. They were engineered by Cena Loffredo, James Willetts, and Gilly Moon, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is the editor of the Indicator. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed and edited by Marianne McCune & Mary Childs. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

For more of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Or, find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ef439cd9-ed2c-4359-98dc-75352c883c5f Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:50:04 +0000 no How much for that egg https://www.npr.org/2025/04/18/1245530783/eggs-lottery-auction-survey-economics
Our colleague didn't want to charge more than $5, so we couldn't just auction the eggs off. A lottery? Too boring, he said.

Okay! A very Planet Money puzzle to solve.

Today on the show, we go in search of novel systems to help our colleague decide who gets his scarce resource: cheap, farm-fresh eggs. We steal from the world of new product development to try and secretly test for egg love, and we discover a pricing method used in development economics that may be America's next great gameshow.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and it was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "Punchy Punchline," "Game Face," "Feeling the Funk," and "The Host Most Wanted"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f244447e-e17d-4fa8-8ee8-75c8f266ee0c Fri, 18 Apr 2025 21:51:02 +0000 no OIRA: The tiny office that's about to remake the federal government https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/1245044458/-office-of-information-and-regulatory-affairs-executive-orders
For the last 45 years, OIRA has overseen most federal agencies by reviewing proposed regulations to make sure they agree with the President's policies and don't conflict with the work of other agencies. But one set of federal agencies has always been exempt from this review process — independent federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, and Federal Reserve. Until now.

According to a new executive order, those independent agencies are about to get a lot less independent. We take a look at what this change could mean for financial markets...and the future of American democracy.

This episode was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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Music: Universal Music Production - "Tanga," "The Jump Back," and "Kumbatia."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 709ad27e-f0cb-4d85-8542-9055e66b186a Wed, 16 Apr 2025 07:00:26 +0000 no Trade war dispatch from Canada https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/1244093033/canada-tariffs-reciprocal-retaliatory-import-export-trade-war-nuts
And, while trade is this big global thing, it is made up of individual farmers and business owners and truckers and manufacturers. Millions of people all over the world are being forced to reevaluate relationships that they've been building for years.

Canadians have had a head start - Trump announced his plan to tariff Canadian goods on day one in office. So in today's episode: how one Canadian small business is trying to manage the chaos.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis and edited by Sally Helm. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "Mr. Chill," "Lazy Ranger," and "Guess What"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8b3b2f6e-14ae-4571-9e16-131102a837ed Fri, 11 Apr 2025 23:20:57 +0000 no Do trade deficits matter? https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/1243652738/tariffs-trump-trade-deficit-white-house
And in the wake of the tariff announcement we got a LOT of questions from listeners about what that means. Do trade deficits matter? Is it bad to have a trade deficit? Are we getting ripped off?

Today on the show – we tackle those questions.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune and Kenny Malone. It was fact checked by Sarah McClure and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "The Westerners," "Liquid Courage," and "Blazed and Emboldened"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f07b75ba-c41e-4ffb-bd72-d88093693986 Wed, 09 Apr 2025 23:54:33 +0000 no How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries https://www.npr.org/2025/04/04/1242780124/blueberries-asparagus-cocaine-foreign-aid-usaid-war-on-drugs-peru-free-trade
And for more on trade and tariffs check out Planet Money's homepage. We've got articles looking at how much the new tariffs will raise prices and shows on everything from diamonds to potatoes to why you bought your couch.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly newsletter.

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Music: Source Audio: "Martini Shaker," "You the Man," and "Leisure Girls."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7580767a-3531-482d-b963-0d0a8262c523 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 22:52:10 +0000 no Tariffs: What are they good for? https://www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1242229719/planet-money-the-case-for-tariffs
For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they've said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more! Because free trade has broadly led to more global economic growth.

But global trade hasn't been all positive for Americans, and in the worldview of President Trump's administration, tariffs can be used to right some of those wrongs. And the U.S. has economic leverage. So if the U.S. wants to level the playing field, it should use that leverage, and use tariffs to accomplish its policy goals.

Today on the show: the case for tariffs. We talk to a lonely economist who's been sounding the alarm for years that more and free-er trade isn't always better. And we speak to economists in President Trump's orbit who make the case for how tariffs can be a potent economic and political tool.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Sarah McClure and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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Music: Universal Music Production: "Funky Reverie" and "With It;" Audio Network: "Slush Puppy Soul."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 43a97b56-df56-4db9-b90d-37412a4982fb Wed, 02 Apr 2025 22:16:53 +0000 no PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever? https://www.npr.org/2025/03/28/1241388988/radiolab-economic-growth-resources-gdp
Radiolab's original episode was produced and edited by Pat Walters and Soren Wheeler. Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton. The Planet Money edition of this episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Alex Goldmark and Jess Jiang. Special thanks to Jennifer Brandel.

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Music: NPR Source Audio - "Wir Rollen"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ec5b3b75-7b4d-42ba-85f0-c77b27f2feb5 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 21:28:53 +0000 no Planet Money buys a mystery diamond https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/1240892101/diamond-market-natural-lab-grown-gemological scintillating mystery.

On today's show: the Planet Money Diamond (or whatever this sparkly rock turns out to be). We get it analyzed by the experts at the Gemological Institute of America. We investigate where it came from. And, we dive into the economics of glittery stones. Was this a new kind of internet scam? Some supply chain anomaly? Or is something just really weird going on in the world of diamonds?

This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Keith Romer with help from Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Emma Peaslee, and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 395b17ab-b448-4ac1-b639-b8e3e4479d8e Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:41:17 +0000 no Can we just change how we measure GDP? https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/1239865438/change-gross-domestic-product-gdp
For close to a century the building blocks of GDP have been the same. Now Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has proposed a big change: taking government spending out of GDP.

On today's show, can the U.S. change how it measures GDP? We talk with a former head of the BEA — about what he thinks they're likely to do now, and about the pressure he faced while trying to compile GDP for nearly two decades. Turns out, people have always been trying to bend it to make whatever grand project they're working on look better.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 364da88b-ff42-4ab8-9a25-32c2dcf627b2 Fri, 21 Mar 2025 21:44:29 +0000 no Escheat show (Update) https://www.npr.org/2025/03/19/1239428617/escheat-unclaimed-property-forgotten-money 2020.

Walter Schramm did everything right as an investor — at least according to the philosophy of Warren Buffett. So how come he lost a small fortune?

In this episode, we look into an obscure government program that slurps up forgotten money. We hunt for money we might have left vulnerable and we try to figure out how it got there in the first place so we can tell you where to find the money you've misplaced too.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5fa34674-31c7-44ef-b3b5-629a4f09844d Wed, 19 Mar 2025 07:00:59 +0000 no How Tupperware took over our homes, with Decoder Ring https://www.npr.org/2025/03/14/1238535892/decoder-ring-tupperware-plastic-storage
Led in part by a charismatic housewife turned business innovator, Tupperware pioneered more than the party. Brownie Wise, and the company she came to represent, are behind a core sales technique that we might now recognize as influencer marketing.

The company was so successful at its peak, it reached almost cult status. But it didn't last.

On our latest episode: Tupperware's success and the company's demise. And how its descendants — in products, and in sales strategies — lived on.

This episode is in partnership with Decoder Ring. For even more on the legacy of Tupperware, listen to their full episode.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 25bf1a25-1186-4470-b63d-e22678f32a75 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:13:17 +0000 no The last time we shrank the federal workforce https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/1237991516/planet-money-doge-government-size-rego
A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a Democrat.

Today on the show: Where they found waste the last time we really looked. (Hint: it wasn't jobs.) And why the pace of firings under Trump might start to slow down.

For more:
- Lessons for the Future of Government Reform
- Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today's federal government
- Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. We had fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Special thanks to Ben Zipperer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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Music: Audio Network - "West Green Road," "Raise Up," and "Blue and Green."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 74c7a498-3285-4ca2-a6ea-caa9514446f7 Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:40:24 +0000 no How to start a bank https://www.npr.org/2025/03/07/1236538076/new-bank-startup-regulations-entrepreneur
Today on the show, a baby bank is born. We go along for the ride from idea to ribbon cutting as a community bank gets off the ground.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Katie Mingle. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Music: NPR Source Audio- "Numbers Game," "Smoke and Mirrors," and "Lets Start A Movement"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ff57604d-7809-4688-8e35-f896d6a7b948 Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:36:47 +0000 no The Parable of Peanut the Memecoin https://www.npr.org/2025/03/05/1235939360/pnut-memecoin-peanut-squirrel-attention-economy
On today's show — a modern parable. How an orphaned baby rodent became a world famous animal influencer, became a political martyr, and was finally transmuted into a billion dollar cryptocurrency. It's a tale about how a chance encounter can lead to fame and fortune. But also how all that can spin wildly out of control in this brave, new – kind of terrifying – attention economy we're all living in.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Nic Neves. This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. And engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1d5c2a88-d278-43d6-9cc9-7d3f65d0a53f Wed, 05 Mar 2025 08:00:59 +0000 yes The Memecoin Casino https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/1234443289/memecoin-doge-pump-fun
The humble memecoin began as a sort of satirical send up of speculation in the crypto world. But it was a joke that soon became very real. In the decade since the launch of Dogecoin in 2013, a series of cultural shifts and technological leaps enabled an explosion in the number of new memecoins. And this memecoin explosion has not only minted millionaires but also led to hordes of unlucky investors and untold scams.

On today's show, what's in a memecoin? How they went from a one-off joke to a speculative frenzy worth tens of billions of dollars? And who are the winners and losers in this brazen new market? wow such tease many listens

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Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8f3b89d3-9454-42b9-8c07-666ea8f23fb6 Fri, 28 Feb 2025 22:46:28 +0000 yes The controversy over Tyson Foods' hiring of asylum seekers https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/1233894748/tyson-perry-iowa-waterloo-tennessee
At the same time, Tyson was also busy hiring workers elsewhere. It was working with a non-profit group that helps connect companies with asylum seekers and refugees looking for work. Tyson ultimately hired hundreds of new workers through this partnership.

Was this just a coincidence? Or were these two stories actually one story - a story about one of the country's biggest meat processors forcing out American workers and replacing them with migrants? On today's show we take a look at the controversy surrounding Tyson's hiring moves and how things look from the perspective of the workers themselves.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 77a7ecda-a28f-4fe7-bc84-ede015f735b9 Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:09 +0000 no The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management https://www.npr.org/2025/02/21/1232862544/long-term-capital-management-ltcm
The story begins back in the 90s. A group of math nerds figured out how to use a mathematical model to identify opportunities in the market, tiny price discrepancies, that they could bet big on. Those bets turned into big profits, for them and their clients. They were the toast of Wall Street; it looked like they'd solved the puzzle of risk-taking. But their overconfidence in their strategy led to one of the biggest financial implosions in U.S. history, and destabilized the entire market.

On today's show, what happens when perfect math meets the mess of human nature? And what did we learn (and what did we not learn) from the legendary tale of Long Term Capital Management?

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Mary Childs and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 42693517-a9fa-4619-86b0-ccd50e7cd829 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 00:44:46 +0000 no Can the president override Congress on spending? https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/1232435554/impoundment-trump-usaid-doge
It all comes down to something called "impoundment" and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which controls when and how a president can take away money Congress has appropriated.

President Trump followed the Impoundment Control Act rules back in 2018. But now, in his second term, he's saying he thinks that law is unconstitutional.

On this episode: the history of impoundment, from Thomas Jefferson to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. And what constitutional scholars and judges are saying after Trump attempted to dismantle a federal agency and freeze trillions in federal funding that goes to states for everything from new school buses to public health research.

We've got more about impoundment in the latest Planet Money newsletter.

Check out The Indicator's episodes on the gutting of USAID and how American farmers are affected in USAID cuts. And, our previous episode on the big government money pipe that's being closely watched right now.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 54cdbb02-a9f0-48a3-8564-387a97a89a29 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 22:57:41 +0000 no The Big Government Money Pipe Freeze https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/1231335530/treasury-payments-doge
As a result, hundreds and hundreds of people have lost their jobs, clinics and daycares across the country have been left wondering if they'll have money to operate, retirees have worried about getting their payments.

But the United States is a country of transparency. And if you know where to look, there is a way to cut through all the confusion. Because there's this one big pipe from the US Treasury through which most federal spending flows.

So, today, we discover a way to go look at that money pipe. And we'll look at some of the people and the programs on the other end of that pipe. And we tell you about a tool (it's at The Hamilton Project! Right here.) that you can use to follow along from home, right now, as this gigantic federal spending story continues developing and developing.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c369ca13-c71a-4e58-aaa3-d8daea9f4a01 Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:01:01 +0000 no The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria https://www.npr.org/2025/02/12/1230862333/tigran-gambarian-crypto-binance-nigeria-prison
Tigran was in Nigeria as a sort of envoy. He was supposed to meet with government officials and show them that Binance – and crypto itself – was safe, reliable, and law-abiding.

One of the most important meetings was at the headquarters of the Office of the National Security Advisor. He says officials there made him wait hours. And when officials finally came into the room, they accused Binance of a host of crimes and of tanking the Nigerian economy. They then told Tigran that they weren't going to let him leave Nigeria until they were satisfied that Binance was going to remedy the situation.

On today's show, in a collaboration with Click Here from Recorded Future News, we hear about Tigran's eight month detention in Nigeria. In his first recorded interview after his release, he shares details about his captivity, how he survived one of Nigeria's most infamous prisons, and how he got out.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 28e31343-f4ee-4446-96e8-39080d90f992 Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:03:02 +0000 yes The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure https://www.npr.org/2025/01/31/1228085818/san-jose-shipwreck-colombia-spain-ssa-qhara-qhara
For centuries, the shipwreck was the stuff of legends, until 2015 when underwater investigators found what they believed to be the San Jose's wreckage. The treasure on board this ship could be worth billions of dollars. But who owns it? Today on the show, four groups stake their claims to the wreck of the San Jose. Those claims reveal a lot about who has a say over the bottom of the sea and how we can begin to untangle the complicated legacy of colonialism.

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Erika Beras and Mary Childs. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with reporting help from Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Neil Rauch with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c153da7b-8bcb-4660-a77e-f7b6b9ae879f Fri, 07 Feb 2025 22:42:21 +0000 no How the scratch off lottery changed America https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/1229744816/scratch-off-wgbh-massachusetts-lottery all Coca-Cola products. Yet the scratch ticket as a consumer item has only existed for fifty years. Not so long ago, the idea of an instant lottery, of gambling with a little sheet of paper, was strange. Scary, even.

So, how did scratch lotteries go from an idea that states wanted nothing to do with, to a commonplace item? It started in a small, super-liberal, once-puritanical state: Massachusetts. Adults there now spend – on average – $1,037 every year on lottery tickets – mostly scratch tickets. On today's episode, a collaboration with GBH's podcast Scratch & Win, we hear the story of... the scratch-off lottery ticket!

This episode was hosted by Ian Coss and Kenny Malone. Scratch & Win from GBH is produced by Isabel Hibbard and edited by Lacy Roberts. The executive producer is Devin Maverick Robins. Our version of the podcast was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Alex Goldmark, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c3b40e8e-736e-444e-82de-95f13233f76f Wed, 05 Feb 2025 08:00:59 +0000 no How DeepSeek changed the market's mind https://www.npr.org/2024/11/29/1215793948/deepseek-ai-china-us-semiconductors-stock-nvidia
This week, investors seemed suddenly to change their minds about what our AI future would look like and which companies will (or won't) profit from it. Will we really need all those high-end computer chips, after all? What about power plants to provide electricity for all the energy-hungry AI data centers?

On today's show – how DeepSeek might have changed the economics of artificial intelligence forever.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with an assist from James Sneed. It was edited by Keith Romer and engineered by Neil Tevault. Research help from Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> cfa5aa33-b99b-4f28-a73e-c486df854b7c Sat, 01 Feb 2025 03:08:09 +0000 no Re-imagining the energy grid ... through batteries (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2025/02/05/1229167012/planet-money-electric-battery-storage
The idea of a battery was floated around to make renewables available 24/7. For years, it existed as an expensive, little-used technology. Then in 2021, it took off.

In this episode, we explore how this new energy market works in two states: California and Texas.

In California, there is now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millions of homes — at least for a few hours — and it's growing fast. What does this success mean for the grid, and how did the state support it?

Then, we visit Texas, whose approach is more free-market rodeo. The state has the second-most battery storage capacity in the U.S. And in Texas, their system was recently put to the test. So, can these large-scale batteries can help prevent blackouts?

These two stories come from our sister show The Indicator, which recently reported a series about the electric battery market.

Today's show was hosted by Cooper Katz McKim, Darian Woods and Wailin Wong. The original Indicator episodes were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges, and edited by Kate Concannon. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Neil Tevault. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> adbea7c5-dd53-4ec7-be5c-d147eabe8735 Wed, 29 Jan 2025 08:00:54 +0000 no The "chilling effect" of deportations https://www.npr.org/2025/01/24/1226561692/ice-raids-chicago-deportation-immigration-economics
Trump's border czar has said Chicago is at the top of the list of places to be targeted. The city is expecting immigration raids, detentions and deportations. In the Little Village neighborhood, where the majority of residents are Mexican or of Mexican descent, people are on edge as they await what's next.

Beyond the many people personally affected, past research suggests everyone could feel the impacts of mass deportation.

On this episode of Planet Money we visit Little Village to see how the new administration is already having an impact. And then, we hear from an economist who looks to a recent chapter in mass deportation for insight into what the future could hold.

Today's episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Willa Rubin with an assist from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Kenny Malone, engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> af3b2619-4980-438d-bfe0-e67c682c0e82 Sat, 25 Jan 2025 03:08:16 +0000 no After the fires https://www.npr.org/2025/01/22/1226038390/la-fires-altadena-pacific-palisades-insurance-recovery-rebuild
Today, we meet a father and son from Altadena who are confronting those choices. We pass through the National Guard checkpoints and enter the burn zone, where we see for ourselves all the challenges waiting for residents who want to rebuild. And we talk with an insurance adjuster about how the industry tries to value people's homes — and all of their possessions — after they have been reduced to rubble.

For more on the California wildfires, check out our newsletter. We spoke with an economist who survived Oakland's wildfires in 1991 and has big ideas for how to rescue California from its insurance doom spiral.

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Neil Tevault with help from Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> dae6ddfa-0776-41e2-9146-6baa9a2edd7a Thu, 23 Jan 2025 03:43:30 +0000 no Tariffs, grocery prices and other listener questions https://www.npr.org/2025/01/17/1225172101/trump-inauguration-questions-grocery-oil-prices-tech-defund-npr
So, we thought we'd try to answer your questions — as best we can — about the economics of a second Trump term. Is now the time to shop for new tech? Can Trump actually bring down grocery and oil prices? And, does the president have the power to get rid of NPR?

This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Meg Cramer. It was engineered by Neil Tevault and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ecbc5155-e332-4030-905f-e07dae344f2f Fri, 17 Jan 2025 23:26:41 +0000 no The Land of the Duty Free (classic) https://www.npr.org/2025/01/15/1224776144/duty-free-airports 2018.)

Is it really cheaper to shop at an airport Duty Free store? And why are so many of them alike?

In the 1940s, if you were flying from New York City to London or Paris you would find yourself making a pit stop for fuel on the western coast of Ireland. The Shannon airport at the time wasn't much to look at, but the passengers arriving there were movie stars and celebrities, basically the super rich. And the people of Shannon realized pretty quickly that they needed to upgrade the local amenities for their wealthy clientele. They hired a man named Brendan O'Regan to make it happen. Being the quick-thinking entrepreneur that he was, O'Regan convinced the Irish government to create a tax loophole. And thus, duty free stores were born.

Today on the show, we follow the surprising origin of duty free, and try to answer the question: Are they really saving you any money?

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ab4a8656-dcff-4b20-b218-fa9b80496011 Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:00:59 +0000 no The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/1223918033/richard-nixon-arthur-burns-fed-independence Fedgate? The more subtle scandal with more monetary policy and, arguably, much higher stakes.

In today's episode, we listen back through the Nixon White House tapes to search for evidence of an alarming chapter in American economic history: When the President of the United States seemingly flouted the norms of Fed Independence in order to pressure the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board into decisions that were economically bad in the long run but good for Nixon's upcoming election.

The tale of Nixon and his Fed Chair, Arthur Burns, has become the cautionary tale about why Fed Independence matters. That choice may have started a decade of catastrophic inflation. And Burns' story is now being invoked as President-elect Trump has explicitly said he'd like more control over the Federal Reserve.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5d739b16-d562-4a5d-ba7e-c0756f051872 Sat, 11 Jan 2025 01:07:44 +0000 no ZIP Codes! https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/1223466587/zip-code-history
On today's show, we turn our attention towards the humble ZIP code. Why was it born? How has it changed the mail? How has it changed the broader world? And... has it gone too far?

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Meg Cramer, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6e167954-0bc2-4b31-b1ef-b1e016704a98 Wed, 08 Jan 2025 08:00:59 +0000 no The potato-shaped loophole in free trade https://www.npr.org/2025/01/03/1222640149/conpapa-mexican-potato-lobby-trade
Today on the show, we tell the trade saga of the American potato. For more than 25 years, there was a place that American potatoes could not go to freely. A place that the entire American potato industry was desperate to access. A vast, untapped market: Mexico.

But standing in their way – the Mexican potato lobby and a trade loophole.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1bf87714-62c5-4b8f-8cb5-95f5102b1bf7 Fri, 03 Jan 2025 23:59:44 +0000 no If AI is so good, why are there still so many jobs for translators? https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997573/ai-and-translator-jobs
This is one of Greg's Behind The Newsletter conversations where he shares his interviews with policy makers, business leaders, and economists who appear in The Planet Money Newsletter.

This episode was first released as a bonus episode for Planet Money+ listeners earlier this year. We're sharing it today for all listeners. To hear more episodes like this one and support NPR in the process, sign up for Planet Money+ at plus.npr.org. We'll have a fresh bonus episode out in two weeks!

You can sign up for the The Planet Money Newsletter and check out past editions here:
https://www.npr.org/planetmoneynewsletter

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6530c2fc-094f-4823-a33f-dbbe50e6fa91 Mon, 30 Dec 2024 11:13:20 +0000 no The Rest of the Story, 2024 https://www.npr.org/2024/12/27/1221795521/sports-tickets-save-student-loans-ibr-zombie-mortgages-argentina-milei returning to stories from years past to see what's changed since we last reported them. It's an episode we call The Rest of the Story.

We have updates on zombie mortgages, student loan forgiveness, Argentina's economy under its self-described anarcho-capitalist president, and the best place in the world to give birth to twins. Plus, a return to... returns.

So while you're looking for that holiday sweater in a better size, or waiting in line to trade in your Dutch oven for an air fryer, take a listen to all our latest little audio gifts. And see you in 2025!

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and edited by Keith Romer and Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ce734606-3a77-4897-86ef-37df2cadbf6d Fri, 27 Dec 2024 20:53:53 +0000 no The Indicators of this year and next https://www.npr.org/2024/12/25/1221512103/indicator-of-the-year-family-feud
We might have achieved the soft landing the Fed was hoping for, but we saw some wackiness in the relationship between unemployment and job vacancies. Meanwhile, Bitcoin went to the moon. We have covered all of that in this past year, but which of these economic stories really defined the year?

Fortunately, we don't have to decide. You all do.

On today's show, a collaboration with our daily podcast The Indicator, we have Indicator Family Feud! Two Planet Money hosts enter, one Indicator host... also enters. And all three leave, having had a great time with lively discussion and light ribbing. Plus, some mild scheduling issues. But, we can't stress enough that no hosts were harmed in the making of this podcast.

Then, we look ahead to 2025 to see what indicators we think will define the coming year – the future and the past, on our latest episode!

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> d050497b-def5-4251-95b4-0e62b48a2dfa Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:00:59 +0000 no The habitat banker https://www.npr.org/2024/12/20/1220579265/biodiversity-credit-spectacled-bear-colombia
So, when Mauricio Serna was in college, he realized his family's plot of land in Colombia, called El Globo, presented a unique opportunity. Sure, it had historically been a cattle ranch. But if he could get the money to turn it back into cloud forest, perhaps it could once again be a habitat for the animals who used to live there — animals like the yellow-eared parrot, the tree ocelot, and the spectacled bear (of Paddington fame).

On today's show, Mauricio's quest to make a market for a new-ish financial instrument: the biodiversity credit. We peek under the hood to try to figure out how these credits actually work. Is the hype around them a bunch of hot air? Or could they be a critical tool for saving thousands of species around the world?

Today's episode was hosted by Stan Alcorn and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was co-reported by Tomás Uprimny. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a5f5d0df-f664-4629-a295-80ae6f966599 Fri, 20 Dec 2024 23:17:50 +0000 no How sports gambling blew up https://www.npr.org/2024/12/18/1219982253/michael-lewis-against-the-rules-draft-kings-fanduel-sportsbook
On today's episode, we have a story from Michael Lewis' new season of his podcast Against The Rules. We hear from a bookie who was able to beat the odds using statistical analysis, and the other bookie who managed to beat those odds, using an even more subtle science: behavioral analysis. Plus, how it's harder than ever to win against the house, and why those offers of free bets in TV ads are maybe not such a good idea.

This episode was hosted by Michael Lewis and Mary Childs. Our version of the podcast was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Martina Castro. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3e0f5207-1e95-4a47-a94c-cb647c612fb6 Wed, 18 Dec 2024 08:00:59 +0000 no A Nobel prize for explaining why there's global inequality https://www.npr.org/2024/12/13/1219032786/nobel-prize-economics-acemoglu-robinson-johnson
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, three economists formed a partnership that would revolutionize how economists think about global inequality. Their work centered on a powerful — and almost radically obvious — idea: that the economic fate of nations is determined by how societies organize themselves. In other words, the economists shined a spotlight on the power of institutions, the systems, rules, and structures that shape society.

We spoke with two of the Nobel-winning economists about their research on why some countries are rich and others are poor, why it took so long for economics to recognize the power of institutions, and what the heck those even are.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Martina Castro and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Gilly Moon with help from James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2251fa26-80ea-47b5-bc77-6788ddafecad Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:06:03 +0000 no Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (update) https://www.npr.org/2024/12/11/1218506684/worst-tariffs-ever-update
Today on the show, we tell the nearly 100-year-old story of Smoot and Hawley, that explains why Congress decided to delegate tariff power to the executive branch in the first place. It's a story that weaves in wool, humble buckwheat, tiny little goldfish, and even Ferris Bueller... Anyone? Anyone?

It's also what set the stage for the Trump tariffs.

President-elect Donald Trump enacted a heap of import taxes in his first term, in particular on goods from China. President Biden's administration largely kept those tariffs in place, and levied new tariffs as well, on electric vehicles and solar panels.

And now, as Trump's second presidency is on the horizon, he has promised even more tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China, and even on all imports across the board.

And now, as Trump's second presidency is on the horizon, he has promised even more tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China, and even on all imports across the board.

We update this classic episode about the Smoot Hawley Tariffs, and review the impact of more recent efforts from Trump and Biden alike.

Help support Planet Money by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. You get bonus episodes!

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1350ed69-8e23-44ca-a81b-c0e9fbdb6734 Wed, 11 Dec 2024 08:00:59 +0000 no There Will Be Flood https://www.npr.org/2024/12/06/1217547175/windell-curall-laforche-louisiana-levee-hurricane-flood
But after Hurricane Katrina called into question the integrity of those levees, Windell decided to take a gamble that put him at odds with his partners in the Army Corps. He decided that the best thing he could do to protect his community was to go rogue and build his levees as tall as possible as quickly as possible, without federal permission.

On today's show, what the story of Windell's levee can teach us about how the federal government calculates and manages the risk of natural disasters, and how those calculations can look a lot different to the people staring straight into the eye of the storm.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Mary Childs. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentine Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 07a1a0e8-b6ba-4b73-be66-55ac3777f57e Fri, 06 Dec 2024 22:41:16 +0000 no George Soros vs. the Bank of England https://www.npr.org/2024/12/04/1216966368/george-soros-british-pound-bessent-johnson-druckenmiller
In 1992, Soros' fund set its sights on the British pound, betting that some time in the fall of that year, the pound would plummet in value. Opposing them in this trade was the Bank of England, which was determined to keep its currency stable. The financial battle that followed was intense and proved to be a watershed moment in the balance of power between markets and governments.

On today's show, we speak to Robert Johnson, a former managing director at Soros' fund, for a blow-by-blow account of those fateful days in 1992.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Alex Goldmark. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Martina Castro. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0775281e-7c01-4905-adf9-7ef48b018004 Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:00:55 +0000 no How useful, really, are the steps you can take after a data breach? https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997568/data-breach-news-you-can-use show about the legal and illegal markets for data and tells us how useful these steps actually are. It's news you can use to protect yourself, whether or not you've been part of a data breach!

This normally would be a bonus episode just for Planet Money+ listeners. With this being the season of giving, we're sharing this one with everyone! To hear more bonus content like this, regular episodes sponsor-free, and support the work of NPR, sign up for Planet Money+ at plus.npr.org.

Related links:
Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business (FTC)
Have you been affected by a data breach? (FTC)
Your Technology Is Tracking You. Take These Steps For Better Online Privacy (Life Kit)
What happens after you get scammed? Can you get your money back? (Planet Money)
Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons (cybersecurity and privacy podcast)
DeleteMe (personal data removal service)
Experian (credit bureau)
TransUnion (credit bureau)
Equifax (credit bureau)

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 49c4ab27-7731-4d73-b3b7-b10f0a82d0e9 Mon, 02 Dec 2024 22:57:51 +0000 no Why you bought your couch https://www.npr.org/2024/11/27/1215355314/high-point-north-carolina-furniture-market
Today on the show: The city that makes or breaks the furniture world. We travel to High Point, North Carolina and meet the people who make the bets – on whether or not you'll want that comfy blue couch.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 34e25f41-be9e-4299-a089-9a45a9a1952c Wed, 27 Nov 2024 08:00:59 +0000 no Title Pirates https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/1214662577/title-pirate-insurance-kenigsberg-leto-fairfield
But $800,000 into the construction process, Gina got a troubling call from her lawyer. There was something wrong. At first, Gina thought the house had burned down. It turned out that the situation was... maybe worse.

On today's show: Buying land seems pretty secure, right? There's so much paperwork and verification along the way. But a messy system of how titles are sold, transferred and documented makes a perfect entry point for a new kind of criminal: Title Pirates.

Today's episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Liza Yeager. Fact-checking by Sarah McClure. Engineering by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 10963a00-5015-42cf-abcf-6c268c9bc0e6 Sat, 23 Nov 2024 00:14:58 +0000 no The long view of economics and immigration (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2024/11/20/1214145114/immigration-mass-deportation-chinese-exclusion-act-investment-innovation
We don't have to guess.

Today we have two stories from Planet Money's daily podcast, The Indicator. First, the story from another time the US cracked down on immigration with the expressed intent of helping the economy. We look at how that worked out. And then we distill 20 years of research on immigrants and economic growth. What does immigration do for an economy? What types of immigration help? And who benefits?

Our most recent newsletter goes into more depth on some of this. Part one of two here. Subscribe to our newsletter here.

This episode is hosted by Adrian Ma, Darian Woods, and Wailin Wong. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Cooper Katz McKim and Julia Ritchey, and engineered by Kwesi Lee and Maggie Luthar. They were fact-checked by Angel Carreras and Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator's Editor.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7ec7a113-9c0c-464f-b00d-24b848eae6aa Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:54:58 +0000 no The great German land lottery https://www.npr.org/2024/11/15/1213159022/osingverlosung-german-land-lottery Osingverlosung, a ritual dating back centuries. Osing refers to the area. And verlosung means "lottery," as in a land lottery. All of the land in this communal land is randomly reassigned to farmers who commit to farming it for the next decade.

Hundreds of years ago, a community in Germany came up with their own, unique solution for how to best allocate scarce resources. For this community, the lottery is a way to try and make the system of land allotment more fair and avoid conflict.

Today on the show, we go to the lottery and follow along as every farmer has a shot at getting the perfect piece of land — or the absolute worst piece of land! And we see what we can learn from this living, medieval tradition that tries to balance fairness and efficiency.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Emma Peaslee. It was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Reporting help from Sofia Shchukina. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 90fa5ae5-8b29-42bc-b8b0-e46175cad09c Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:15:57 +0000 no The strange way the world's fastest microchips are made https://www.npr.org/2024/11/13/1212604208/asml-euv-extreme-ultraviolet-lithography-microchips
For years, few thought this technology was even possible. It still sounds like science fiction: A laser strong enough to blast holes in a bank vault hits a droplet of molten tin. The droplet explodes into a burst of extreme ultraviolet light. That precious light is funneled onto a wafer of silicon, where it etches circuits as fine as a strand of DNA. Only one company in the world that can make these advanced microchip etching machines: a Dutch firm called ASML.

Today on the show, how this breakthrough in advanced chipmaking happened — and how it almost didn't. How the long-shot idea was incubated in U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and nurtured by U.S. tech giants. And, why a Dutch company now controls it.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Sally Helm. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Dania Suleman, and engineered by Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 557b8079-f76c-43b2-8d01-29752cbc4b3b Wed, 13 Nov 2024 08:00:32 +0000 no What markets bet President Trump will do https://www.npr.org/2024/11/08/1211596812/trump-election-win-wall-street-bond-stocks-tariffs
On today's show, we decode what Wall Street thinks about the next Trump presidency — what it means for different parts of the economy, and what it means for everyone. Does the wisdom of the market think President Trump will actually impose new tariffs and lift regulations? What about taxes and spending? And will inflation ultimately go up or down?

What markets bet President Trump will do. That's today's episode.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Sally Helm, Erika Beras, and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Martina Castro and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1663addd-b2a9-4e4a-8983-4dbfbd914db7 Sat, 09 Nov 2024 02:17:29 +0000 no Moving to the American dream? (update) https://www.npr.org/2024/11/06/1211596763/moving-to-opportunity-update
The answer to that seems obvious. But it did not at all turn out as they expected.

Years later, when new researchers went back to the data on this experiment, they stumbled on something big. Something that is changing housing policy across the country today.

Today's episode was originally hosted by Karen Duffin, produced by Aviva DeKornfeld, and edited by Bryant Urstadt. The update was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sean Saldana and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Our supervising executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b185a93b-303e-4f2b-9acf-ef13edd8f6b2 Wed, 06 Nov 2024 21:58:20 +0000 no The veteran loan calamity https://www.npr.org/2024/11/01/1211483989/veteran-affair-home-program-covid
That's what happened for most American homeowners who took forbearance. But not for tens of thousands of military veterans like Ray Queen.

On today's show, we follow two reporters' journey to figure out what went wrong with the VA's loan forbearance program. How did something meant to help vets keep their houses during COVID end up stranding tens of thousands of them on the brink of foreclosure? And, once the error was spotted, did the government do enough to make things right?

Today's episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Meg Cramer. And fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3dafb874-f1c3-4ade-8b42-3c176bcaff80 Fri, 01 Nov 2024 21:46:18 +0000 no So your data was stolen in a data breach https://www.npr.org/2024/10/30/1211165444/ticketmaster-snowflake-data-breach-hack
On today's show, we try to figure out where that stolen data ended up, how worried we should be about it, and what we're supposed to do when bad actors take our personal and private information. And: How our information is being bought, sold, and stolen.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Meg Cramer. It was engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin with an assist from Kwesi Lee, and fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 30c89fb5-b38d-4878-b8d0-4e9426c8d78e Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:13:08 +0000 no Why do hospitals keep running out of generic drugs? https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/1210942193/generic-drug-shortages
So what's going on? The answer, as with anything in healthcare, is complicated.

On today's show: why hospitals keep running out of generic drugs. The story behind these shortages tells us a lot about how these drugs are made, bought and sold–and, it shows us how these markets can falter without the proper care.

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin, with help from James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Martina Castro. Fact-checking by Dania Suleman. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 44b85b76-84bc-48bf-b19c-e5c183798953 Fri, 25 Oct 2024 22:51:02 +0000 no Romance on the screen and on the page: Two Indicators https://www.npr.org/2024/10/23/1210942150/indicator-love-week-rom-com-romance-novels The Indicator, Planet Money's daily podcast. They just launched Love Week, a weeklong series exploring the business and economic side of romance.

First, hosts Wailin Wong and Adrian Ma fire up the gas logs and pour a mug of cocoa to discuss the made-for-TV rom-com machine, and how television executives learned to mass produce seasonal romance.

Then, Wailin and host Darian Woods discuss another romance medium: the romance novel. Once relegated to supermarket aisles, these books are now mainstream. And authors, an often-maligned group within publishing, have found greater commercial success than many writers in other genres. We find out how romance novelists rode the e-book wave and networked with each other to achieve their happily-for-now status in the industry.

This episode is hosted by Erika Beras, Wailin Wong, Adrian Ma, and Darian Woods. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Julia Ritchey and engineered by Kwesi Lee. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator's Editor.

You can listen to the rest of the series at The Indicator's feed, or at npr.org/love

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> e8a25b66-d946-4c0e-8a6a-8090127d3184 Wed, 23 Oct 2024 21:24:24 +0000 no The Subscription Trap https://www.npr.org/2024/10/18/1210938543/subscription-economy-dark-patterns-negative-option-billing-click-to-cancel
On today's show, we discover how we all fell into this subscription trap – who is winning and who is losing in this brave new subscription based world – and what both the government and the free market are doing to try and fix it.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 192eb4c8-f69a-4cdd-a5f8-50a1ccf23c39 Fri, 18 Oct 2024 22:55:27 +0000 no We asked 188 economists. And the survey says... https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/1210938354/pegging-price-discrimination-soft-landing-moral-hazard The Indicator!)

Let's face it. Economics is filled with terms that don't always make sense to the average person. Terms that sometimes mean what you think they mean, but sometimes not at all. Not even close.

We surveyed 188 economists. And we asked them: What are the most misunderstood terms in the field of economics?

On today's show, their answers! Hear stories about near recessions, a problem with insurance, econ at your local movie theater, and... an economics term that will make undergrads blush. Strap in, and bring your popcorn!

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3acf4fdf-6505-4d61-841c-7a579f3e6d1c Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:40:02 +0000 yes So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's?? https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/1210938268/dock-longshoreman-strike-banana-wilmington-import-genius-bobs-discount-furniture
Like - why is a discount furniture store the fourth largest importer on the East Coast? How come so many bananas come through Wilmington, Delaware? Why do we need live frogs delivered into the US six times a month? And... how do we even keep track of all of these imports? On today's episode, we get into #PortFacts!

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Audrey Quinn, and fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Engineering by Cena Loffredo and Kwesi Lee with an assist from Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> bde67a3e-fbdb-4cf9-9fb9-d88465f17eea Fri, 11 Oct 2024 23:12:48 +0000 no Can cap and trade work in the US? https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/1210935827/washington-carbon-tax-credit-cap-and-trade-2117 cap on the total amount of carbon pollution it is willing to allow each year, and then gives away or auctions off carbon emission permits that add up to that total. Companies can then trade those permits on the open market.

Economists love cap and trade plans because they establish a limit on carbon emissions while letting the market find the most efficient way for decarbonization to occur. But cap and trade has had a hard time catching on, especially in the U.S.

The stakes are high for Washington's new plan. If it succeeds, it could convince other states to implement their own versions, but if it fails, it might serve as a cautionary tale. On today's show, we take a look at how Washington's grand experiment with cap and trade is faring.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Emily Siner. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 921cc49d-e262-4ce9-bbad-f111ba7e006f Wed, 09 Oct 2024 22:55:41 +0000 no What's up with all the ads for law firms? https://www.npr.org/2024/10/04/1203595460/lawyers-ads-law-groups-commercials-banned dirt bike stunts to running around half naked. All so when you land in trouble, you don't have to think hard to remember their name. Odds are you can name one or two right now.

This world of law ads did not exist fifty years ago. Then, lawyers were not allowed to advertise. Not by law, by the exclusive organization that decides who gets to be a lawyer: state bars.

On today's episode, how that changed. How a couple of lawyers placing an ad in a local newspaper led to the inescapable world of law firm ads we know today. And, how the right to advertise got put on the same level as some of the most important, fundamental rights we have.

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7423bdfd-942d-4284-bede-b151a3ef0e7a Fri, 04 Oct 2024 21:25:06 +0000 no How Venezuela imploded (update) https://www.npr.org/2024/10/02/1202966830/venezuela-hyperinflation-maduro-gonzalez 2016.)

Back in 2016, things were pretty bad in Venezuela. Grocery stores didn't have enough food. Hospitals didn't have basic supplies, like gauze. Child mortality was spiking. Businesses were shuttering. It's one of the epic economic collapses of our time. And it was totally avoidable.

Venezuela used to be a relatively rich country. It has just about all the economic advantages a country could ask for: Beautiful beaches and mountains ready for tourism, fertile land good for farming, an educated population, and oil, lots and lots of oil.

But during the boom years, the Venezuelan government made some choices that add up to an economic time bomb.

Today on the show, we have an economic horror story about a country that made all the wrong decisions with its oil money. It's a window into the fundamental way that money works and how when you try to control it, you can lose everything.

Then, an update on Venezuela today. How it went from a downward spiral, to a tentative economic stabilization... amidst political upheaval.

This original episode is hosted by Robert Smith and Noel King. It was produced by Nick Fountain and Sally Helm. Today's update was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sean Saldana, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Neal Rauch. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 86e068a8-345a-4fbc-9516-1f2980800c2a Wed, 02 Oct 2024 22:31:26 +0000 no What's THAT got to do with economics? https://www.npr.org/2024/09/27/1202000768/polyamory-dark-matter-hieronymus-bosch
That is the bold promise in Planet Money's tagline. And we believe the show does live up to it. Over the last year, we've told stories about breakdancing, rum, pagers, buffets, colors, and heartbreak.

But then one host wondered: what if we really held ourselves to that promise? What if we challenged ourselves to find economic meaning in the most esoteric and far-flung topics imaginable?

That's when we turned to you, our listeners. And boy did you deliver. You sent in ideas so obscure, so banananas, so guaranteed to stump and bamboozle that our host maybe started to regret her life choices...but she was resolved to give it a try.

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Keith Romer. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Molly Messick and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7f758d50-33cf-403a-8cfa-246b6872ff38 Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:34:37 +0000 no Veep-onomics https://www.npr.org/2024/09/25/1201498982/vice-president-debate-candidates-economic-policies-jd-vance-tim-walz
Planet Money's newsletter author Greg Rosalsky has spent some time combing through the economic records of Vance and Walz, and has some knowledge to share. Why does Walz support universal free school lunches, and why do some criticize him for it? Why have some called Vance a "Khan-servative?" And, how much do these candidates represent a break from the past?

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by James Sneed and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Meg Cramer. Sierra Juarez fact-checked it, and it was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's Executive Producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c97c99ff-07ed-46ac-8078-1af49c2d34ef Wed, 25 Sep 2024 21:43:03 +0000 no How to save 10,000 fingers https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/1200551215/sawstop-steve-gass-patent-cost
In 1999, inventor Steve Gass had a realization: Humans conduct electricity pretty well; Wood does not. Could he develop a saw that could tell the difference between the two?

Steve invented a saw that can detect a finger and stop the blade in milliseconds. Then, he tried to license it to the big tool companies. He thought it was a slam dunk proposition: It would dramatically reduce the injuries, and the cost of medical treatments and lost wages associated with them.

On today's episode: What does it take to make table saws safer? When someone gets hurt by a power tool, there are tons of costs, tons of externalities. We all bear the cost of the injury, in some way. So, it can be in society's best interest to minimize those costs. We follow Steve's quest to save thousands of fingers. It brought him face-to-face with roomfuls of power tool company defense attorneys, made him the anti-hero of the woodworking world, and cost the lives of many, many hot dogs.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b8d2c0c9-da9e-43c1-9f5a-f1c9c47450ef Fri, 20 Sep 2024 20:12:40 +0000 no Can money buy happiness? https://www.npr.org/2024/09/18/1200121013/money-happiness-kahneman-killingsworth
This was a famous study by two famous academics. The result stood for over a decade. And it feels good, right? Maybe the rich aren't so much happier than anyone else. But researchers have recently done a complete 180 on this idea. In 2021, psychologist Matt Killingsworth found nearly the opposite: That more money does correlate with more happiness. And that the relationship continues well beyond $75,000 per year.

Today on the show: Does more money mean fewer problems? Two researchers with totally different takes come together to hammer out a better understanding of the relationship between money and happiness.

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Sean Saldana, Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Meg Cramer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 70e953bb-795d-4c09-bba8-861817c80c33 Wed, 18 Sep 2024 19:33:58 +0000 no 99 Percent Invisible: The White Castle System of Eating Houses https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997536/99pi-white-castle-system-eating-houses 99 Percent Invisible.

It is about White Castle, the burger chain. Even if you haven't visited, you have tasted its influence because, as we will learn in this episode, White Castle is really the proto-burger chain.

Our friends at the excellent podcast 99 Percent Invisible bring us the origin story of White Castle and trace its influence on the business of fast food, and on American eating habits. The story is about one man who had an idea for a world where you could get a slider anywhere in the country and get the same tasty, onion-y quality each time. Think of this as a forebear of the modern global economy of sameness.

This episode is hosted by Roman Mars and reported by Mackenzie Martin. It was produced by Jeyca Maldonado-Medina, and edited by Joe Rosenberg. Mix and sound design by Martín Gonzalez. Music by Swan Real with additional music by Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and John Neufeld. Fact-checking by Graham Hacia. Kathy Tu is 99 Percent Invisible's executive producer. Kurt Kohlstedt is their digital director, and Delaney Hall is their senior editor.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2eb6e382-7be6-41a4-9ab3-3cebbf0e54e4 Mon, 16 Sep 2024 07:00:00 +0000 no Rate Expectations https://www.npr.org/2024/09/13/1199208521/fomc-mortgage-rates-interest-fed-jerome-powell very expensive. That's especially a problem for some homeowners who managed to get a lower mortgage rate years ago. They have a sort of... champagne problem. Or, "golden handcuffs" as it's called.

These homeowners may find they are "locked in" to their current home. In order to move to a new home, they have to take out a new mortgage at a much higher rate. It is one of the many problems plaguing the housing market right now.

The Fed is expected to start cutting rates next week. Will the golden handcuff mess finally start to unlock? And what does it mean for people looking to buy their first home?

On today's episode: We go deep into the golden handcuff problem and why it matters for everyone (including non-homeowners). We have FOMO about a big economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And we contemplate how to pronounce one of the most important interest rates in the economy: The IORB.

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1a8ed7db-ca9b-4d05-ab71-30ae96711dc2 Fri, 13 Sep 2024 21:59:33 +0000 no Is AI overrated or underrated? https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/1198748511/is-ai-overrated-or-underrated
Can artificial intelligence make humans more productive, unlock hidden potential and remake work as we know it? Or, should it not even be called intelligence at all, artificial or otherwise.

On today's episode, we take sides. Two reporters flip a coin to see who argues which point: is AI overrated or underrated? They bring research, real world examples, expert opinions and warm blooded human insight. You decide who makes the best case.

If you're interested in learning more, check out Greg's article 10 reasons why AI is overrated. It includes all sorts of reporting we couldn't fit into the episode. And while you're there, subscribe to the Planet Money newsletter.

Today's episode was hosted by Darian Woods and Greg Rosalsky. These episodes of the Indicator were originally produced by Corey Bridges and they were edited by Paddy Hirsch. They were engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and Neal Rauch and they were fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannan is the Indicator's editor.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2a26fb50-826c-4808-8a34-ea4516f3c5fd Wed, 11 Sep 2024 21:10:49 +0000 no Summer camp capitalism https://www.npr.org/2024/09/06/1197961641/ja-biztown-children-economy-junior-achievement
That's part of the idea behind a summer camp at JA BizTown, in Portland, Oregon. Kids at the camp run tiny fake businesses in a tiny fake town. There are retail stores and restaurants, insurance companies and power utilities. As camp begins, a gaggle of child CEOs take out business loans from their peers in the tiny fake banking industry – and they spend the day racing to run their businesses profitably enough to get out of debt before pickup time.

On today's show, Planet Money takes a romp through capitalism summer camp. Will the children of BizTown be able to make ends meet and pay back their loans to the banks? Or will a string of defaults send this dollhouse economy into financial collapse? It's Shark Tank meets Lord of the Flies.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Sally Helm. It was produced by James Sneed, and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Gilly Moon. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8114f941-0687-4d1b-b262-9baeb861a96e Fri, 06 Sep 2024 23:47:01 +0000 no Bingo! (Presidential debate edition) https://www.npr.org/2024/09/04/1197961567/debate-bingo-trump-harris-2024
In this episode, we try to make the mess of words that accompany a presidential campaign into something a little less exhausting: A game of bingo.

Follow along as we dig into five terms that we expect to hear in the upcoming presidential debate, along with some others we hope to hear.

You can play along, too, at npr.org/bingo. Play online or print cards to play with friends on debate night!

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> dccd583f-5c06-402f-a65f-425c7b424db4 Wed, 04 Sep 2024 22:39:50 +0000 no How to fix a housing shortage https://www.npr.org/2024/08/30/1197961522/minneapolis-minnesota-housing-2040-tim-walz
His vision was well-timed because, in 2019, Minneapolis's city council passed one of the most ambitious housing plans in the nation. One aim of that plan was to alleviate the city's housing shortage by encouraging developers like Cody to build, build, build.

But when Cody tried to build, he ran into problems. The kinds of problems that arise all over the country when cities confront a short supply of housing, and try to build their way out.

Today on the show, NIMBYism, YIMBYism and why it's so hard to fix the housing shortage. Told through the story of two apartment buildings in Minneapolis.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and Sofia Shchukina, and edited by Molly Messick. It was engineered by James Willets and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b8c54b8f-81e1-4ae7-8107-07cf8a973062 Fri, 30 Aug 2024 21:12:50 +0000 no Summer School 8: Big ideas and life lessons from Marx, Keynes and Smith and more https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/1197961511/summer-school-graduation-history Take the 2024 Planet Money Summer School Quiz here to earn your personalized diploma!

Find all the episodes from this season of Summer School here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

We are assembled here on the lawn of Planet Money University for the greatest graduation in history – because it features the greatest economic minds in history. We'll hear from Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and some surprising guests as they teach us a little bit more economics, and offer a lot of life advice.

But first, we have to wrap up our (somewhat) complete economic history of the world. We'll catch up on the last fifty years or so of human achievement and ask ourselves, has economics made life better for us all?

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b07e1d4a-9ebb-4fc4-8e23-05ddff01cf22 Wed, 28 Aug 2024 21:27:43 +0000 no The trade fraud detective https://www.npr.org/2024/08/23/1197961495/the-trade-fraud-detective
Then, in 2018, the Trump administration threw companies like Rashid's a lifeline, by announcing tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including some autoparts. Rashid thought the tariffs would finally force Sunsong to raise its prices, but, somehow, the company never did.

It was a mystery. And it led Rashid to take on a new role – amateur trade fraud investigator. How could his competitor, Sunsong, absorb that 25% tax without changing its prices? And why had all of Sunsong's steering hoses stopped coming from China and started coming from Thailand?

On today's episode, the wide gulf between how tariffs work in theory... and how they actually work in practice. And David Rashid's quest to figure out what, if anything, he could do about it. It's a quest that will involve international detectives, forensic chemists, and a friendship founded on a shared love for hummus.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a1b170cb-1248-4c98-9c1b-1779a03b62ec Fri, 23 Aug 2024 21:26:50 +0000 no Summer School 7: The Great Depression, the New Deal and how it changed our economy https://www.npr.org/2024/08/21/1197961446/great-depression-new-deal all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

When we last left the United States of America in our economic telling of history, it was the early 1900s and the country's leaders were starting to feel like they had the economic situation all figured out. Flash forward a decade or so, and the financial picture was still looking pretty good as America emerged from the first World War.

But then, everything came crashing down with the stock market collapse of 1929. Businesses closed, banks collapsed, one in four people was unemployed, families couldn't make rent, the economy was broken. And this was happening all over the world. Today we'll look at how leaders around the globe intervened to turn the international economy around, and in the process, how the Great Depression rapidly transformed the relationship between government and business forever.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6b44c7e9-4044-4c32-9eb6-e25c3f3a6fb7 Wed, 21 Aug 2024 21:44:22 +0000 no The hidden world behind your new "banking" app https://www.npr.org/2024/08/16/1197961372/fintech-banking-as-a-service-yotta-synapse-evolve
These "bank-like" companies are a type of "fintech" or financial technology company. And this is a story about the potential risks of putting your money into these apps.

Banks go through a whole regulatory gauntlet in order to exist. But, in the past several years, there has been a rise in fintechs that skirt regulations. And many of these pose a real threat to even the most savvy of depositors.

When a little known tech company filed for bankruptcy a few months ago, thousands of people couldn't access the millions of dollars they saved. On today's show, we meet some of the people affected and learn what the fintech industry reveals about banking regulation.

Today's show was hosted by Erika Beras and Sally Helm. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Sofia Shchukina with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Kevin Volkl. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez with help from James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4a02f9e1-8158-4534-9214-1f67212c5bad Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:08:26 +0000 no Summer School 6: China, Taiwan and how nations grow rich https://www.npr.org/2024/08/14/1197961332/east-asian-economic-transformation all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

In the middle of the twentieth century, China and its neighbors in East Asia were poor, mostly rural economies. China had been wrecked by a brutal civil war. Taiwan became the home of people fleeing from that conflict. Japan and Korea were rebuilding after their own wars. And then in the later half of the twentieth century, they started their comeback. The governments made some explicit choices that unleashed the power of individual incentives and free market forces and lifted millions of people out of poverty. We focus specifically on China and Taiwan during this time, when they showed a burst of economic progress rarely seen on this globe. Why then? Why there? Can other nations copy that? We'll try to find out.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 78763bb4-a3c5-4a5e-968a-59a45814e299 Wed, 14 Aug 2024 19:40:18 +0000 no Will the Olympics break breakdancing? https://www.npr.org/2024/08/09/1197961314/breakdancing-breaking-olympic-sport-scoring
That was the challenge for Storm and Renegade, two legendary b-boys who set out to create a fair and objective scoring system for a dance they say is more of an art than a sport. Over the years, their journey to define the soul of breaking led them to meetings with Olympics bigwigs, debates over the science of dopeness, and a battle with a question many sports — from figure skating to gymnastics — have tried to answer: Can art and sport coexist?

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jenny Lawton. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez with help from James Willets and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4a2c1e55-4969-4924-b937-b271cdaad1e7 Fri, 09 Aug 2024 22:36:23 +0000 yes Summer School 5: 250 years of trade history in three chapters https://www.npr.org/2024/08/07/1197961299/costs-and-benefits-of-free-trade all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

Trade has come up in all of the episodes of Summer School so far. An early use of money was to make trade easier. Trade was responsible for the birth of companies and the stock market. And trade was the lifeblood of the early United States.

Today's episode covers 250 years of trade history in three chapters. We start with one of the founding texts of economics, Wealth of Nations, in which Adam Smith argues a country's true value is not measured in gold and silver, but by its people's ability to buy things that enhance their standard of living. Then we'll watch American politicians completely ignore that argument in favor of protecting domestic industries – until one congressman makes a passionate case for free trade as the means to world peace. And finally we'll follow the trade debate up to the modern day, where the tides of American politics have turned toward regulation.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Subscribe to Planet Money+ for sponsor-free episode listening in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> fe87927c-1ada-4329-85b4-4c5f48251bc9 Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:47:46 +0000 no What to do when you're in a class action https://www.npr.org/2024/08/02/1197961271/what-to-do-class-action-settlement-notice-lawsuit
Class action settlements are on the rise. And, on today's show, we're helping decipher the class action from the perspective of the average class member. How do class actions work? Why are these notices sometimes undecipherable? And, what do you stand to gain (or lose) by responding?

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2387e177-346c-4dee-806b-025e31e7ce90 Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:02:41 +0000 no Summer School 4: Banker vs president and the birth of the dollar https://www.npr.org/2024/07/31/1197961172/invention-of-the-dollar-bill all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

Planet Money Summer School has arrived at the birth of the United States and the chance to set up a whole new economy from scratch. Should there be a centralized bank? Should there be a single currency? We'll travel to two moments in the country's early history when the founders said "nope" to these questions and see what happened.

First we'll witness one of the great economic battles in U.S. history – the president of the United States versus the president of the Bank of the United States – and see how the outcome ushered in an age of financial panics. Then we'll drop in on a time before the U.S. dollar existed as we know it, when you could buy things using one of about 8,000 forms of money circulating in the country. We watch as the Civil War leads to the first standard currency. Along the way, we'll learn why the cycle of economic booms and busts persists to today despite efforts to centralize America's economy throughout history.

This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Subscribe to Planet Money+ for sponsor-free episode listening in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> f6584b3b-ff79-461c-9552-f359131564d6 Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:54:39 +0000 no Summer School 3: The first stock and perpetual life https://www.npr.org/2024/07/24/1197961121/invention-of-companies-and-stocks all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School.

Once upon a time, every business was a small business. It was run by the owner, maybe the spouse and the kids. Maybe they borrowed money from friends and relatives, but there was only so big it could get. Then came what can only be described as the big bang of economics. Over the span of a few decades, people figured out a way for businesses to sell ownership shares – otherwise known as stocks – and let people trade those shares. There was suddenly money to buy machines and expand.

Today, we head to the Netherlands around the year 1600. First, we'll visit the bridge in Amsterdam where some of the first stock trading took place. Then we track down the Dutch water company that's the source of the oldest "living" bond. It's the origin of stocks and bonds and the stock market and it leads directly to many of the financial innovations that we still have today.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 30ea35d8-13b1-40dc-a6a2-54a26919a3ef Fri, 26 Jul 2024 22:00:38 +0000 no What Kamala Harris' economic agenda might look like https://www.npr.org/2024/07/26/1197961127/kamala-harris-president-election-biden-democrats
We expect to see the Harris campaign come out with some official policy proposals in the coming weeks and months. But for now, all we've got are clues, little breadcrumbs that she has dropped throughout her career that might lead us to a rough idea of what economic policies she might support.

Today on the show, we're going to visit three key moments from Harris' political career that might give us an idea of how her economic agenda might look. First, the 2019 presidential primary debates, where she laid out her own economic policies. Next, a vote in her Senate years that shows where she might fall on future trade agreements. And finally, a fight with some of the country's biggest banks from her very first year as Attorney General of California.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang with help from Meg Cramer, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Sofia Shchukina. Engineering by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2fd8ab7b-e3ad-4bce-b313-b1f69e4eea7d Wed, 24 Jul 2024 23:08:07 +0000 no The color monopoly https://www.npr.org/2024/07/19/1197961103/pantone-colors-lawrence-herbert-stuart-semple-standards
Pantone is known for their Color of the Year forecasts, but they actually make the bulk of their money from selling color reference guides. These guides are the standard for how designers pretty much anywhere talk about color.

On today's show, how did Pantone come to control the language of the rainbow? We look back at the history of Pantone, beginning with the man who made Pantone into the industry standard. And, we hear from Stuart, who tried to break the color monopoly.

Share your thoughts — What color should we choose to be Planet Money's color?

This episode was hosted by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Jeff Guo, and produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Debbie Daughtry with help from Carl Craft. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c2e438eb-80d7-44d3-ba80-db07c246a5bf Sat, 20 Jul 2024 00:04:55 +0000 no Summer School 2: The golden ages of labor and looms https://www.npr.org/2024/07/17/1197961085/history-of-labor-movements
We travel to Sicily, Italy in the year 1347, where the bubonic plague is about to strike. The horror known as the Black Death will remake European society in countless ways, but we'll focus on one silver lining: how economic conditions shifted for workers.

Then we head about 500 years into the future, to an English factory at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, where textile workers take up arms against the machines taking their jobs and show how rapidly labor supply and demand can change. This is the famed tale of the Luddites, now a byword for knee jerk anti-technology, but the true story has nuance and a desperate but rational violent rebellion.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 47145abd-3698-4718-a9a2-bddbe067d4e0 Wed, 17 Jul 2024 21:30:51 +0000 no Rooftop solar's dark side https://www.npr.org/2024/07/12/1197961036/rooftop-solar-panels-energy-bills-marketing
It turns out this sometimes crummy customer experience is no accident. It ties back to how big, national solar companies built their businesses in the first place. To entice people to install expensive solar panels, companies developed new financing models which cut upfront costs for customers. And they deployed lots and lots of salespeople to grow their businesses. But in the drive to get more households installing solar panels, consumer costs went up and the focus seemed to shift away from making sure those panels actually worked. All of this left some consumers feeling like they've been sold a lie.

On today's episode, we look into how the residential solar business model has turned some people sour on solar. And we'll try to figure out where the industry could go from here.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 27c16154-0758-434c-a56a-b0b52a5de1d0 Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:28:19 +0000 no Summer School 1: An Economic History of the World https://www.npr.org/2024/07/10/1197960937/where-did-money-come-from cheat sheet on the origins of money at the Planet Money TikTok.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c6bfcde4-1d1c-4b49-aa8e-998e7d4b25e7 Wed, 10 Jul 2024 21:24:31 +0000 no How flying got so bad (or did it?) https://www.npr.org/2024/07/05/1197960905/flying-airlines-deregulation-competition-unbundling
How did we get here? Most of the inconveniences we think about when we fly can be traced back to the period of time just after the federal government deregulated the airlines.

When commercial air travel took off in the 1940s, the government regulated how many national airlines were allowed to exist, where they were allowed to fly, and how much they could charge for tickets. But the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 swept all these restrictions aside – and stopped providing subsidies for the air carriers. Airlines had to compete on ticket prices. That competition led to a more bare-bones flying experience, but it also made air travel a lot more affordable.

In this episode, we trace the evolution of air travel over the past century to discover whether flying really is worse today — or if it's actually better than ever. We'll board a plane from the "golden age" of air travel, hear the history of one of the original budget airlines and meet feuding airline CEOs. Along the way, we'll see how economic forces have shaped the airline industry into what it is today, and what role we, as consumers, have played.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 331602d2-c4e7-4c3c-ac1a-8627d4a456ea Fri, 05 Jul 2024 21:57:45 +0000 no The two companies driving the modern economy https://www.npr.org/2024/07/03/1197960891/semiconductor-chips-nvidia-tsmc-companies
On today's episode, we're bringing you two stories from our daily show The Indicator, diving into the two most important semiconductor chip companies, which have transformed the industry over the past 40 years.

First, we trace NVIDIA's journey from making niche graphics cards for gaming to making the most advanced chips in the world — and briefly becoming the world's biggest company. Next, we see how the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's decision to manufacture chips for its competition instead of itself flipped the entire industry on its head, and moved the vast majority of the world's advanced chip production to Taiwan.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episode about NVIDIA by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 06e7105c-3aa6-4ded-a654-d010cc6b2d30 Wed, 03 Jul 2024 23:39:05 +0000 no Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages? https://www.npr.org/2024/06/28/1197959366/immigration-economics-mariel-boatlift
The debate within the field of economics often centers on Nobel-prize winner David Card's ground-breaking paper, "The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market." Today on the show: the fight over that paper, and what it tells us about the debate over immigration.

More Listening:
- When The Boats Arrive
- The Men on the Roof

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Annie Brown, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> be319646-2616-4ce5-ae31-d952baa647ef Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:14:20 +0000 no The Carriage Tax (Update) https://www.npr.org/2024/06/26/1197959352/carriage-tax-wealth-update-scotus 2019.)

In 1794, George Washington decided to raise money for the federal government by taxing the rich. He did it by putting a tax on horse-drawn carriages.

The carriage tax could be considered the first federal wealth tax of the United States. It led to a huge fight over the power to tax in the U.S. Constitution, a fight that continues today.

Listen back to our 2019 episode: "Could A Wealth Tax Work?"

Listen to The Indicator's 2023 episode: "Could SCOTUS outlaw wealth taxes?"

This episode was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Bryant Urstadt. It was originally produced by Nick Fountain and Liza Yeager, with help from Sarah Gonzalez. Today's update was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Molly Messick and our executive producer, Alex Goldmark.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> baa16029-7929-4504-962b-01857775014a Wed, 26 Jun 2024 23:03:09 +0000 no The Vapes of Wrath https://www.npr.org/2024/06/21/1197959345/the-vapes-of-wrath
Today's episode is a collaboration with the new podcast series "Backfired: the Vaping Wars." You can listen to the full series at audible.com/Backfired.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Leon Neyfakh. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang with help from Annie Brown. It was fact checked by Sofia Shchukina and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 20fff6f1-39fc-48eb-b5b1-db9c79177ace Fri, 21 Jun 2024 22:45:52 +0000 no Why is everyone talking about Musk's money? https://www.npr.org/2024/06/19/1197959325/elon-musk-tesla-pay-package-bonus-vote
But the latest Elon Musk headline-grabbing drama is less something out of sci-fi, and more something pulled from HBO's "Succession."

Elon Musk helped take Tesla from the brink of bankruptcy to one of the biggest companies in the world. And his compensation for that was an unprecedentedly large pay package that turned him into the richest person on Earth. But a judge made a decision about that pay package that set off a chain of events resulting in quite possibly the most expensive, highest stakes vote in publicly traded company history.

The ensuing battle over Musk's compensation is not just another wild Elon tale. It's a lesson in how to motivate the people running the biggest companies that – like it or not – are shaping our world. It's a classic economics problem with a very 2024 twist.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> fb9c96fe-8e2f-4de8-ae28-d9b83057f0e3 Wed, 19 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000 no What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved. https://www.npr.org/2024/06/14/1197959284/shrinkflation-price-pack-architecture
From Cookie Monster to President Biden, everybody is complaining about shrinkflation these days. But when we asked the packaging and pricing experts, they told us that shrinkflation is just one move in a much larger, much weirder 4-D chess game.

The name of that game is "price pack architecture." This is the idea that you shouldn't just sell your product in one or two sizes. You should sell your product in a whole range of different sizes, at a whole range of different price points. Over the past 15 years, price pack architecture has completely changed how products are marketed and sold in the United States.

Today, we are going on a shopping cart ride-along with one of those price pack architects. She's going to pull back the curtain and show us why some products are getting larger while others are getting smaller, and tell us about the adorable little soda can that started it all.

By the end of the episode, you'll never look at a grocery store the same way again.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5bd8b56d-d58c-43ac-aaef-38a535c9f07e Fri, 14 Jun 2024 23:46:40 +0000 no Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight https://www.npr.org/2024/06/12/1197959267/graphite-batteries-tariffs-china
Almost all of the battery-ready graphite in the world comes from one place: China. That's actually true of lots of the materials that go into batteries, like processed lithium and processed cobalt. Which is why it was such a big deal when, earlier this year, President Biden announced a tariff package that will make a bunch of Chinese imports more expensive. Included in this package are some tariffs on Chinese graphite. He wants to create a new battery future—one that doesn't rely so much on China.

In this episode, we get down on the ground to look at this big supply chain story through the lens of one critical mineral. And we visit a small town that realizes that it might be the perfect place to create an American graphite industry. And we find that declaring a new battery future is one thing, but making it happen is another thing entirely.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ff5c6c6a-e896-4594-8ac8-61d7121f2827 Wed, 12 Jun 2024 22:54:56 +0000 no How much national debt is too much? https://www.npr.org/2024/06/07/1197959252/debt-gdp-ratio-growth-united-states
Back in 2010, two economists took a look at 20 countries over the course of decades, and sometimes centuries, and came back with a number. Their analysis suggested that economic growth slowed significantly once national debt passed 90% of annual GDP... and that is when the fight over debt and growth really took off.

On today's episode: a deep dive on what we know, and what we don't know, about when exactly national debt becomes a problem. We will also try to figure out how worried we should be about the United States' current debt total of 26 trillion dollars.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez with help from Sofia Shchukina and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> bb33833b-6bac-469d-95ea-57bcf3afa706 Fri, 07 Jun 2024 23:41:08 +0000 no The history of light (classic) https://www.npr.org/2024/06/05/1197959235/history-of-light-classic
The history of light explains why the world today is the way it is. It explains why we aren't all subsistence farmers, and why we can afford to have artists and massage therapists and plumbers. (And, yes, people who make podcasts about the history of light.) The history of light is the history of economic growth--of things getting faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

On today's show: How we got from dim little candles made out of cow fat, to as much light as we want at the flick of a switch.

Today's show was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum. It was originally produced by Caitlin Kenney and Damiano Marchetti. Today's rerun was produced by James Sneed, and edited by Jenny Lawton. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6d458911-635a-4143-b10c-37c3d66ab758 Wed, 05 Jun 2024 21:11:53 +0000 no How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells https://www.npr.org/2024/05/31/1197959218/fbi-phone-company-anom
But in 2018, in a story that seems like it's straight out of a spy novel, the FBI was approached with an offer: Would they like to get into the encrypted cell phone business? What if they could convince criminals to use their phones to plan and document their crimes — all while the FBI was secretly watching? It could be an unprecedented peek into the criminal underground.

To pull off this massive sting operation, the FBI needed to design a cell phone that criminals wanted to use and adopt. Their mission: to make a tech platform for the criminal underworld. And in many ways, the FBI's journey was filled with all the hallmarks of many Silicon Valley start-ups.

On this show, we talk with journalist Joseph Cox, who wrote a new book about the FBI's cell phone business, called Dark Wire. And we hear from the federal prosecutor who became an unlikely tech company founder.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1fdccb3e-6d3c-4e8a-9704-e2d01aae2886 Fri, 31 May 2024 23:03:59 +0000 no So you've been scammed, now what? https://www.npr.org/2024/05/29/1197959145/social-engineering-scam-phantom-hacker-fbi after the scam?

On today's show, we follow one woman who was scammed out of over $800,000 on her quest to get her money back. That journey takes her from the halls of the FBI to the fraud departments of some of the country's biggest financial institutions. And it offers a window into how the systems that are theoretically designed to help the victims of financial cybercrime actually work in practice.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Neal Rauch and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2d45a78c-f8d1-4082-8701-f3eca23c944e Wed, 29 May 2024 23:13:18 +0000 no The junkyard economist https://www.npr.org/2024/05/24/1197959130/junk-scrap-trash-economics
Jon has spent the last two decades clearing out houses and offices of their junk. He's found all sorts of items: a life-time supply of toilet paper, gold rings, $20,000 in cash. Over the years, he's developed a keen eye for what has value and what might sell. He's become a kind of trash savant.

As we ride with Jon, he shows us the whole ecosystem of how our reusable trash gets dealt with — from metals (ferrous and non-ferrous) to tires to cardboard. And we see how our junk can sometimes get a second chance at life.

If you can understand the junk market like Jon, you can understand dozens of trends in our economy.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and James Sneed, and produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Engineering by Josh Newell. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2003e7ce-af9a-40f9-a17d-4666647a2c40 Fri, 24 May 2024 23:51:34 +0000 no Anatomy of a layoff https://www.npr.org/2024/05/22/1197959117/proxy-layoffs
It's like the business version of: "It's not you, it's me." And just like a breakup, it feels terrible.

This happened to a man we're calling V, who was working at the same company as his husband when he got laid off. And for V, the experience felt shocking. It left him and his husband with a lot of unresolved questions.

On today's show, the story of that layoff. And we help that couple get some answers by taking their questions to an HR expert who gives the low-down on lay-offs.

This story is adapted from a 3-part series on layoffs produced by Yowei Shaw for her show, Proxy. The layoff series was edited by John DeLore with research and reporting help from Kim Nederveen Pieterse. You can listen to the full layoff series from Proxy wherever you get your podcasts, and you can support the show and find out more by going to patreon.com/proxypodcast. And you can check out her original song "Gold Star" on Spotify and YouTube.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 487721c3-66bc-4375-89a4-b1639b6ede49 Wed, 22 May 2024 23:05:53 +0000 no The hack that almost broke the internet https://www.npr.org/2024/05/17/1197959102/open-source-xz-hack
What these computers had in common was that they all relied on open source software.

A strange fact about modern life is that most of the computers responsible for it are running open source software. That is, software mostly written by unpaid, sometimes even anonymous volunteers. Some crucial open source programs are managed by just a single overworked programmer. And as the world learned last month, these programs can become attractive targets for hackers.

In this case, the hackers had infiltrated a popular open source program called XZ. Slowly, over the course of two years, they transformed XZ into a secret backdoor. And if they hadn't been caught, they could have taken control of large swaths of the internet.

On today's show, we get the story behind the XZ hack and what made it possible. How the hackers took advantage of the strange way we make modern software. And what that tells us about the economics of one of the most important industries in the world.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 81c7519c-8cac-4ff4-80ce-7a33866ac39b Fri, 17 May 2024 22:35:03 +0000 no Why Gold? (Classic) https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1197959089/-price-of-gold-periodic-table-elements
Gold has long had a shiny quality to it, literally and in the marketplace. And we wondered, why is that?

Today on the show, we revisit a Planet Money classic episode: Why Gold? Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum will peruse the periodic table of the elements with one goal in mind: to learn which element would really make the best money.

This classic Planet Money episode was part of the Planet Money Buys Gold series, and was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum.

This rerun was hosted by Sally Helm, produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Keith Romer, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e3153a19-8617-46a1-a9ef-989fe009911c Wed, 15 May 2024 21:56:13 +0000 no Zombie mortgages are coming back to life https://www.npr.org/2024/05/10/1197959049/zombie-second-mortgages-homeowners-foreclosure
McDonough had fallen victim to what's called a zombie second mortgage. Homeowners think these loans are long dead. But then the loans come back to life because they get bought up, sometimes for pennies on the dollar, by debt collectors that then move to collect and foreclose on people's homes.

On today's episode: An NPR investigation reveals the practice to be widespread. Also, what are zombie mortgages? Is all this legal? And is there any way for homeowners to fight the zombies?

You can read more about zombie second mortgages online at: npr.org/zombie

Correction: An earlier version of this episode description misspelled Karen McDonough's last name as MacDonough.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 6f53d185-1e20-45ce-9739-4d36d6dae82b Fri, 10 May 2024 22:25:00 +0000 no Inside video game economics (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1197958978/two-indicators-gaming-industry
These and other questions about the business of video games answered in todays episode. The Indicator just wrapped a weeklong series decoding the economics of the video game industry, we're excerpting some highlights.

First, we meet some of the workers who are struggling with the heavy demands placed on them in their booming industry, and how they are fighting back.

Then, we check in on how game developers are pulling in new audiences by creatively designing for people who couldn't always play. How has accessibility become an increasingly important priority for game developers? And, how can more players join in the fun?

You can hear the rest of our weeklong series on the gaming industry at this link, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode was hosted by Wailin Wong, Darian Woods, and Adrian Ma. Corey Bridges produced this episode with help from James Sneed. It was edited by Kate Concannon, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez with help from Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> cdceaa87-f40b-4a00-8345-8431cb47f521 Wed, 08 May 2024 21:40:00 +0000 no The birth of the modern consumer movement https://www.npr.org/2024/05/03/1197958936/ralph-nader-consumer-movement a debate in the U.S. about how much regulation is the right amount and how much is too much.

This episode was made in collaboration with NPR's Throughline. For more about Ralph Nader and safety regulations, listen to their original episode, "Ralph Nader, Consumer Crusader."

This Planet Money episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang.

The Throughline episode was produced by Rund Abdelfatah, Ramtin Arablouei, Lawrence Wu, Julie Caine, Anya Steinberg, Casey Miner, Cristina Kim, Devin Katayama, Peter Balonon-Rosen, Irene Noguchi, and fact-checking by Kevin Volkl. The episode was mixed by Josh Newell.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5fd40ec6-54b0-4eee-b0bd-93f4a30764f3 Fri, 03 May 2024 20:50:50 +0000 no Hire Power (Update) https://www.npr.org/2024/05/01/1197958914/planet-money-hire-power-noncompetes-update 2021.)

Millions of American workers in all sorts of industries have signed some form of noncompete agreement. Their pervasiveness has led to situations where workers looking to change jobs can be locked out of their fields.

On today's episode: how one man tried to end noncompete contracts in his home state of Hawaii. And we update that story with news of a recent ruling from the Federal Trade Commission that could ban most noncompete agreements nationwide.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aronczyk. The original piece was produced by Dave Blanchard, edited by Ebony Reed, and engineered by Isaac Rodrigues. The update was reported and produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Keith Romer, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Josephine Nyounai.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> db521a60-6575-464d-a076-d01b506cb566 Wed, 01 May 2024 22:18:49 +0000 no The case of the stolen masks https://www.npr.org/2024/04/26/1197958900/bhairav-masks-stolen-rubin-museum-nepal
Yagya is a kind of Hindu priest for his clan. And he says, these Bhairav masks were very holy. People made offerings to them during Dashaun, a festival held in the fall.

Yagya thought the masks were gone for good. He didn't realize... they were hiding in plain sight.

On today's show: The story of a group of amateur art detectives who use modern tools, subterfuge, and the power of the law to return stolen artifacts to their rightful owners. And we dive into the world of high-end auctions and art museums to ask: Can the art world survive the legacy of cultural theft?

Clarification: This episode has been updated to clarify that the reason the Rubin Museum is shuttering its building is not directly linked to repatriation.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> cb864834-96de-4059-8a87-0a53eaa85c71 Fri, 26 Apr 2024 21:21:42 +0000 no How unions are stopped before they start (Update) https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1197958834/uaw-united-auto-workers-union-strike-volkswagen-chattanooga-update (Note: This episode originally ran in 2023.)

Union membership in the U.S. has been declining for decades. But, in 2022, support for unions among Americans was the highest it's been in decades. This dissonance is due, in part, to the difficulties of one important phase in the life cycle of a union: setting up a union in the first place. One place where that has been particularly clear is at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Back in 2008, Volkswagen announced that they would be setting up production in the United States after a 20-year absence. They planned to build a new auto manufacturing plant in Chattanooga.

Volkswagen has plants all over the world, all of which have some kind of worker representation, and the company said that it wanted that for Chattanooga too. So, the United Auto Workers, the union that traditionally represents auto workers, thought they would be able to successfully unionize this plant.

They were wrong.

In this episode, we tell the story of the UAW's 10-year fight to unionize the Chattanooga plant. And, what other unions can learn from how badly that fight went for labor.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin. It was engineered by Josephine Nyounai, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8f75127f-6825-4d6c-ab1b-b5858ad56e92 Wed, 24 Apr 2024 22:12:02 +0000 no FTX and the Serengeti of bankruptcy https://www.npr.org/2024/04/19/1197958783/ftx-bankruptcy-claims-sam-bankman-fried
On today's show, we do a deep dive into the anatomy of the FTX bankruptcy. We meet the vulture investors who make markets out of risky debt, and hear how customers fare in the secretive world of bankruptcy claims trading.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5eb08129-b1ac-4270-967a-f98dd13fb203 Fri, 19 Apr 2024 22:30:29 +0000 no Grocery prices, credit card debt, and your 401K (Two Indicators) https://www.npr.org/2024/04/17/1197958773/consumer-sentiment-grocery-prices-inflation vibecession," but it's safe to say, the struggle is in fact real. It is not just in our heads. Sure, sure, some data is looking great. But not all of it.

What's interesting, is exactly why the bad feels so much worse than the good feels good. Today on the show, we look into a few theories on why feelings are just not matching up with data. We'll break down some numbers and how to think about them. Then we look at grocery prices in particular, and an effort to combat unfair pricing using a mostly forgotten 1930's law. Will it actually help?

Today's episode is adapted from episodes for Planet Money's daily show, The Indicator. Subscribe here.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 61ebf398-7d39-43d5-b223-4e007ad7fcea Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:54:18 +0000 no TikTok made me deduct it https://www.npr.org/2024/04/12/1197958760/tiktok-tax-advice-gambling-losses-pets-deductions-g-wagons
There are videos about running a business, having a side hustle, generating passive income. And also, there are a lot of tips and tricks, many of them questionable, about saving on your taxes.

On this show, we run some of the greatest hits of TikTok tax advice by some bonafide tax experts. We'll talk about whether you can use gambling losses to reduce your tax bill, whether your pets qualify you for tax deductions – and we'll fact check the claim that all rich people own expensive Mercedes G-Wagons... for tax purposes.

Along the way, we'll drill down on the concepts like taxable income and the standard deduction. And we'll ask why so many videos on TikTok suggest that you (fraudulently) categorize personal expenses as business expenses. Sometimes with a literal wink and a nod.

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Willa Rubin, who also fact-checked this episode. It was edited by Molly Messick and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's Executive Producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 9bdc0ff9-5746-4717-9659-b5526fb1a9ba Fri, 12 Apr 2024 21:09:26 +0000 no How much does this cow weigh? (Classic) https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1197958710/how-much-does-this-cow-weigh This episode originally ran in 2015.

About one hundred years ago, a scientist and statistician named Francis Galston came upon an opportunity to test how well regular people were at answering a question. He was at a fair where lots of people were guessing the weight of an ox, so he decided to take the average of all their guesses and compare it to the correct answer.

What he found shocked him. The average of their guesses was almost exactly accurate. The crowd was off by just one pound.

This eerie phenomenon—this idea that the crowd is right—drives everything from the stock market to the price of orange juice.

So, we decided to test it for ourselves. We asked Planet Money listeners to guess the weight of a cow.

Spoiler: You can see the results here.

This episode was hosted by David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein. It was produced by Nadia Wilson and edited by Bryant Urstadt. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> be066c62-88aa-4d98-953b-6017e2215530 Wed, 10 Apr 2024 20:59:24 +0000 no Japan's Lost Decades https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1197958583/japan-lost-decade
Back in the 1980s, Japan performed something of an economic miracle. It transformed itself into the number two economy in the world. From Walkmans to Toyotas, the U.S. was awash in Japanese imports. And Japanese companies went on a spending spree. Sony bought up Columbia Pictures. Mitsubishi became the new majority owners of Rockefeller Center.

But in the early 1990s, it all came to a sudden halt. Japan went from being one of the fastest growing countries in the world to one of the slowest. And this economic stagnation went on and on and on. For decades.

On this episode, the unnerving story of Japan's Lost Decades: How did one of the most advanced economies in the world just fall down one day — and not be able to get up? Japan's predicament changed our understanding of what can go wrong in a modern economy. And gave us some new tools to try and deal with it.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and engineered by Cena Loffredo. It was edited by Molly Messick. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a9b83427-906e-4ede-88a2-0008a6ac320b Fri, 05 Apr 2024 22:14:14 +0000 no The real estate industry on trial https://www.npr.org/2024/04/05/1197958698/real-estate-lawsuit-national-association-realtors-burnett-mike-ketchmark
But Brandon knew Mike was great in front of a jury. And that he'd won huge settlements for his clients in the past.

So the lawyer friend drops by Mike's office, and pitches him the case. Rhonda and Scott Burnett had just sold their home for $250,000, and out of that amount, they had paid $15,000 in commission (plus a small fee), which was split between two real estate agents - even though they had hired only one. And the commission was high - 6%. Mike's friend said the whole thing seemed... suspicious. Maybe even illegal.

Mike agreed to take the case, a case that would soon become bigger than one about just what had happened to the Burnetts. It would become a fight about the way homes are bought and sold in the U.S. and challenge the way real estate agents have done business for more than 100 years.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Keith Romer. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Keith Romer, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 12a1558c-37ee-428a-9dfa-31fc9a8452a3 Wed, 03 Apr 2024 23:07:56 +0000 no How much of your tax dollars are going to Israel and Ukraine https://www.npr.org/2024/03/29/1197958571/us-military-aid-tax-ukraine-israel-gaza-russia
Some taxpayers don't think the U.S. should give Ukraine any money to fight off Russia's invasion. And some taxpayers have concerns about how they might be funding weapons that have been used to kill civilians in Gaza. And there are questions about how much individual taxpayers contribute to war efforts, generally.

So in this episode, we attempt to do the math: The average taxpayers' contribution to Israel and Ukraine. It's not so simple. But in attempting to do this math, we get this window into the role of our tax dollars on foreign assistance, and how the U.S. sells weapons to other countries.

For links to some of the reports we looked at to report this episode, check out the episode page on NPR.org.

This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f79cc408-7a81-460e-89cc-488a29086d48 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 17:13:35 +0000 no The trouble with Table 101 (Update) https://www.npr.org/2024/03/27/1197958536/roni-mazumdar-unapologetic-foods-adda-semma-new-york 2020.)

In the restaurant game, you need to make the most of every table every minute you are open. And you need to make sure your guests are happy, comfortable, and want to come back.

If you're a restaurateur, your gut tells you "more seats, more money," but, in this episode, restaurant design expert Stephani Robson upends all that and more. She helps Roni Mazumdar, owner of the casual Indian spot Adda in New York's Long Island City, rethink how a customer behaves at a table, and how small changes can lead to a lot more money.

It's a data-driven restaurant makeover.

This episode was originally produced by Darian Woods and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler produced this update. Engineering by Isaac Rodrigues and Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark originally edited the show and is now Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4dab5aa1-2b06-4bc0-ba0a-b45c654e0999 Wed, 27 Mar 2024 22:33:51 +0000 no What is Temu? https://www.npr.org/2024/03/22/1197958526/temu-website-app-shopping
On today's show, we go deep on Temu: How does it work, how did it manage such a quick rise in the U.S., and what hints might it offer us about the future of retail? Plus, we'll talk to the bicycle-loving U.S. Representative who is working to shut down a loophole that has proved very helpful to Temu's swift ascent.

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi with reporting from Emily Feng. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Keith Romer, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 16b19781-8480-4aa8-b01f-682c16f82335 Fri, 22 Mar 2024 22:08:48 +0000 no How Big Steel in the U.S. fell https://www.npr.org/2024/03/20/1197958509/steel-mini-mill-nucor-bethlehem
But in the second half of the 20th century, the industry's power started to decline. Foreign steel companies gained more market power and the established steel industry in the U.S. was hesitant to change and invest in newer technologies. But then, a smaller company took a chance and changed the industry.

On today's episode: What can the fall of a once-great industry teach us about innovation and technology? And why you should never underestimate an underdog.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Mary Childs. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 20bffd9e-7c2d-416f-8ae6-8fe4da32c879 Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000 no The billion dollar war behind U.S. rum https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1197958469/rum-wars-puerto-rico-virgin-islands-captain-morgan
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands split the money according to how much rum each territory produces. And the territories produce a lot of it — especially Puerto Rico, which single handedly supplies the majority of the rum that Americans drink.

But in 2008, the U.S. Virgin Islands pulled off a coup. It convinced one of the largest rum brands in the world, Captain Morgan, to abandon Puerto Rico and to shift its operations to the tiny island of St. Croix.

This was the beginning of the Rum Wars.

On today's show, the story of how a scheme designed to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands turned them into bitter rivals. And how it ended up putting hundreds of millions of dollars a year — U.S. taxpayer dollars — into the pockets of big liquor companies instead.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Cena Loffredo, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3f5ff78c-2272-4d47-a8f4-df49d444cb78 Fri, 15 Mar 2024 23:14:19 +0000 no Wind boom, wind bust (Two Windicators) https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1197958460/wind-power-turbine-technician-offshore
The story of wind energy markets in two acts today. First, the Gulf of Mexico saw its first-ever auction of leases for offshore wind this summer. It was another sign of the Biden administration's desire to get more renewable energy online as fast as possible. Expectations were high, but results did not deliver. Two of the three patches of sea didn't get any bids at all. Hidden in the flop for this auction are some keys to what it takes to spark a whole new market, quickly.

Then, the booming side of wind power: the job that's projected to be the fastest-growing in the U.S. is wind turbine service technician. Is it a "good" job? Reporter Darian Woods suits up to see a green-collar job above the clouds for himself.

Today's episode is adapted from episodes for Planet Money's daily show, The Indicator. Subscribe here.

The original Indicator episodes were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and Julia Ritchey with engineering by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez and James Willetts. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Dave Blanchard and Kate Concannon.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4903a176-caa3-4c4a-9b20-d54f0c187d24 Wed, 13 Mar 2024 22:42:03 +0000 no On the Oscars campaign trail https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1197958441/oscars-academy-awards-campaign-for-your-consideration
On today's show, we hit the Oscars campaign trail to learn how these campaigns got so big in the first place. And we look into why Hollywood is still spending so much chasing gold statues, when the old playbook for how to make money on them is being rewritten.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4c8fd55d-d076-4cfb-b498-d2117a062609 Fri, 08 Mar 2024 22:10:15 +0000 no Is dynamic pricing coming to a supermarket near you? https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1197958433/dynamic-pricing-grocery-supermarkets Uber prices surge during rainy weather, or when you're booking a flight at the last minute or buying tickets to your favorite superstar's concert. On an earnings call last week, Wendy's ignited a minor controversy by suggesting it would introduce dynamic pricing in its restaurants, but the company quickly clarified that it wasn't planning on using it for "surge pricing."

One place you hardly ever see dynamic pricing? American supermarkets.

Why is that? Why shouldn't the prices for meat or bread or produce go down as they get older? Why does all the milk in the store cost the same, even when the "sell by" dates are weeks apart? Wouldn't a little more flexibility around prices be better for customers and help reduce waste?

Professors Robert Evan Sanders and Ioannis (Yannis) Stamatopoulus had similar questions. So they set out to discover what was keeping supermarkets from employing a more dynamic approach, and what might convince them it was time for a change ... in pricing.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 272fb1ee-db07-443f-ad4f-5949fda5c497 Wed, 06 Mar 2024 23:16:30 +0000 no Shopping for parental benefits around the world https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1197958408/maternity-paternity-benefits-sweden-singapore-south-korea-estonia-canada
But outside the U.S., many countries desperately want kids to be born inside their borders. One reason? Many countries are facing a looming problem in their population demographics: they have a ton of aging workers, fewer working-age people paying taxes, and not enough new babies being born to become future workers and taxpayers. And some countries are throwing money at the problem, offering parents generous benefits, even including straight-up cash for kids.

So if the U.S. makes it very hard to have kids, but other countries are willing to pay you for having them....maybe you can see the opportunity here. Very economic, and very pregnant, host Mary Childs did. Which is why she went benefits shopping around the world. Between Sweden, Singapore, South Korea, Estonia, and Canada, who will offer her the best deal for her pregnancy?

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1e694b1c-b3c7-4763-9f52-67028eb05bee Fri, 01 Mar 2024 23:53:17 +0000 no The secret world behind school fundraisers https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1197958355/school-fundraisers
Why do schools turn kids into little salespeople? And why do we let companies come in and dangle prizes in front of students?

We spend a year with one elementary school, following their fundraising efforts, to see how much they raise, and what the money goes to.

The school – Villacorta Elementary in La Puente, California – has one big goal: To raise enough money to send every single student on one field trip. The whole school hasn't been able to go on one in three years.

We find out what the companies who run school fundraisers do to try to win a school's business. And we find that this bizarre tradition is ... surprisingly tactical. That's on today's episode.

Today's show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3c00928b-4a35-40d7-b7d2-b90dfbbb36ec Thu, 29 Feb 2024 01:54:59 +0000 no A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics https://www.npr.org/2024/02/23/1197958331/reka-juhasz-industrial-policy-inflation-reduction-act
That's the general term for whenever the government tries to promote specific sectors of the economy. The idea is that they might be able to supercharge growth by giving money to certain kinds of businesses, or by putting up trade barriers to protect certain industries. Economists have long been against it. Industrial policy has been called a "taboo" subject, and "one of the most toxic phrases" in economics. The mainstream view has been that industrial policy is inefficient, even harmful.

For a long time, politicians largely accepted that view. But in the past several years, countries have started to embrace industrial policy—most notably in the United States. Under President Biden, the U.S. is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on industrial policy, to fund things like microchip manufacturing and clean energy projects. It's one of the most ambitious tests of industrial policy in U.S. history. And the billion dollar question is ... will it work?

On today's show, Réka takes us on a fun, nerdy journey to explain the theory behind industrial policy, why it's so controversial, and where President Biden's big experiment might be headed.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c4562c85-b1c4-4365-93d1-4953bea538d8 Fri, 23 Feb 2024 23:30:57 +0000 no Two Indicators: Economics of the defense industry https://www.npr.org/2024/02/21/1197958304/two-indicators-defense-spending-just-in-time
On today's episode, we're bringing you two stories from The Indicator's series on defense spending that explore that market. As the U.S. continues to send weapons to Ukraine and Israel, we first look at why defense costs are getting so high. Then, we dive into whether bare-bones manufacturing styles are leaving the U.S. military in a bind.

The original Indicator episodes were produced by Cooper Katz McKim with engineering from Maggie Luthar and James Willetts. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Angel Carreras. They were edited by Kate Concannon and Paddy Hirsch. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> c97471cc-034d-4504-9abe-f02c6fc9c005 Wed, 21 Feb 2024 22:48:02 +0000 no How the Navy came to protect cargo ships https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1197958269/freedom-of-the-seas-houthis-yemen Genco Picardy is not an American ship. It doesn't pay U.S. taxes, none of its crew are U.S. nationals, and when it sailed through the Red Sea last month, it wasn't carrying cargo to or from an American port.

But when the Houthis, a tribal militant group from Yemen, attacked the ship, the crew called the U.S. Navy. That same day, the Navy fired missiles at Houthi sites.

On today's show: How did protecting the safe passage of other countries' ships in the Red Sea become a job for the U.S. military? It goes back to an idea called Freedom of the Seas, an idea that started out as an abstract pipe dream when it was coined in the early 1600s – but has become a pillar of the global economy.

This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Molly Messick, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, with help from Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 929c0565-0fe3-4ee8-8a3e-0bc0b47643a1 Fri, 16 Feb 2024 22:05:48 +0000 no It's giving ... Valentines https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1197958224/valentines-corporate-gossip-poka-yoke-manahatta-caitlin-clark-material-world O, is for the Only podcast I hear
V, is Very, very, fiduciary
E, is for... ECONOMICS!

Every February, we dedicate a show to the things in our lives that have been giving us butterflies. Whether it's an obscure online marketplace or a piece of stunt journalism that made us green with envy. And then we go out into the world to proclaim our love...in the form of a Valentine. And we have a great roster this Valentine's Day:

- A grocery store in Los Angeles with the very best produce
- A woodworking supply company with an innovative approach to... innovation!
- A basketball player that makes a strong case for taking risky shots
- A book that catalogues the raw materials that shape our world
- A play that connects the 2008 financial crisis to the sale of the island of Manhattan in the 1600s
- And, a podcast that turns corporate intrigue into watercooler chit-chat

So cozy up with a special someone and hand them the second earbud as we take you through our 2024 Valentines!

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5c708bbf-679b-4392-866b-dfc030fc2453 Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:34:16 +0000 no A lawsuit for your broken heart https://www.npr.org/2024/02/09/1197958200/heart-balm-cheating-infidelity-sue
On this episode, where heart balm torts came from, what relationships looked like back then, and why these lawsuits still exist today (in some states, anyway.) And also, what happened when Keith King used a heart balm tort to try to deal with the most significant economic entanglement of his life: his marriage.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> cd64cbc0-c6f7-4706-8c1a-0ecde5c38998 Fri, 09 Feb 2024 23:13:45 +0000 no Morally questionable, economically efficient https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1197956769/organ-donation-workplace-revenge-insider-trading allow a market – for whatever reason, people feel icky about putting a price on something. For example: Surrogacy is a legal industry in parts of the United States, but not in much of the rest of the world. Assisted end-of-life is a legal medical transaction in some states, but is illegal in others.

When we have those knee-jerk reactions and our gut repels us from considering something apparently icky, economics asks us to look a little more closely.

Today on the show, we have three recommendations of things that may feel kinda wrong but economics suggests may actually be the better way. First: Could the matching process of organ donation be more efficient if people could buy and sell organs? Then: Should women seek revenge more often in the workplace? And finally, what if insider trading is actually useful?

This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b077b601-9b09-4917-84ba-c1152e90979b Wed, 07 Feb 2024 23:45:25 +0000 no Groundhog Day 2024: Trademark, bankruptcy, and the dollar that failed https://www.npr.org/2024/02/02/1197956746/groundhogs-day-trademark-bankruptcy-coins
Well, almost impossible...

Once again, our Planet Money hosts find themselves trapped in the endless Groundhog Day news cycle, and their only way out is to discover an economics story from Groundhog Day itself interesting enough to appease the capricious Groundhog Gods!

So rise and shine campers (and don't forget your booties) as hosts Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk scour the news of February 2nds past, to try to find the perfect story.

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. It was fact-checked by James Sneed. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7766a462-89e9-491d-8506-4f4909f9dc7f Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:53:29 +0000 no The Chicken Tax (Classic) https://www.npr.org/2024/01/31/1197956717/frozen-chicken-tax-american-truck-german-automobile Note: This episode originally ran in 2015.

German families in the 60s loved tasty, cheap American-raised chicken that was suddenly coming in after the war. And Americans were loving fun, cheap Volkswagen Beetles. This arrangement was too good to last.

Today on the show, how a trade dispute over frozen chicken parts changed the American auto industry as we know it.

This episode was reported by Robert Smith and Sonari Glinton. It was produced by Frances Harlow.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 983074bc-4838-4958-b6a7-6b32d755c4ad Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:43:22 +0000 no Bonus: Janet Yellen on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997621/wait-wait-dont-tell-me-janet-yellen Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! recently had a very Planet Money guest on their show: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They asked her about smoking pot, her extremely high scores in Candy Crush, and when to expect the Harriet Tubman $20 bill.

Today, we're sharing an excerpt of that episode with you, along with some exclusive questions just for Planet Money listeners.

You can listen to the full show and subscribe to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! wherever you find your podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3d0b82c0-19f0-4153-ab7b-5a9b4ed77af9 Mon, 29 Jan 2024 22:37:03 +0000 no Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1197956698/planet-money-draft-01-26-2024 Cherry Valley. He and his crew had been making their way up the coast of Florida that evening when a tropical storm had descended. It had been a rough night of 15 foot waves and 50 mile per hour winds.

The distress call was coming from a tugboat whose engines were failing in the storm. Now adrift, the tugboat was on a dangerous collision course with the shore. The only ship close enough to mount a rescue was the Cherry Valley.

Skip faced a difficult decision. A fully loaded, 688-foot oil tanker is hardly anyone's first choice of a rescue vessel. It is as maneuverable as a school bus on ice. And the Cherry Valley was carrying ten million gallons of heavy fuel oil. A rescue attempt would put them in dangerously shallow water. One wrong move, and they would have an ecological disaster on the order of the Exxon Valdez.

What happened next that night would be dissected and debated for years to come. The actions of Skip and his crew would lead to a surprising discovery, a record-setting lawsuit, and one of the strangest legal battles in maritime history. At the center of it all, an impossible question: How do you put a price tag on doing the right thing?

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> dd32b90f-aafb-4a3c-ab34-a35b8180b3f6 Sat, 27 Jan 2024 01:01:02 +0000 yes Hear us out: We ban left turns and other big ideas https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/1197956583/baby-bonds-proportional-representation-no-left-turns
First, what if we ban left turns on roads? Then, what if we gave every new baby ... a trust fund? And lastly, what if we completely got rid of U.S. congressional districts?

That's all on today's episode.

This show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin and Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Dave Blanchard and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> bfedbeec-b790-4144-9112-5a4fac82fca6 Wed, 24 Jan 2024 08:00:30 +0000 no Econ Battle Zone: Disinflation Confrontation https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1197956536/econ-battle-zone-supply-chain-healing-labor-hoarding-r-star-disinflation
Three Planet Money hosts try to answer that question while competing to be the winner of our very own reporting challenge: Econ Battle Zone!

It's economics journalism meets high-stakes reality TV competition! Will our contestants be able to impress our celebrity judges? How will they manage to incorporate their mystery ingredients? Who will take home the championship belt? Tune in for the inaugural episode of...Econ Battle Zone!

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer, Amanda Aronczyk, Erika Beras, and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. James Sneed produced this episode with help from Emma Peaslee. The show was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Cena Loffredo, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7ccf59c5-6a41-4115-83b0-e62b7b325d64 Sat, 20 Jan 2024 02:10:26 +0000 no Mid-East conflict escalation, two indicators https://www.npr.org/2024/01/17/1197956503/planet-money-draft-01-17-2024 two indicators of the economic disruptions of the war in Gaza and try to trace how far they will reach.

We start in the Red Sea, a crucial link in the global supply chain connecting to the Suez Canal, with around 15% of the world's shipping passing through it. This includes oil tankers and massive container ships transporting everything from microchips to furniture. With Houthi rebels attacking container ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, shipping lines are re-routing, adding time and cost to delivery. We look at how ocean shipping is a web more than a chain of links, and try to see which parts of the web can take up more strain as the Red Sea and the Suez Canal become too dangerous to pass.

Then, we'll consider what escalation could mean for the region's most important export: oil. Five steps of escalation each mean a ratcheting up of costs that knock on to other industries, like food. Some prices are likely to rise faster than others, though.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a83060d4-cde9-496c-8531-1472bd166aa5 Wed, 17 Jan 2024 23:17:47 +0000 no The Maine Potato War of 1976 https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1197956482/potato-maine-idaho-futures-squeeze-default
That status had changed by the 1970s, with the West growing more and more of the nation's potatoes. But Maine still had one distinct advantage: A privileged position in the commodities market. The New York Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest such marketplaces in the country, exclusively dealt in Maine potatoes. And two deep-pocketed Western potato kingpins weren't happy about it.

So the Westerners waged what's now called the Maine Potato War of 1976. Their battlefield was the futures market: A special type of marketplace, made up of hordes of screaming traders, where potatoes can be bought and sold before they're even planted.

The Westerners did something so bold – and so unexpected – that it brought not only the potato market, but the entire New York commodities exchange, to its knees.

Today on the show, how a war waged through futures contracts influenced the kind of potatoes we eat.

This episode was hosted by Dylan Sloan and Nick Fountain. This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 940aff77-a01a-4bbd-915a-514dd3745126 Sat, 13 Jan 2024 00:54:02 +0000 no The Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1197956397/give-directly-universal-basic-income-poverty-kenya
But over the past few decades, there has been a new idea: Could you help people who don't have money by ... just giving them money? We covered this question in a segment of This American Life that originally ran in 2013. Economists who studied the question found that giving people cash had positive effects on recipients' economic and psychological well-being. Maybe they bought a cow that could earn them money each week. Maybe they could replace their grass roofs with metal roofs that didn't need fixing every so often.

The success of just giving people in poverty cash has spawned a whole set of new questions that economists are now trying to answer. Like, if we do just give money, what's the best way to do that? Do you just give it all at once? Or do you dole it out over time? And it turns out... a huge new study on giving cash was just released and it's got a lot of answers.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 22d940c0-d86b-4003-8866-0d9480d56862 Wed, 10 Jan 2024 22:16:22 +0000 no The case of the serial sinking Spanish ships https://www.npr.org/2024/01/05/1197956371/spanish-shipwreck-mystery
For, you see, one in five of the ships leaving from the port of Manila didn't make it to Acapulco. It's a shipwrecking rate much higher than rates for other routes of the time. And the mystery of the serial shipwrecking Spanish ships remains unsolved, until today.

Everyone involved with these Spanish ships were aligned in a goal: Don't wreck the Spanish ships. And yet, wreck they did. Three economists took a look at the incentives for profit and risk at the time, and found the key to unlocking this ancient booty (of knowledge).

Our show today was produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 1064785e-6886-4f87-b7e5-05cfc008dbcf Fri, 05 Jan 2024 22:26:04 +0000 no The Rest of the Story, 2023 https://www.npr.org/2023/12/29/1197956334/data-colada-inflation-song-hollywood-strike
We'll hear from a Hollywood strike captain who tried to pull off one last job, an update from the data detective trying to uncover the truth in academic research, and tribute to a very special member of the Planet Money family.

Check out the original stories:
Vacation, and why the U.S. takes so little of it
The secret entrance that sidesteps Hollywood picket lines
Did two honesty researchers fabricate their data?
Planet Money Records Vol. 1: Earnest Jackson, Planet Money Records Vol. 2: The Negotiation & Planet Money Records Vol. 3: Making a Hit

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> b403a9c2-f751-48db-901f-b2ec57fd2972 Fri, 29 Dec 2023 22:45:39 +0000 no The Indicators of this year and next https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2023/12/27/1197956295/economic-indicator-family-feud-2023-and-2024
First up, we try to identify the figure that best captured the essence of 2023. The contenders: the possible soft landing, consumer sentiment, and the housing market.

And looking ahead to 2024, what will the economic indicator of next year be? Interest rates, Bidenomics, or junk fees?

Listen to our hosts make their case, and then tell us who won by submitting your vote via Planet Money's Instagram or email us with "Family Feud" in the subject line. Voting ends on December 31st.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Kenny Malone and Wailin Wong. It was produced by Julia Ritchey and Willa Rubin with engineering help from Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon edits The Indicator.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: Universal Music Production, "Terry And Mildred," "Decked Out For The Holidays." Audio Network - "Counting Down Seconds," "Tijuana Choo Choo."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ced56ea3-39ac-4ed8-beeb-7cdf01275dfe Wed, 27 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000 no We buy a lot of Christmas trees (Update) https://www.npr.org/2023/12/22/1197956186/christmas-tree-market
'Tis the season for Americans to head out in droves and bring home a freshly-cut Christmas tree. But decorative evergreens don't just magically show up on corner lots, waiting to find a home in your living room. There are a bunch of fascinating steps that determine exactly how many Christmas trees get sold, and how expensive they are.

Today on the show, we visit the world's largest auction of Christmas trees — and then see how much green New Yorkers are willing to throw down for some greenery. It's a story where snow-dusted Yuletide dreams meet the hard reality of supply and demand. We've got market theory, a thousand dollars in cash, and a "decent sized truck"... anything could happen.

This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Bryant Urstadt. It was engineered by Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 37e654c9-8068-41c0-87c2-ceddd915a7f3 Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:25:41 +0000 no Dollarizing Argentina https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1197956140/javier-milei-argentina-dollarize-economy-inflation
Over the past couple of years, the local currency has collapsed. One U.S. dollar used to be worth 20 Argentinean pesos in 2018. Today, one U.S. dollar is worth 1,000 pesos on the black market. And that means for Argentineans, the real prices of everything — from groceries to gas — have spiked.

In a country where the local currency is in free fall, promising to replace that currency with the US dollar can seem like a magical solution.

Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, won in part by promising to do just that - to dollarize. To scrap Argentina's peso and replace it with the relatively stable, predictable, boring United States dollar.

On today's show, what does dollarizing mean? Why dollarize, how to do it, and will it even work?

For more:
A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina (Apple, Spotify, NPR)
Venezuela's Fugitive Money Traders
Why Ecuador Uses The Dollar? : The Indicator from Planet Money

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> a9266ebd-d7eb-4685-a991-962682f71dfc Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:35:54 +0000 no How to be better at hybrid work, according to research https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997478/zz-planetmoney-bonusdraft
This episode was first published as a bonus episode for our Planet Money+ listeners. Today, we're making it available for everyone!

To hear more episodes like this, and to hear Planet Money and The Indicator without sponsor messages, support the show by signing up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8539b25d-f05a-496b-9269-15fdf5f8eb81 Tue, 19 Dec 2023 00:58:12 +0000 no What econ says in the shadows https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1197956091/econ-job-market-rumors-ip-addresses
People can talk about finding work, share rumors, and just blow off steam. And that steam can get scaldingly hot. The forum has become notorious for racist and sexist posts, often attacking specific women and people from marginalized backgrounds.

Last year, economist Florian Ederer and engineer Kyle Jensen discovered a flaw in the way the site gave anonymity to its users. The flaw made it possible to identify which universities and institutions were the sources of many of the toxic posts on the site. And helped answer a longstanding question that's dogged the economics profession: was the toxicity on EJMR the work of a bunch of fringey internet trolls, or was it a symptom of a much deeper problem within economics itself?

This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer and engineered by Josh Newell. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 16be38ac-af91-4b63-875e-41689afeaba7 Sat, 16 Dec 2023 02:31:16 +0000 no Why '90s ads are unforgettable https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1197956022/got-milk-soap-operas-advertising
The best part of waking up, is _______ in your cup!

Got ____?

If you can identify these brands based on tagline alone, it's possible you... are a 90s kid.

The '90s were arguably the peak moment of advertisers trying to make an impression on us that could last for decades. They got us to sing their jingles and say their slogans. These kinds of ads are called brand or image marketing. And it became a lot harder to pull off in the 21st century.

On today's show, we look back at the history of advertising, and two pretty unassuming products that totally transformed ads.

This show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed, and engineered by James Willets. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and edited by Molly Messick. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ebda59ca-3a31-40a0-961d-3bb0a7717637 Thu, 14 Dec 2023 02:46:07 +0000 no The U.S. economy's biggest superpower, explained https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997413/zz-planetmoney-bonusdraft
In this episode, Yesha Yadav of Vanderbilt Law School explains why.

This episode was first published as a bonus episode for our Planet Money+ listeners. Today we're making it available for everyone. To hear more episodes like this, and to hear Planet Money and The Indicator without sponsor messages, support the show by signing up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> edb19afe-6ebe-4c03-b32e-a1267eafe520 Mon, 11 Dec 2023 20:03:40 +0000 no Why do doctors still use pagers? https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1197955913/doctors-pagers-beepers
Except there's one group of people who still carry pagers: medical doctors. At a surprisingly large number of hospitals, the pager remains the backbone of communication. Need to ask a doctor a question? Page them. Need to summon a doctor to an emergency? Page them. And then... wait for them to call you back.

Almost everyone agrees that pagers are a clunky and error-prone way for doctors to communicate. So why do so many hospitals still rely on them?On today's show: A story about two doctors who hatched a plan to finally rid their hospital of pagers. And the surprising lessons they learned about why some obsolete technologies can be so hard to replace.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez with help from Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> e607af8e-e119-456a-bf45-2cfa372994f3 Fri, 08 Dec 2023 23:28:31 +0000 no Two food and drink indicators https://www.npr.org/2023/12/06/1197955860/two-indicators-food-and-drink The Indicator, about things we spend a lot of time thinking about this time of year: food and drink.

First up, we explore how changes in economic conditions led to one of the U.K.'s iconic (and affordable) staple foods becoming a luxury.

Then, the story of one Indigenous woman whose small business went head-to-head with Coca-Cola over a trademark dispute.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> f3eb5659-0148-42c6-b842-8c966077b8c9 Wed, 06 Dec 2023 23:01:57 +0000 no Why are we so bummed about the economy? https://www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1197955840/planet-money-consumer-sentiment
These are the kinds of questions baked into the Consumer Sentiment Index. And while the economy has been humming along surprisingly well lately, sentiment has stayed surprisingly low.

Today on the show: We are really bummed about the economy, despite the fact that unemployment and inflation are down. So, what gives? We talk to a former Fed economist trying to get to the heart of this paradox, and travel to Michigan to check in on the place where they check the vibes of the economy.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 2e9bd2d4-0335-4272-a730-1517a6d8728e Fri, 01 Dec 2023 23:11:04 +0000 no So you want to sell marijuana across state lines https://www.npr.org/2023/11/29/1197955821/marijuana-state-federal-laws-trade
And, jokes aside, it's a real problem for people who work in the cannabis industry like Matt Ochoa. Ochoa runs the Jefferson Packing House in Medford, Oregon, which provides marijuana growers with services like drying, trimming and packing their product. He has seen literal tons of usable weed being left in marijuana fields all over the state of Oregon. Because, Ochoa says, there aren't enough buyers.

There are just over four million people in Oregon, and so far this year, farmers have grown 8.8 million pounds of weed. Which means there's nearly a pound of dried, smokable weed for every single person in the state of Oregon. As a result, the sales price for legal marijuana in the last couple of years has plummeted.

Economics has a straightforward solution for Oregon's overabundance problem: trade! But, Oregon's marijuana can only be sold in Oregon. No one in any state can legally sell weed across state lines, because marijuana is still illegal under federal law. On today's episode, how a product that is simultaneously legal and illegal can create some... sticky business problems.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 085782ad-d5f4-4c1d-a6d4-8a02e9ca24d0 Wed, 29 Nov 2023 23:44:37 +0000 no A very Planet Money Thanksgiving https://www.npr.org/2023/11/22/1197954683/thanksgiving-economics-turkey-prices-seating
First: a turkey mystery. Around the holidays, demand for turkey at grocery stores goes up by as much as 750%. And when turkey demand is so high, you might think that the price of turkey would also go up. But data shows, the price of whole turkeys actually falls around the holidays; it goes down by around 20%. So what's going on? The answer has to do what might be special about supply and demand around the holidays.

We also reveal what is counted (and not counted) in the ways we measure the economy.

And we look to economics to help solve the perennial Thanksgiving dilemma: Where should each dinner guest sit? Who should sit next to whom?

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed with an assist from Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Josh Newell.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> cf6194f3-13ab-4246-bd60-1a65e28a9556 Wed, 22 Nov 2023 23:33:32 +0000 no Economic fact in literary fiction https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1197954656/station-eleven-pachinko-trust-novelists-economics-fiction
Today on the show: we get to the bottom of it. We talk to three bestselling contemporary novelists — Min Jin Lee (Pachinko and Free Food for Millionaires), Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility), and Hernan Diaz (Trust, In the Distance) – about how the hidden forces of economics and money have shaped their works.

This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Molly Messick, and engineered by Neisha Heinis. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Music: Universal Music Production - "This Summer," "Music Keeps Me Dancing," "Rain," and "All The Time."

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 7700b6db-2cdd-4940-a3c7-a6b7741b0856 Sat, 18 Nov 2023 00:48:46 +0000 no China's real estate crisis, explained https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1197954635/chinas-real-estate-crisis-explained
Today on the show, we look at what's happening inside China's real estate market. And we try to answer the question: how did we get here?

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e4dd0572-4776-429a-8538-29a5fb2671c4 Wed, 15 Nov 2023 23:33:53 +0000 no The alleged theft at the heart of ChatGPT https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1197954613/openai-chatgpt-author-lawsuit-preston-martin-franzen-picoult
Large language models, the kind of artificial intelligence underlying programs like ChatGPT, do not come into the world fully formed. They first have to be trained on incredibly large amounts of text. Douglas Preston, and 16 other authors, including George R.R. Martin, Jodi Piccoult, and Jonathan Franzen, were convinced that their novels had been used to train GPT without their permission. So, in September, they sued OpenAI for copyright infringement.

This sort of thing seems to be happening a lot lately–one giant tech company or another "moves fast and breaks things," exploring the edges of what might or might not be allowed without first asking permission. On today's show, we try to make sense of what OpenAI allegedly did by training its AI on massive amounts of copyrighted material. Was that good? Was it bad? Was it legal?

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0616a3b6-ca61-44fa-91f5-b02f15fc27cf Fri, 10 Nov 2023 23:54:07 +0000 no Never have I ever https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1197954539/never-have-i-ever-luddites-obsolescence
Sometimes, researchers will write about something that they themselves have never actually experienced. Sure, they've thought about it, theorized, come up with smart analyses...but that's not the same as getting out of that armchair and into the real world.

So, in this episode, we play our own version of Never Have I Ever. We dare two researchers to go places and do things they have never done before, in hopes of learning something new about the economic world around us.

(Okay, fine, it's maybe more like Truth or Dare...but go with us here.)

Today's episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Sally Helm, fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 439075d7-72bc-4772-bbd6-5c3b93837b74 Wed, 08 Nov 2023 23:38:36 +0000 no FTC Chair Lina Khan on Antitrust in the age of Amazon https://www.npr.org/2023/11/03/1197954506/lina-khan-interview-amazon-ftc-antitrust-paradox-monopoly
Just four years later, President Biden appointed Lina Khan to be the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, one of the main government agencies responsible for enforcing antitrust in America, putting her in the rare position of putting some of her ideas into practice.

Now, two years into the job, Khan has taken some big swings at big tech companies like Meta and Microsoft. But the FTC has also faced a couple of big losses in the courts. On today's show, a conversation with FTC Chair Lina Khan on what it's like to try to turn audacious theory into bureaucratic practice, the FTC's new lawsuit against Amazon, and what it all means for business as usual.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 55bd7b7a-d82f-43f6-b9af-a0ddd175e97c Fri, 03 Nov 2023 21:45:05 +0000 no Antitrust in America (classic) https://www.npr.org/2023/11/01/1197954487/antitrust-double-feature-rockefeller-bork
In that suit, the FTC claims Amazon is a monopoly, and it accuses the company of using anti-competitive tactics to hold onto its market power. It's a big case, with implications for consumers and businesses and digital marketplaces, and for antitrust law itself. That is the highly important but somewhat obscure body of law that deals with competition and big business.

And so, this week on Planet Money, we are doing a deep dive on the history of antitrust. It begins with today's episode, a Planet Money double feature. Two classic episodes that tell the story of how the U.S. government's approach to big business and competition has changed over time.

First, the story of a moment more than 100 years ago, when the government stepped into the free market in a big way to make competition work. It's the story of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil, and a muckraking journalist named Ida Tarbell.

Then, we fast forward to a turning point that took antitrust in the other direction. This is the story of a lawyer named Robert Bork, who transformed the way courts would interpret antitrust law.

These episodes were produced by Sally Helm with help from Alexi Horowitz Ghazi. They were edited by Bryant Urdstadt. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> db80a0b7-8efd-4c4a-8a3f-df9edf5289cd Wed, 01 Nov 2023 23:25:48 +0000 no All you can eat economics https://www.npr.org/2023/10/27/1197954459/all-you-can-eat-buffets-economics
Here at Planet Money we believe there's a lot of economics going on at the all-you-eat buffet, tucked in between the mountains of brisket and troughs of mashed potatoes. From classic concepts like adverse selection, sunk costs, diminishing marginal returns, to more exotic economic mysteries, like the flat rate pricing bias.

Today on the show, we're headed to the place where the modern buffet may have been born: Las Vegas. Our mission? To feast ourselves on all the economics we can handle at the all-you-can-eat buffet. And along the way, an economist and fellow buffet-lover will teach us his hyper-rational strategy for optimizing his buffet experience.

Today's show was produced by James Sneed and Nick Fountain with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by James Willetts, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ec2090b2-b2f7-4621-8f2d-bc5161151183 Fri, 27 Oct 2023 22:23:43 +0000 no Cutting school... by 20% https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1197954439/four-day-school-week-pros-and-cons
Those districts are saying to teachers, "You can have three-day weekends all the time, and we won't cut your pay." As of this fall, around 900 school districts – that's about 7% of all districts in the U.S. – now have school weeks that are just four days long.

And this isn't the first time a bunch of schools have scaled back to four days, so there is a lot of data to lean on to figure out how well it works. In this episode, teachers love the four-day school week, and it turns out even parents love it, too. But is it good for students?

This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Molly Messick and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3e3c1f6b-09d6-4348-b254-1462614419fb Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:08:11 +0000 no How unions are stopped before they start https://www.npr.org/2023/10/20/1197954385/uaw-united-auto-workers-union-strike-volkswagen-chattanooga support for unions among Americans was the highest it's been in decades. This dissonance is due, in part, to the difficulties of one important phase in the life cycle of a union: setting up a union in the first place. One place where that has been particularly clear is at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Back in 2008, Volkswagen announced that they would be setting up production in the United States after a 20-year absence. They planned to build a new auto manufacturing plant in Chattanooga.

Volkswagen has plants all over the world, all of which have some kind of worker representation, and the company said that it wanted that for Chattanooga too. So, the United Auto Workers, the union that traditionally represents auto workers, thought they would be able to successfully unionize this plant.

They were wrong.

In this episode, we tell the story of the UAW's 10-year fight to unionize the Chattanooga plant. And, what other unions can learn from how badly that fight went for labor.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin. It was engineered by Josephine Nyounai, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e2e41ddd-aeaa-4786-81bc-52701206f60c Fri, 20 Oct 2023 23:47:08 +0000 no Indicator exploder: jobs and inflation https://www.npr.org/2023/10/18/1197954369/two-indicators-bureau-of-labor-statistics-behind-the-scenes
The world of economics is filled with all sorts of "measuring sticks." GDP. Inflation. Unemployment. Consumer sentiment. Over time, all kinds of government agencies, universities and private companies have come up with different ways to measure facets of the economy. These measures factor into all kinds of huge decisions—things like government policy, business strategies, maybe even your personal career choices or investments.

On today's show, we're going to lift the curtain on two of these yardsticks. We are going to meet the people tasked with sticking a number on two huge measures of our economic well being: the official U.S. government inflation report and the monthly unemployment and jobs numbers. Come along and see how the measures get made.

This episode was hosted by Darian Woods, Stacey Vanek Smith, and Wailin Wong. It was produced by Julia Ritchey and Jess Kung with help from James Sneed. Engineering by Gilly Moon and James Willetts. It was fact-checked by Michael He and Corey Bridges, and edited by Kate Concannon and Viet Le. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3e24b7b9-4c93-47f9-868f-75583152a590 Wed, 18 Oct 2023 21:33:41 +0000 no Maria Bamford gets personal (about) finance https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1197954347/maria-bamford-net-worth-debt-salary-graduation-speech-book Note: There is swearing in this episode.

In 2017, The University of Minnesota asked comedian Maria Bamford to give their commencement speech. But the University may not have known what it was in for. In her speech, Bamford told the crowd of graduates how much the university offered to pay her (nothing), her counteroffer ($20,000), and the amount they settled on ($10,000), which (after taxes and fees, etc.) she gave away to students in the audience to pay down their student loans.

Maria Bamford is a big believer in full disclosure of her finances, a philosophy she's adopted after decades in a Debtors Anonymous support group. In meetings, she learned important financial tips and tricks to go from thousands of dollars in debt to her current net worth of $3.5 million (a number which, true to her philosophy, she will share with anyone).

She spoke with us about her financial issues, how she recovered, and why she believes in total financial transparency, even when it makes her look kinda bad.

Disclaimer: Planet Money is not qualified or certified to give financial advice. And Maria is not a spokesperson for Debtors Anonymous in any way.

This show was hosted by Kenny Malone and Mary Childs. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Neisha Heinis. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 21f5c508-b808-48b2-942c-b92750b8b6c8 Fri, 13 Oct 2023 23:26:29 +0000 yes Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic) https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1197954275/price-coca-cola-rerun
On today's show, we find out why. The answer includes a half a million vending machines, a 7.5 cent coin, and a company president who just wanted to get a couple of lawyers out of his office.

This episode originally ran in 2012.

This episode was hosted by David Kestenbaum. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e12c232f-cc1b-4593-95a2-d6c35d4494f8 Wed, 11 Oct 2023 20:22:40 +0000 no A man, a plan, wind power, Uruguay https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/1197954251/uruguay-green-energy-carbon-emissions-climate-change
Ramón Méndez Galain was, at the time, a particle physicist, but he wanted to apply his scientific mind to this issue. He started researching different energy sources and eventually wrote up a plan for how Uruguay's power grid could transition to renewable energy. It would be better for the climate, and, he thought, in the long run it would be the most economical choice Uruguay could make.

Méndez Galain shared his plan online and in a series of informal lectures. Then, one day he received a phone call from the office of the president of Uruguay, inviting him to put his plan into action.

Countries all over the world have announced lofty goals to reduce the emissions that cause climate change. But Uruguay actually did it. In a typical year, 98% of Uruguay's grid is powered by green energy. How did it get there? It involved a scientist, an innovative approach to infrastructure funding, and a whole lot of wind.

Today's show was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aroncyzk. It was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Emma Peaslee. It was engineered by Maggie Luthar, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c6dee75b-e24e-4953-b770-797df0f0e047 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:48:33 +0000 no The flight attendants of CHAOS https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1197954201/chaos-alaska-airlines-flight-attendants-union-strike
The union — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA — knew that if they chose to strike, Alaska Airlines could use a plan. While Alaska Airlines technically couldn't fire someone on strike, they could permanently replace the striking flight attendants with new workers. Essentially, if the union went on strike, they could risk thousands of people's jobs. The flight attendants knew they needed a counter-strategy.

They went with a strategy they called CHAOS: "Create Havoc Around Our System."

The strategy had two phases. Phase one: The union kept Alaska guessing about when, where, and how a strike might happen. They kept everyone, even their own members, in the dark. And in turn, Alaska Airlines had to be prepared for a strike at any place and any time. Phase two was to go on strike in a targeted and strategic way.

The havoc that the flight attendants created set off a sort-of labor-dispute arms race and would go on to inspire strikes today. And, it showed how powerful it can be to introduce a little chaos into negotiations.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5908cff2-fb6c-4bb3-946b-9380f16ec1c4 Wed, 04 Oct 2023 23:28:41 +0000 no A trucker hat mystery, the curse of September and other listener questions https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1197954172/listener-questions-bass-pro-shops-hats-september-effect-fednow-casinos
That's right - it's time for Listener Questions!

Every so often, we like to hear from listeners about what's on their minds, and we try to get to the bottom of their economic mysteries. On today's show, we have questions like:

Why is September historically the worst month for the stock market?
How did the Bass Pro Shops hat get so popular in Ecuador?
Are casinos banks?
What is the Federal Reserve's new plan to make bank transfers faster?

Today's show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and produced by James Sneed. The audio engineer for this episode was Josephine Nyounai. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Dave Blanchard. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> ff7a3038-6c3d-4942-bb93-2d8c4949631b Fri, 29 Sep 2023 21:18:51 +0000 no The natural disaster economist https://www.npr.org/2023/09/27/1197954148/natural-disasters-environmental-risk-economics
Tatyana Deryugina is a leading expert on the economics of natural disasters — how we respond to them, how they affect the economy, and how they change our lives. And back when Tatyana first started researching natural disasters she realized that there's a lot we don't know about their long-term economic consequences. Especially about how individuals and communities recover.

Trying to understand those questions of how we respond to natural disasters is a big part of Tatyana's research. And her research has some surprising implications for how we should be responding to natural disasters.

This episode was hosted and reported by Jeff Guo. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Josephine Nyounai. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8b72804d-2f5f-4a49-b914-d809cbe9e0f6 Wed, 27 Sep 2023 21:18:11 +0000 no A black market, a currency crisis, and a tango competition in Argentina https://www.npr.org/2023/09/22/1197954122/argentina-peso-inflation-milei
If you want to understand what happens when inflation really goes off the rails, go to Argentina. Annual inflation there, over the past year, was 124 percent. Argentina's currency, the peso, is collapsing, its poverty rate is above 40 percent, and the country may be on the verge of electing a far right Libertarian president who promises to replace the peso with the dollar. Even in a country that is already deeply familiar with economic chaos, this is dramatic.

In this episode, we travel to Argentina to try to understand: what is it like to live in an economy that's on the edge? With the help of our tango dancer guide, we meet all kinds of people who are living through record inflation and political upheaval. Because even as Argentina's economy tanks, its annual Mundial de Tango – the biggest tango competition in the world – that show is still on.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from James Sneed. It was engineered by Maggie Luthar, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and edited by Molly Messick. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 31f1ea2d-4ace-4bfb-b833-6bc5a0e64a6a Sat, 23 Sep 2023 03:34:53 +0000 no "Based on a true story" https://www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1197954107/gamestop-dumb-money-based-on including us here at Planet Money, rushed in to explain why the stock for this retail video game company was suddenly skyrocketing, at times by as much as 1700% in value, and what that meant for the rest of us.

When movie producer Aaron Ryder saw the GameStop story — an army of scrappy underdogs, banding together to strike back against a financial system they felt was rigged against them — he knew it had the makings for a great movie. The only problem: so did a bunch of other movie producers and Hollywood studios. So Aaron found himself in the middle of a fast and furious race to make the first Game Stop movie.

On today's show, one producer's quest to claim the hottest ticket in Tinseltown and the whole hidden machinery dedicated to turning a news story into box office gold. You'll never read the word 'based on a true story' the same way again.

Today's episode was reported and hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by James Willetts, and fact-checked by Cooper Katz McKim and James Sneed. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> eec8cce4-816c-4e1e-90ee-d56a11681bc7 Wed, 20 Sep 2023 21:41:25 +0000 no How to launder $600 million on the internet https://www.npr.org/2023/09/15/1197954055/axie-infinity-north-korea-ronin
It was the largest crypto heist in history. And now it was Erin's job to find that money and get it back. Erin's investigation would lead her to face off against some of the world's most formidable digital money launderers, whose actions would soon raise alarms at the highest levels of government — even threaten the nuclear security of the entire planet.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Keith Romer, produced by James Sneed, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Willa Rubin & Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> e1936352-8eb1-4f5d-b555-682a77d31543 Sat, 16 Sep 2023 00:11:27 +0000 no China's weakening economy in two Indicators https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1197953094/two-indicators-china
Today, our friends at The Indicator share some of their recent reporting on China. First up, it's a special edition of the Beigie Awards focused entirely on China. What can the approach of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book - i.e. looking at anecdotes that tell us something about where the economy is headed - show us about China's economy?

Then, we take a deep dive into one of the most alarming indicators in China: the skyrocketing urban youth unemployment rate.

This episode was hosted by Darian Woods, Wailin Wong, and Robert Smith. The original Indicator episodes were produced by Corey Bridges with engineering by Robert Rodriguez. They were fact-checked by Cooper Katz McKim and Sierra Juarez. They were edited by Paddy Hirsch and Kate Concannon.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> c23a834e-1510-4cb3-8c8c-c413e5cefadb Wed, 13 Sep 2023 21:50:02 +0000 no Is economists' favorite tool to crush inflation broken? https://www.npr.org/2023/09/08/1197953033/bill-phillips-curve-history
So where does the idea of this tradeoff – between inflation and unemployment – come from?

That story starts in the 1940s, with a soft-spoken electrical engineer-turned-crocodile hunter-turned-economist named Bill Phillips. Phillips was consumed by the notion that there are underlying forces at work in the economy. He thought that if macroeconomists could only understand how those forces work, they could keep the economy stable.

On today's show, how the Phillips Curve was born, why it went mainstream, and why universal truths remain elusive in macroeconomics.

This episode was hosted by Willa Rubin and Nick Fountain, and produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Molly Messick, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Sierra Juarez checked the facts.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 758c542c-a0c7-43e1-8912-c5612ceda61b Fri, 08 Sep 2023 21:00:48 +0000 no The prince of prints and his prints of Prince https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197609729/prince-warhol-goldsmith-supreme-court
This was early in his career, when he was still building the pop icon reputation he would have today. And in 1984, shortly after Prince had released Purple Rain, he was chosen to grace the cover of Vanity Fair. The magazine commissioned pop culture icon Andy Warhol to make a portrait of Prince for the cover. He used Lynn Goldsmith's photo, created a silkscreen from it, added some artistic touches, and instead of black-and-white, colored the face purple and set it against a red background. Warhol was paid, Goldsmith was paid, and both were given credit.

However, years later, after both Prince and Warhol had passed away, Goldsmith saw her portrait back out in the world again. But this time, the face was orange, and Goldsmith wasn't given money or credit. And what began as a typical question of payment for work, led to a firestorm in the Supreme Court. At the center of it, dozens of questions of what makes art unique. And at what point does a derivative work become transformative? The answer, it seems, has to do less with what art critics think, and more with what the market thinks.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 186c8b74-812e-4eff-8189-0412af3dda01 Wed, 06 Sep 2023 21:48:18 +0000 no How to fight a patent pirate https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197321273/turmeric-india-biopiracy-patent-tkdl
But as he would soon discover, turmeric wasn't the only piece of traditional or indigenous knowledge that had been claimed in Western patent offices. The practice even had its own menacing nickname - biopiracy. And what started out as a plan to rescue one Indian remedy from the clutches of the U.S. patent office, eventually turned into a much bigger mission – to build a new kind of digital fortress, strong enough to keep even the most rapacious of bio-pirates at bay.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Our engineers were Josh Newell and James Willetts. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 99abb062-6969-4add-aecf-2d27b427368b Fri, 01 Sep 2023 22:18:41 +0000 no Summer School 8: Graduation and the Guppy Tank https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1196892437/summer-school-graduation-guppy-tank
Today, you become masters of business administration... spelled with lower-case letters for legal purposes. Your diploma is waiting for you just across the stage.

But first, there's one final skill to impart: the pitch. We wouldn't be doing our job as a half-baked parody of a business school if we didn't leave you with the confidence and opportunity to stand in front of an investor and ask for money. We understand what you ambitious business school graduates really want is the chance to launch something and get rich.

So we're combining graduation with a little test of ideas, a showdown of startups, a competition of companies. We are going to put our own spin on a pitch competition like you see on Shark Tank. We hear from five listeners with real ideas for startups.

Can they make a successful pitch? What will investors be looking for in their presentation? Can they come prepared with persuasive total addressable market analyses? Who will have the sharpest customer pain points to solve? We shall see.

Our business expert will give us a rare glimpse into the mind of investors and what they're looking for. Only one graduate will be crowned the winner as this year's valedictorian.

If you want to get your diploma right now, take the 2023 Planet Money Summer School Quiz to earn your diploma!

If you share it on social media, tag us so we can celebrate with you.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 64b5df41-7159-418d-a399-eb75d1d7946d Wed, 30 Aug 2023 23:35:31 +0000 no The secret entrance that sidesteps Hollywood picket lines https://www.npr.org/2023/08/25/1195908462/sag-aftra-wga-strike-picket-line-neutral-gate
But, on some of these lots, there are these strange alternate entrances where there are no picketers. Here drivers can come and go as they please without ever encountering any sign of a strike.

Behold the neutral gate. An entrance intended for people who work at these lots but don't work for production companies that are involved with these particular strikes. (Usually that means things like game shows or TV commercials.)

But, as one group of picketers recently experienced, it's hard to know if these entrances are, in fact, only being used by neutral parties or if the entrances might be being abused.

On today's episode, the question of whether one Hollywood production was taking advantage of the neutral gate, and what the fight over a driveway can teach us about the broader labor battles in Hollywood and across the country.

This episode was hosted by Dave Blanchard and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, with reporting from Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed and engineered by James Willetts. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 307cca78-b275-46cf-883d-736055570ffe Sat, 26 Aug 2023 00:08:56 +0000 no Summer School 7: Negotiating and the empathetic nibble https://www.npr.org/2023/08/23/1195427693/summer-school-negotiations-price-salary-benefits know you're getting the best deal? Whether you're talking down the price of a car or talking up your salary, you don't have to be a jerk to get what you want. Negotiations can be win-win – if you know what to ask for and how to grow the pie.

We have three stories in today's episode about how to negotiate tactically. First, a hostage negotiator tries to buy a car. Will he get far? Then, one man's encounter at the airline ticket booth may inform how you respond to your next job offer. Finally, how to avoid a food fight and make a deal that benefits everybody.

We'll learn about something called BATNA, or best alternative to a negotiated agreement, which can tell you when to stand firm and when to walk away. We'll find out how to shift our thinking about what success can look like in a negotiation, and shift your counterpart's thinking too.

Come learn the techniques of expert negotiators in the penultimate episode of Planet Money Summer School, MBA edition. Next week: Graduation! So, you have one week to negotiate the cost of your cap and gown.

Our Summer School series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by our executive producer, Alex Goldmark, and engineered by James Willetts. The show was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 3ef2a3da-58a9-4411-99ef-79e3c930f94d Wed, 23 Aug 2023 21:00:09 +0000 no Vacation, and why the U.S. takes so little of it https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194467863/europe-vacation-holiday-paid-time-off
Every single worker in the European Union is guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation. No matter how long they've been at a company. No matter how low paying the job is. Vacation is a right.

In fact, all but one of the richest countries in the world guarantees paid vacation, except: the U.S.

According to a 2019 study, people in Japan get 10 paid vacation days and 15 paid holidays; in Australia it's 20 paid vacation days and 8 paid holidays; and in Spain it's 25 paid vacation days and 14 paid holidays.

And it's not just a rich country thing: Mexico, Afghanistan, Thailand, Tanzania - they all guarantee paid vacation from work, at least in the formal job sector.

In the U.S: Zero paid vacation days and zero paid holidays. So, why is the United States the outlier? We go to several labor economists and historians, to find out what makes Americans different from Europeans. It's a winding journey, so maybe put in a request for some paid time off and take a listen!

This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by Maggie Luthar, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 67801180-4a2f-44ba-9429-c9973c61b672 Fri, 18 Aug 2023 20:36:31 +0000 no Summer School 6: Operations and 25,000 roses https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194249897/summer-school-operations-capacity-variability-newsvendor-model
It's more than just predicting a bottleneck and imagining a solution, because there's always a bottleneck to clear. It's about modeling, and weighing the costs of messing up vs. missing out. For instance, take a newspaper vendor who has to decide how many newspapers to sell tomorrow morning. Do they buy fewer, knowing that they'll sell out–and then miss out on potential revenue from papers not sold? Or do they order more than they expect to sell, just in case–and eat the cost of a few unsold papers? This type of trade-off applies to all kinds of businesses, and Gallino talks us through how to choose.

The only certainty in this life is uncertainty. But we are certain you will come out of this episode feeling better prepared for your future business. And fortunately, there are no bottlenecks in podcasting.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Alex Goldmark and engineered by James Willetts. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 5b77c8c1-1517-4179-bce5-921ea56d22af Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:15:40 +0000 no The new Biden plan that could still erase your student loans https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192703211/biden-save-plan-how-it-works another, the SAVE plan. And though SAVE sounded less significant than Biden's big forgiveness pledge, it's still alive and could erase even more student debt.

SAVE is officially a loan repayment plan. But through a few seemingly minor yet powerful provisions, many more low-income borrowers will end up paying little or nothing until, eventually, their loans will be forgiven. Even many higher-income borrowers will see some of their debts erased.

In this episode, we explain the history of income-driven repayment. And how borrowers could end up paying less than they might expect once payments resume in October. You can read more from NPR's Cory Turner's here.

This episode was hosted by Cory Turner and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Music: Universal Production Music - "Nola Strut," "Funky Ride," and "The Down Low Disco King"

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 545bb159-68c1-4c6b-b691-a58bbc37bdd8 Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:43:41 +0000 no Summer School 5: Tech and the innovator's dilemma https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1192918768/summer-school-technology-innovators-dilemma-disruption
But, since this is Planet Money Summer School and we want to set your business on the path to riches, we're going to talk about how to use tech to dream big. Maybe more than anything, technology creates opportunities for the little guys where the big established companies can't be so nimble or have too much to lose.

Take the classic concept of the innovator's dilemma: a company that innovated and succeeded, now faces a choice about any disruptive new technology. Do they risk tossing out their existing advantage and switch to the new tech, or play it safe and risk becoming obsolete?

Most new technologies don't end up disrupting an industry. So it is totally rational for the big existing companies to ignore each new flash in the pan. But nobody wants to end up like Kodak: sticking with film while the digital camera takes off. So what to do?

Our friendly professor has a few ideas – for the little guy and the big old company. He'll explain the shape of how new technology gets adopted, sometimes called the S curve. We'll also hear examples of what stops promising new tech from taking off: from dishwashers to driverless cars, and even the humble elevator.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 8ec3dbed-be78-4563-a6ec-051d72df359b Wed, 09 Aug 2023 17:43:39 +0000 no A tarot card reading for the U.S. economy https://www.npr.org/2023/08/04/1192157490/soft-hard-no-landing-inflation
Will the Fed be able to pull off a soft landing and bring down inflation without causing either a recession or a big jump in unemployment? Or will we end up with a hard landing, in which inflation comes down, but at the price of the country's economic health? Or, a third possibility, will the Fed not successfully bring inflation down at all?

On today's show, three economic experts explain what they look for when trying to make predictions about what might come next for the U.S. economy. And how those indicators lead them to very different conclusions. We will also consult a tarot card reader...to see if her reading of the future can help us know which outcome is the most likely.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer, Sarah Gonzalez, and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee with help from Maggie Luthar and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> b34f92d4-a09b-4298-b5ca-ee17568f4e25 Fri, 04 Aug 2023 23:20:49 +0000 no Summer School 4: Marketing and the Ultimate Hose Nozzle https://www.npr.org/2023/08/02/1191666301/summer-school-sales-marketing
If you've watched a show like Mad Men or The Office, you know the importance of a strong pitch. It's precision-crafted to show how what you're selling can solve a problem your customer needs solved. Sometimes it even creates the need. Once you've got your sales pitch, it's time to get the word out: marketing. Where to spread that message? How to make it unforgettable? Instantly recognizable? What is going to be your Just do it? Your Think different? Your Where's the beef?

In our case studies today, we look at a product so cleverly marketed, the company doesn't need to market it at all anymore and customers wait years to get it: the Birkin bag. And we hear lessons from some of the world's most time tested salespeople who can and do sell anything, literally. It's all about the four P's: Product, place, promotion and price. Also, a few other tricks we test out.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith, and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Sally Helm and engineered by Josephine Nyounai. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4f2c0362-9327-41f2-9d52-3f91e7f52284 Wed, 02 Aug 2023 22:05:51 +0000 no Tackle your medical debt with Life Kit https://www.npr.org/2023/07/28/1190725808/tackle-your-medical-debt-with-life-kit
If you liked this episode, you can check out more Life Kit here. They have episodes on how to choose a bank, and how to save money at the grocery store.

This episode of Life Kit was produced by Sylvie Douglis. Their visuals editor is Beck Harlan, and their digital editor is Danielle Nett. Meghan Keane is their supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is their executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 57bc90a7-d713-4101-a7d2-9af5107bea71 Mon, 31 Jul 2023 23:00:57 +0000 no Did two honesty researchers fabricate their data? https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190568472/dan-ariely-francesca-gino-harvard-dishonesty-fabricated-data we've highlighted on Planet Money. The two worked together on a paper about how to "nudge" people to be more honest on things like forms or tax returns. Their trick: move the location where people attest that they have filled in a form honestly from the bottom of the form to the top.

But recently, questions have arisen about whether the data Ariely and Gino relied on in their famous paper about honesty were fabricated — whether their research into honesty was itself built on lies. The blog Data Colada went looking for clues in the cells of the studies' Excel spreadsheets, the shapes of their data distributions, and even the fonts that were used.

The Hartford, an insurance company that collaborated with Ariely on one implicated study, told NPR this week in a statement that it could confirm that the data it had provided for that study had been altered had been altered after they gave it to Ariely, but prior to the research's publication: "It is clear the data was manipulated inappropriately and supplemented by synthesized or fabricated data."

Ariely denies that he was responsible for the falsified data. "Getting the data file was the extent of my involvement with the data," he told NPR.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> a1f11143-426d-4963-81d5-dbd5d01a1c60 Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:15:52 +0000 no Summer School 3: Accounting and The Last Supper https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1188945122/summer-school-accounting-last-supper
In this class, you'll learn the basics of accounting, and uncover its origins. We'll introduce you to the man who helped it spread around the world. He was a monk, a magician, and possibly the boyfriend of Leonardo da Vinci.

Is accounting... sexy?

Yes. Yes it is.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith, and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Sally Helm and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 4dee313b-2fd1-4abc-983c-8ab919ec4524 Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:17:52 +0000 no Planet Money Paper Club https://www.npr.org/2023/07/11/1187071212/greedy-jobs-parent-phone-calls-career-advice
So, to bring that same sense of discovery to you, the listener, today we are dedicating our show to a special experiment. A new way to share some of the most fascinating, clever and surprising economics papers in a segment we're calling: The Econ Paper Club.

On today's show, we read the econ papers so you don't have to. We take a joyous romp through some of the most fascinating ideas floating around economics right now. And we find that some of those fascinating ideas are about some of the biggest things in life: the careers we choose, the expectations that come with parenting and what one eminent economist calls 'greedy jobs.'

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and James Sneed. It was edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> 90a782de-ffd8-4297-9173-0bc6a264cb6e Fri, 21 Jul 2023 22:55:19 +0000 no Summer School 2: Competition and the cheaper sneaker https://www.npr.org/2023/07/19/1188743497/summer-school-mba-competition
So, what can you do to make sure your product is a success? That was the conundrum facing the Starbury. It was a basketball shoe with a celebrity endorsement, that had to go up against THE basketball shoe with THE celebrity endorsement: the Air Jordan. Our first story is about the ways in which the Starbury succeeded and failed in taking on a juggernaut.

Then, we will hear a story about trying to avoid the dangers of "perfect" competition. Two companies making almost identical handbells learn that the key to their success lies in convincing customers how different they really are.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Keith Romer and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> fb6579de-cea3-45f8-a52d-a4e73704c14d Wed, 19 Jul 2023 21:28:45 +0000 no Surprise, you just signed a contract! How hidden contracts took over the internet https://www.npr.org/2023/07/13/1187543648/terms-and-conditions-of-service-contracts-clickwrap
But then there are the horror stories like Greg Selden's. He tried to sue AirBnB for racial discrimination while using their site. But he had basically signed away his ability to sue AirBnB when he made an account. That agreement was tucked away in a little red link, something most people might not even bother to click through.

But, it wasn't always like this. On today's show, we go back in time to understand how the law of contracts got rewritten. And why today, you can accept a contract without even noticing it.

This episode was hosted by Emma Peaslee and Jeff Guo, and was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> af054b70-f94d-483f-94a5-07f1bf154528 Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:28:48 +0000 no Summer School 1: Planet Money goes to business school https://www.npr.org/2023/07/11/1187019058/summer-school-mba-entrepreneurship Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School is back! It's the free economics class you can take from anywhere... for everyone! For Season 4 of Summer School, we are taking you to business school. It's time to get your MBA, the easy way!

In this first class: Everyone has a million dollar business idea (e.g., "Shazam but for movies"), but not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. We have two stories about founders who learned the hard way what goes into starting a small business, and getting it up and running.

First, a story about Frederick Hutson, who learned about pain points and unique value propositions when he founded a company to help inmates and their families share photos. Then, we take a trip to Columbia, Maryland with chefs RaeShawn and LaShone Middleton. Their steamed crab delivery service taught them the challenges of "bootstrapping" to grow their business. And throughout the episode, Columbia Business School professor Angela Lee explains why entrepreneurship can be really difficult, but also incredibly rewarding, if you have the stomach for it.

(And, we should say, we are open to investors for "Shazam but for movies." Just sayin'.)

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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NPR Privacy Policy]]> 0544238b-6e7b-442d-87b4-dcb948eacf82 Wed, 12 Jul 2023 23:11:31 +0000 no The quest to save macroeconomics from itself https://www.npr.org/2023/07/05/1186110353/emi-nakamura-empirical-macroeconomics
Emi Nakamura wants to change all that. She's a superstar economist who is a pioneer in the field of "empirical macroeconomics." She finds clever ways of using data to untangle some of the oldest mysteries in macroeconomics, about the invisible hand, the consequences of government spending, and the inner workings of inflation.

Recently we called her up to ask her why the economy is so difficult to understand in first place, and how she's trying to find answers anyway. She gets into all of that, and how Jeff Goldblum shaped her career as an economist, in this episode.

This show was hosted by Jeff Guo and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Dave Blanchard with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was engineered by Josephine Nyounai and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Keith Romer edited the show. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy]]> df602fa2-72ea-4551-89fa-ecf87fca3d66 Fri, 07 Jul 2023 23:13:53 +0000 no