Planet Money

Morally questionable, economically efficient


Listen Later

There are tons of markets that don't exist because people just don't want to 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.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

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

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Planet MoneyBy NPR

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

29,588 ratings


More shows like Planet Money

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,256 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

21,953 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,853 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,239 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,651 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,975 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,227 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,794 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,272 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,991 Listeners

The Indicator from Planet Money by NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

9,548 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,507 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,587 Listeners

People I (Mostly) Admire by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

People I (Mostly) Admire

2,035 Listeners

Planet Money Summer School by NPR

Planet Money Summer School

185 Listeners

The Economics of Everyday Things by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett

The Economics of Everyday Things

1,650 Listeners

Planet Money: We Invested in Gold by NPR

Planet Money: We Invested in Gold

2 Listeners

Planet Money: We Set Up a Shell Company by NPR

Planet Money: We Set Up a Shell Company

8 Listeners

Planet Money: We Bought a Toxic Asset by NPR

Planet Money: We Bought a Toxic Asset

2 Listeners