Planet Money

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What's Planet Money about?

Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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To all the econ papers I've...

01.27.2023

How a great economics paper can surprise you, delight you, and even change your life.

Planet Money episodes:

01.27.2023 To all the econ papers I've loved before How a great economics paper can surprise you, delight you, and even change your life.
01.26.2023 The story of "Monopoly" and American capitalism Monopoly is a game legendary for its celebration of American capitalism, but its creator envisioned something very different.
01.21.2023 Charles Ponzi's scheme Some of history's biggest financial scams owe their name to Charles Ponzi. Here's the story of the man behind the eponymous scheme.
01.18.2023 Big Rigged (Classic) Driving a truck used to mean freedom. Now it means a mountain of debt. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
01.13.2023 Two Indicators: The 2% inflation target If the Fed had a mantra to go along with its mandate, it might well be "two percent." We look into how that became the target inflation rate, why some economists are calling for a change and how the inflation ...
01.11.2023 Planet Money Movie Club: It's a Wonderful Life Welcome to the Planet Money Movie Club, a regular series from Planet Money+ in which we watch an economics-related movie and discuss! On today's episode, Kenny Malone, Wailin Wong, and Willa Rubin talk about Frank Capra's 1946 classic 'It's A ...
01.06.2023 The economics lessons in kids' books All sorts of lessons (even about economics) can be learned from kids' books. On today's show, we visit an elementary school to try to teach third graders econ using some beloved childrens' classics. And, along the way, we learn a ...
12.31.2022 The Rest of the Story, 2022 It's that time of year again! Our annual year-end tradition of checking in on previous stories to hear what happened after the microphones stopped running.
12.28.2022 Which economic indicator defined 2022? Hosts of Planet Money and The Indicator make their cases for which economic indicator defined 2022.
12.24.2022 In defense of gift giving Cold economic reasoning says, supposedly, that gifts are inefficient transfers of wealth. But Planet Money host Jeff Guo believes in the economic virtues of gift giving. On today's show, Jeff tries to win over Planet Money's resident Scrooge, Kenny Malone, ...
12.21.2022 Two Indicators: The fight over ESG investing "ESG" investing – Environmental, Social, Governance – has attracted a lot of attention from investors, and from Republican politicians who call it "woke investing." On today's show, what the fight over ESG reveals about the potential and limitations of sustainable ...
12.16.2022 The sports ticket price enigma Inflation is making prices go up, except not for...sports tickets? So, we set out on a daylong sporting event marathon to learn why. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
12.14.2022 Spam call bounty hunter Telemarketing calls are not only annoying; in some cases, they are illegal. Congress even gives you the right to sue scofflaw telemarketers for $500 a call. Today, the story of one man who collected a surprising amount of money bringing ...
12.09.2022 The case of the missing cheese racks Jelle Peterse's company ships cheese all over the world, but they don't always get their cheese racks back. In this episode, we try to fix a supply chain problem. Gouda grief! Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at ...
12.07.2022 When women stopped coding (Classic) A lot of computing pioneers were women. For decades, the number of women in computer science was growing. But in 1984, something changed. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
12.03.2022 My Favorite Tax Loophole There's a big difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. But sometimes even avoiding taxes (legally) can feel like you're getting away with something. Today, we share some of our — and your! — favorite loopholes in the U.S. tax ...
12.01.2022 Messi economics Soccer star Lionel Messi is currently hoping to lead Argentina to victory in the World Cup. His path to global fame was shaped by a crisis in Argentina's economy. This episode was made in collaboration with NPR and Futuro Studios's ...
11.23.2022 One economist's take on popular advice for saving, borrowing, and spending Yale economist James Choi analyzed popular financial advice to see how it stacks up against traditional economic theory.
11.19.2022 How the cookie became a monster 30 years ago, Lou Montulli set out to solve a fundamental problem with the internet, and accidentally created an entirely different one. On today's show, how the cookie went from an obscure piece of code designed to protect anonymity, to ...
11.17.2022 Sam Bankman-Fried and the fall of a crypto empire Sam Bankman-Fried built a reputation as the one reliable crypto bro. But within the span of days, his empire came crashing down. What the rise and fall of crypto's 30-year-old elder statesman says about the story of crypto so far. ...
11.11.2022 The E-Book Wars In 2019, a group of librarians (quietly) stormed the offices of a major publisher, Macmillan, to protest a controversial policy on e-books. On this show, how a tiny change - a book on a screen - threw an industry into ...
11.09.2022 Peak Sand (classic) Sand. It's in buildings, windows, your cell phone. But there isn't enough in the world for everyone. And that's created a dangerous black market. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
11.04.2022 Planet Money tries election polling Polling is facing an existential crisis. Few people are answering the phone, and fewer people want to answer surveys. On today's show, we pick up the phones ourselves to find out how polling got to this place, and what the ...
11.02.2022 Two Indicators shaking China's economy Why China's housing market went from boom to bust, and how the new ban on selling high-end semiconductor chips to China may affect its tech sector
10.29.2022 Planet Money Records Vol. 2: The Negotiation We got our hands on the long-lost "Inflation" song, and now it's time to put it out into the world. So, we started a record label, and we're diving into the music business to try and make a hit. (This ...
10.27.2022 Planet Money Records Vol. 1: Earnest Jackson We try to start a real record label. Just to put one song out there. It's a song about inflation, recorded in 1975... and never released. Until now. (This episode is part one of a series) Listen to "Inflation" on ...
10.22.2022 The high cost of a strong dollar When it comes to international trade and finance, everyone pretty much speaks one language: the U.S. dollar. So when the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and the dollar suddenly gets strong, it can cause huge headaches all over the world. ...
10.19.2022 The money fixers (classic) How do you mend a broken bill? On this classic episode, we visit the Mutilated Currency Division. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
10.15.2022 You asked for coupons, Delaware, and the truth about goldfish On today's show, we're answering listener questions from the Planet Money inbox. Like, who really benefits from retail coupons? And why are goldfish so cheap? Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
10.12.2022 Two Indicators: back to school It's fall, so on this episode, we're taking you back to school. First, what sorority rush can teach us about a particular kind of market. Then, how two economists fixed the way macroeconomics was taught in high schools. It's econ, ...
10.07.2022 Forging Taiwan's Silicon Shield Taiwan is at the center of a global feud. Its main defense may be what some call its "Silicon Shield" — its powerful semiconductor industry. On today's show, the story of how one economic hero helped to transform Taiwan's economy ...
10.05.2022 Economic anarchy in the UK Liz Truss, the new Prime Minister of the UK, was determined to change the British economy. Instead, her government's mini-budget helped kick off a mini-financial crisis. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
09.30.2022 Would you like a side of offshoring with that? A lot of restaurants took a hit during the pandemic. And when they struggled to find workers, some found surprising solutions. On today's show, what happens when you offshore cashiers. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
09.28.2022 The miracle apple (Classic) Today on the show, how we got from mealy, nasty apples to apples that taste delicious. The story starts with a breeder who discovered a miracle apple. But discovering that apple wasn't enough.
09.23.2022 Econ's Brush with the Law What happens when you take some of the most powerful people in America — federal judges — and teach them economics? We look at the swanky econ retreats that may have changed American law forever. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in ...
09.21.2022 The Midnight Connection Texas's energy grid is largely disconnected from the rest of the U.S. That led to disastrous consequences last year when the state's grid was overloaded during a winter storm. Back in the 1970s, one company attempted to change the system ...
09.17.2022 Vibecession Vibes Session We're not in a recession, but why are the vibes feeling so off? We put the question to an economist and one expert on "vibes" and also hire a jazz band to take a pun way too far. Subscribe to ...
09.15.2022 The Good, the Bad, and the Uggly Eddie Oygur is an Australian businessman who's sold sheepskin ugg boots for years. But one day, he was hit with a lawsuit for breaking American trademark law. On today's show — what's in the name ugg? Subscribe to Planet Money+ ...
09.09.2022 Two Indicators: unlikely economic relationships On today's show - how your social circle is one of the strongest predictors of economic mobility and how pop music reflects the economy. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
09.08.2022 The salvage car Silk Road A practically brand new Lexus with a New Jersey inspection sticker lands on an auto body lot in Turkmenistan. How did it get there? To find out, we journey into the bizarro economy for misfit cars. And we follow a ...
09.03.2022 Breaking down the price of gasoline High gas prices have fueled speculation and investigations — is anyone raising prices and keeping prices high for profit? To find out, we break down the price of gas, piece by piece, to show you how we get to the ...
08.31.2022 SUMMER SCHOOL 8: Productivity & Getting Lit Productivity is our economic measure for how far our work goes, as individuals and as a society over all. It plays an important role in determining our quality of life, the prices of our goods and services, and, to some ...
08.26.2022 Wake up and smell the fraud Sometimes online shopping can feel a little unsavory. There are the listings that make you question if you'll really be getting exactly what's advertised. And there's no worse feeling than paying for something and then not getting it. But when ...
08.24.2022 SUMMER SCHOOL 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks When we face economic uncertainty, we sometimes need someone to come in, pull the macroeconomic strings, and help make everything better. That's where the Federal Reserve Comes in.
08.19.2022 Inflation Reduction Actually Congress just passed the biggest, most ambitious climate bill in history. And it's called ... the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. What's with that branding? And what can the bill teach us about actually fighting inflation? \| Subscribe to Planet ...
08.17.2022 SUMMER SCHOOL 6: Trade & The Better Life In theory, trade makes everyone better off, but it doesn't always work out that way. We take the theory and go around the world to see the workers behind international trade.
08.13.2022 Carried interest wormhole The carried interest tax loophole is a way that wealthy Americans – often the people who manage hedge funds or private equity firms – avoid paying billions of dollars worth of taxes. It has been one of the most controversial ...
08.11.2022 SUMMER SCHOOL 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market You can learn a lot about a person from their job. The same can be said of an economy. The market for jobs can us a lot about how the economy is doing, but more importantly, it is where we ...
08.05.2022 A new way to pay for college (Update) College has gotten incredibly expensive. And some colleges are offering students a new way to pay. It's not a scholarship. It's not quite a loan. It's more like the students are selling stock in themselves. We check in on how ...
08.04.2022 SUMMER SCHOOL 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies Inflation can be one of the scariest forces in the economy. As prices rise and your dollar doesn't go as far, you feel poorer, and it's all out of your control. To better understand inflation, we turn to the story ...

Older episodes

Planet Money

What's Planet Money about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Planet Money episodes:

To all the econ papers I've loved before

The story of "Monopoly" and American capitalism

Charles Ponzi's scheme

Big Rigged (Classic)

Two Indicators: The 2% inflation target

Planet Money Movie Club: It's a Wonderful Life

The economics lessons in kids' books

The Rest of the Story, 2022

Which economic indicator defined 2022?

In defense of gift giving

Two Indicators: The fight over ESG investing

The sports ticket price enigma

Spam call bounty hunter

The case of the missing cheese racks

When women stopped coding (Classic)

My Favorite Tax Loophole

Messi economics

One economist's take on popular advice for saving, borrowing, and spending

How the cookie became a monster

Sam Bankman-Fried and the fall of a crypto empire

The E-Book Wars

Peak Sand (classic)

Planet Money tries election polling

Two Indicators shaking China's economy

Planet Money Records Vol. 2: The Negotiation

Planet Money Records Vol. 1: Earnest Jackson

The high cost of a strong dollar

The money fixers (classic)

You asked for coupons, Delaware, and the truth about goldfish

Two Indicators: back to school

Forging Taiwan's Silicon Shield

Economic anarchy in the UK

Would you like a side of offshoring with that?

The miracle apple (Classic)

Econ's Brush with the Law

The Midnight Connection

Vibecession Vibes Session

The Good, the Bad, and the Uggly

Two Indicators: unlikely economic relationships

The salvage car Silk Road

Breaking down the price of gasoline

SUMMER SCHOOL 8: Productivity & Getting Lit

Wake up and smell the fraud

SUMMER SCHOOL 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks

Inflation Reduction Actually

SUMMER SCHOOL 6: Trade & The Better Life

Carried interest wormhole

SUMMER SCHOOL 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market

A new way to pay for college (Update)

SUMMER SCHOOL 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies

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