Americans like to spend money. In fact, we spend more per person than almost any other country in the world. So, we wanted to know how an uncertain economy is affecting that. Today on the show, we hear from consumers directly on how their spending habits have changed the past few months.

Related episodes:
How's ... everybody doing? (Apple / Spotify)
Three ways consumers are feeling the pinch (Apple / Spotify)

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It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's episode: the Senate passes the GENIUS Act, the SALT cap might be DOA in the OBBB, and a gender split on the state of the economy.

Related episodes:
How stable is Stablecoin? (Apple / Spotify)
Feeling inflation in the grocery store

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Fact-checking by Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Last week, the U.S. Treasury held an auction for 30-year bonds. Some were worried no one would show up to buy these things! That didn't happen, but the 'long bond' isn't exactly thriving at the moment. Today on the show, we look back at why we have such a long maturity bond and why it might be a good idea to start paying attention to it going forward.

Related episodes:
Bond market nightmares (Apple / Spotify)
Bond vigilantes. Who they are, what they want, and how you'll know they're coming (Apple / Spotify)
Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields (Apple / Spotify)

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Last month, Eric Trump, executive vice president at The Trump Organization, attended a ceremony in Vietnam to break ground on a $1.5 billion residential development and golf course. This comes as Vietnam's government is in trade talks with the administration of Eric's father, President Donald Trump.

Today on the show, we look at how the Trump family's business projects in Vietnam are raising red flags when it comes to government ethics.

Related episodes:
How Trump is making coin from $TRUMP coin

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Nintendo has been a titan in the video game industry for decades, but that wasn't always the case. At its very core, Nintendo sees itself as a toy company which is evident in its products from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Nintendo Switch 2.

Today on the show, we explore Nintendo's history and examine how a small playing card company in Japan became a multimedia giant.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible
The boom and bust of esports
Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees
Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

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It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's episode: the monetary cost of Trump's military parade, looks like FEMA could be phased out, and another change to Warner Bros. Discovery.

Related episodes:
Coyote vs. Warner Bros. Discovery (Apple / Spotify)
Gilded Age 2.0? (Apple / Spotify)

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Healthcare churn—when people switch insurance plans—is particularly bad in the US.

In today's episode, why Americans switch healthcare plans so much, and how that can cost a lot in money ... and in health.

Related episode:
How doctors helped tank universal health care (Apple / Spotify)
Healthcare And Economic Despair

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There's something interesting happening at the Port of Baltimore. On today's show, we explore the hidden world of bonded warehouses, where you can stash your imported Latvian vodka or Dutch beer tariff free (for a while).

Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)

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For four decades, the US has maintained a consistent policy position: money should be fairly free to come and go in and out of the country. That's changing.

Two sections in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would add friction. First is a 3.5% tax on immigrants sending money home, commonly known as remittances. Second is what's known as Section 899 or, colloquially, the 'revenge tax'. This one is making Wall Street wary. It would slap extra taxes on people and businesses investing in the U.S. if their home countries were deemed to tax Americans unfairly.

We explain these two taxes that could mark a shift in our free-flowing money era.

Related episodes:
The long view of economics and immigration (Two Indicators) (Apple / Spotify)
The "chilling effect" of deportations (Apple / Spotify)

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A debate has been raging over universal health care in the U.S. since the 1940s. Back then, a formidable opponent emerged to dump a lot of money into ensuring it wouldn't happen. That opponent was doctors. Today on the show, Sally Helm, a Planet Money reporter, comes to us in her capacity as the host of HISTORY This Week to detail how doctors helped tank single pay healthcare back then and the role communism played in the fight.

A longer version of this episode is available at HISTORY This Week from the History Channel.

Related episodes:
Why do hospitals keep running out of generic drugs? (Apple / Spotify)
Socialism 101

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

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