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The U.S. exports billions of dollars worth of agricultural products each year — things like soybeans, corn and pork. And over the last month, these exports have been caught up in a trade war. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
For decades, dollars have been the world's common financial language. Central banks everywhere hold dollars as a way to safely store their wealth. Countries, businesses, and people use it to trade; around 90% of all foreign exchange transactions involve dollars. It's the world's money, the world's "reserve currency." 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? https://www.thedollartrap.com by Eswar Prasad https://global.oup.com/academic/product/exorbitant-privilege-9780199931095 by Barry Eichengreen https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=keg+rogoff+our+money+your+problem&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 by Ken Rogoff Planet Money: https://n.pr/3h92GwS / https://n.pr/3FqLuws / https://n.pr/3sGZdrq / https://n.pr/3zrFvUB. Listen free at these links: http://n.pr/PM-digital, https://n.pr/3gTkQlR, https://n.pr/3Bkb17W or anywhere you get podcasts. Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in http://n.pr/PM-digitalor at https://n.pr/3HlREPz. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Virtually every product brought into the United States must have a so-called "country of origin." Think of it as the official place it comes from. And this is the country that counts for calculating tariffs. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Why is it so hard to find a bathroom when you need one? 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
On today's show: we're ... venting. 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.) Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi's Aunt Vovi signed up for 23andMe back in 2017, hoping to learn more about the genetic makeup of her ancestors. Vovi was one of over 15 million 23andMe customers who sent their saliva off to be analyzed by the company. 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. and Neal Rauch Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also threatened to oust Powell — which would mark an extraordinary shift away from the independence of the central bank. 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. http://plus.npr.org/ https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/ https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Recently, one of our NPR colleagues wrote a message to all of NPR saying he had extra eggs to sell for cheap, but needed a fair way to distribute them during a shortage. What is Planet Money here for if not to get OVERLY involved in this kind of situation? 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. Find more Planet Money: https://n.pr/3h92GwS / https://n.pr/3FqLuws / https://n.pr/3sGZdrq / Our weekly https://n.pr/3zrFvUB. Listen free at these links: http://n.pr/PM-digital, https://n.pr/3gTkQlR, https://n.pr/3Bkb17W or anywhere you get podcasts. Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ http://n.pr/PM-digital or at https://n.pr/3HlREPz. Music: NPR Source Audio - "Punchy Punchline," "Game Face," "Feeling the Funk," and "The Host Most Wanted" Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful. 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 https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-03063.pdf, 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump's tariffs kick in - or are paused or are restarted - businesses around the world are trying to navigate the uncertainty. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
At the heart of President Trump's tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade deficit. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the war on drugs led to an American trade policy and a foreign aid initiative that won us blueberries all year round. And for more on trade and tariffs check out Planet Money's homepage https://www.npr.org/sections/money/. We've got articles looking at how much the new tariffs will raise prices https://www.npr.org/2025/04/03/g-s1-58094/tariffs-price-raises-economists and shows on everything from diamonds https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/1240892101/diamond-market-natural-lab-grown-gemological to potatoes https://www.npr.org/2025/01/03/1222640149/conpapa-mexican-potato-lobby-trade to why you bought your couch https://www.npr.org/2024/11/27/1215355314/high-point-north-carolina-furniture-market. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
What are tariffs good for? 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here on Earth — everything from sand to copper to oil — and tally up how much we have left. Are we living with reckless abandon? And if so, is there even a way to stop? A simultaneously terrifying and delightful conversation about bird poop, daredevil drivers, and some staggering back-of-the-envelope math. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
The deal seemed too good to be true. There's a website that's been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn't find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy a diamond on a public radio budget. So we did. What we got in the mail was a tiny ziploc bag containing a 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? Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
There's one statistic that rules them all when it comes to keeping track of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP). It's the sum of all final transactions, so all the goods or services bought and sold, in an economy. GDP tells us how hot the economy is running, or how cool — like if we might be heading into a recession. And it's an important tool to compare countries, policies, and politicians. It's used by the U.S. government to allocate money and by businesses to make decisions about the future. For close to a century the building blocks of GDP have been the same. Now Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has proposed https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5323155/economic-data-reliability-trump-howard-lutnick 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. Planet Money: https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money?utm_campaign=Digital+to+PM&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=NPRorg+Story+Page http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3gTkQlR Planet Money Planet Money+ http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Note: This original episode ran in 2020 https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799345159/episode-967-escheat-show. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Tupperware is the stealthy star of our modern homes. These plastic storage containers are ubiquitous in our fridges, pantries, and closets. But the original product was revolutionary. So was its breakthrough sales strategy: the Tupperware Party. 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 https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring. For even more on the legacy of Tupperware, listen to their full episode https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring/2025/01/how-tupperware-and-plastic-storage-containers-took-over-our-homes. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save? 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 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/lessons-for-the-future-of-government-reform/#_ftn1 - Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today's federal government https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-government-too-big-reflections-on-the-size-and-composition-of-todays-federal-government/ - Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less https://books.google.com/books?id=Gokuf3L1hQEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
In some ways, starting a bank is a lot like starting any other business. Who will you hire? Where will you be located? What color will the couches be? But it's also way more complicated. There are tons of regulations on banks–and you can understand why. Lots of new businesses fail. But if a bank fails, it can have ripple effects for the entire economy. 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. https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17W http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Memecoins are having a moment. Everyone from Hawk Tuah to President Donald Trump to animal influencers like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo have been turned into cryptocurrency. But what are the costs of all the hype? 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. The Memecoin Casino How the memecoin game is played Where'd The Money Go, And Other Questions Who Let The Doge(coin) Out? Planet MoneyPlanet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Last year, Tyson Foods shuttered a meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The company said it made the decision because the plant was old and inefficient. But the closure was devastating for the residents of Perry. The plant had employed some 1200 workers in a town with a population of only 8000. 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. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
There's this cautionary tale, in the finance world, that nearly any trader can tell you. It's about placing too much confidence in math and models. It's the story of Long Term Capital Management. 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 learn) from the legendary tale of Long Term Capital Management? Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
So the president can't spend more money than Congress has agreed and voted to spend. But can the president spend less money than Congress wants? 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. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lDAKGI7RUT0j8g9NTE0lJ?si=_SkG6Un9TjioEg_vY0FfpA https://open.spotify.com/episode/7B0gf7hDzrZ3dCFVxOXRoc?si=Zju9nPdmSs6P0pZbUHKlMA https://open.spotify.com/episode/4WePEAx3C2wXYDVsr4aBwq?si=vcMxo_qESq-2yzjo5HpgcQPlanet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
There has been chaotic uncertainty around billions of dollars allocated by Congress. The Trump administration ordered a pause on — and review of — certain types of federal assistance. A judge blocked that freeze. But reports continue to emerge that certain parts of the government were not getting their money. 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 https://www.hamiltonproject.org/data/tracking-federal-expenditures-in-real-time/.) that you can use to follow along from home, right now, as this gigantic federal spending story continues developing and developing. Planet Money https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17WPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
The trip that changed Tigran Gambaryan's life forever was supposed to be short — just a few days. When he flew to Nigeria in February of 2024, he didn't even check a bag. Tigran is a former IRS Special Agent. He made his name investigating high-profile dark web and cryptocurrency cases. Some colleagues called him the 'Crypto Wizard' because of his pioneering work tracing crypto transactions for law enforcement. Since 2021, he's worked at the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance. Tigran was in Nigeria as a sort of envoy. He was supposed to meet with government officials and show them that Binance – – 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 https://therecord.media/podcast, 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. our showPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
The San Jose was a marvel of 17th century technology. The Spanish galleon weighed more than a thousand tons, was made of wood reinforced with iron, and featured three masts and 64 cannons. In its cargo were gold, silver, silk and porcelain. But in 1708, it sank after a battle with an English ship near what is now Colombia. 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. Planet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
Americans spend more on scratch lottery tickets per year than on pizza. More than 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 , we hear the story of... the scratch-off lottery ticket! Scratch & Win from GBHPlanet MoneyPlanet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
On Monday, the stock market went into a tizzy over a new AI model from Chinese company DeepSeek. It seemed to be just as powerful as many of its American competitors, but its makers claimed to have made it far more cheaply, using far less computing power than similar AI apps like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. In one day, hundreds of billions of dollars were wiped off the valuations of companies related to AI. 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. http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3gTkQlR https://n.pr/3Bkb17W https://n.pr/3h92GwS https://n.pr/3FqLuws https://n.pr/3sGZdrq https://n.pr/3zrFvUB Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
When it comes to solar and wind power, renewable energy has always had a caveat: it can only run when the wind blows or the sun shines. 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 , which recently reported a series https://www.npr.org/series/1265481061/the-indicator-takes-on-batteries about the electric battery market. Planet MoneyPlanet Money http://n.pr/PM-digital https://n.pr/3HlREPz Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy
