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Are we in an AI bubble? That’s the $35 trillion dollar question right now as the stock market soars higher and higher. The problem is that bubbles are famously hard to spot. But some economists say they may have found some telltale clues. On our latest: How do economists detect a bubble? And, how much should society be worried about bubbles in the first place? https://www.npr.org/2025/12/11/nx-s1-5639951/how-to-make-35-trillion-disappear https://www.npr.org/2021/06/30/1011906325/whats-a-bubble-classic https://www.npr.org/2025/12/19/nx-s1-5649814/ai-data-center-electricity-bill https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
The Afro is one of the most iconic hairstyles of the last century. And one of its main ingredients was a hair product – Afro Sheen. But Afro Sheen did so much more than make Black afros shine. It was the money behind the television show Soul Train, it helped fuel the civil rights movement – all because of an entrepreneur named George Johnson. 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 https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/09/06/548923095/episode-628-this-ad-s-for-you 'Soul Train' and the business of Black joy https://www.npr.org/2022/01/21/1074784689/soul-train-and-the-business-of-black-joy Fashion Fair's makeover https://www.npr.org/2022/03/25/1088853393/fashion-fairs-makeover https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
We’ve been checking in on the economic conditions in Venezuela for about a decade now. In response to the U.S. strike and the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro this weekend, we’re re-surfacing this episode with an update. The original version ran in 2016 https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/21/498867764/episode-731-how-venezuela-imploded, with an update in 2024 https://www.npr.org/2024/10/02/1202966830/venezuela-hyperinflation-maduro-gonzalez. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 http://plus.npr.org/ http://plus.npr.org 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
2025 is finally over. It was a wild year for the U.S. economy. Tariffs transformed global trading, consumer sentiment hit near-historic lows, and stocks hit dramatic new heights! So … which of these economic stories defined the year? 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 https://www.npr.org/2024/12/25/1221512103/indicator-of-the-year-family-feud (2024) This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/nx-s1-5600041/this-indicator-hasnt-flashed-this-red-since-the-dot-com-bubble What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs? https://www.npr.org/2025/12/02/nx-s1-5627159/what-would-it-mean-to-actually-refund-the-tariffs 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 What indicators will 2025 bring? https://www.npr.org/2024/12/23/1221439465/indicators-of-the-year-economy-tariffs-inflation-soft-landing https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 http://plus.npr.org/ http://plus.npr.org 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
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 https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/g-s1-47352/why-economists-got-free-trade-with-china-so-wrong. 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 http://plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Regular episodes remain free to listen! 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
Most stories keep going even after we set down our microphones and the music fades up. That's why, at the end of each year, we look back and we take stock. 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 https://www.npr.org/2024/10/18/1210938543/subscription-economy-dark-patterns-negative-option-billing-click-to-cance Planet Money buys a mystery diamond https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/1240892101/diamond-market-natural-lab-grown-gemological In Gaza, money is falling apart https://www.npr.org/2025/09/20/nx-s1-5547307/gaza-palestine-israel-shekel-cash-shortage BOARD GAMES 1: We're making a game https://www.npr.org/2025/10/01/nx-s1-5558425/planet-money-board-game-episode-1 How to save 10,000 fingers https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/1200551215/sawstop-steve-gass-patent-cost Planet Money https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ https://n.pr/3HlREPz Play the new version of our game here. Version 4. https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2025/10/02/g-s1-89913/how-you-can-play-and-improve-the-planet-money-game 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
On the eve of Netflix shoveling a fourish-hour chunk of Stranger Things onto Christmas Day, we visit the past, present, and future of binge-dropped television shows. 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 https://download.ssrn.com/23/03/01/ssrn_id4373813_code1593749.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENH%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDzzLmfGFdOBtH7wci6mImPL%2BreVCnKQbkf738IX7%2BtcAIhAN%2FhkEToIQ0awDa8jlL3%2FDjwohSdYtxz3O4ZjvCVjF1lKsUFCJn%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEQBBoMMzA4NDc1MzAxMjU3Igy7UMZFnabJwvhU8hsqmQWvHbpFeaQwYWFMScQBGF%2FQbta0iHOmnmHlbYWiBMIk3sCEzac33rU8J8j9kpe1SVCkXtGDGdkwFXqbpkBySKgvN%2FIdGP4EXGcnuR%2BN9tysv3lxOBI%2BdqjAr1KjexqOWNC8kDSuCkc5DOfHyoZZxLVRTC50N%2BkkmXuV6UHTfv4NWZUzU%2F4GIxkkHMkfsfoaXQBRixoVfHO9vbFcRiciZARFQVxUzym8%2BEnUmB0%2FU0dFWGYFu%2BvXhC1NZNZbNSFblu5n6FKtjDyQ%2BcFhz6UzvWMbbPJLHBvY6Ack4h%2FVaE4vFl%2FE6byflSIAqlkY05P4%2BQO%2BtZVVa3UFc3Ak2SkghpGz9Td5aXU33gKs0jCVuRS6kO%2BgBhkaLz591bxojzOiGhkp4gpjl3oxsHbsoAi8kczxaZ4E1wdf9nuqmt%2BNksgtJXlQ2jmmXPaiKE%2Bi14ZhdIjb43sL8CxKfNPb7w3o0Ia%2FDbSjmlYVscov9Bg%2FwPmzrhO2%2BLrNTyEDYPF0kK8lnmcQ2pXt57n%2BzzlFVvFF46I6uLQAR%2B0K6CqcfRad9VLce6Z4Pi7NXFUJPpPBGA0PRbhQpBsYhEv5aS1WPZK00VTPjkYdKfpp5%2FmQEZBRaXSkbxz29VwcPmTXq9CArtLnRjeu0hj70Q8J%2FeW%2BpxHOiq%2BYJ6uUWr7pVAiMtV2Y8t22HWJn3veTYWFODan8GVDzgkpOf5FqBtKFAZica83ELUpO4UW76shoenilmCkCLzCmKxg0fdqFgMIQYgTwPDVP7%2B2i4yiprY7UYJMQ6GjhPQPQXRFoZG6wXLjn1B1WjldJ7Tb1%2F6UjwUNg602XkCkieEwtaRc%2BefQbPXvLXPyAEalt3PyYwKnzrEIFwAHrxFwKjcI%2Ffw9MDm%2FwQjCY0ZDKBjqwAaLXJ5NdUoFBx%2FOI4UpDmNEiamtrGtQpSfZezPcY4imBEh0nS7ExtGDwpvcXMA7hIbKotNehffJXJgNodOCj8iQp2%2F6PI8Ncqm4l%2BRZwYeD490JY%2FtdoAzNgQcAnCCVythev2ksn%2Bhz1omuyJ%2FI5uy%2BPaxM2QG%2BWM3rdy8AbWGXlKc6sm3r9cZ4oMn%2BqfQtpM1FqAyDsYVY0U7mLpYClrrASgIiCFhpTjZ3ry2NDUBdq&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20251218T172431Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAUPUUPRWE7RLY7ZW3%2F20251218%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=87fec993748412ff29349361e5d76f0196586f5cab6374fb93c9427e8275ef6b&abstractId=4352446. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
As a country, we are spending more to get data centers up and running than we spent to build the entire interstate highway system. (Yes, that’s inflation-adjusted.) With tech companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, data centers have kind of become 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? https://www.npr.org/2025/09/10/nx-s1-5534485/ai-onet-jobs-safe-list - No AI data centers in my backyard! https://www.npr.org/2025/10/22/nx-s1-5581445/no-ai-data-centers-in-my-backyard - What $10 billion in data centers actually gets you https://www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1242229718/ai-mississippi-jobs-data-centers-virginia - Is AI overrated or underrated? https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/1198748511/is-ai-overrated-or-underrated - Green energy gridlock https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176462647/green-energy-transmission-queue-power-grid-wind-solar https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Planet Money 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
Welcome to the inaugural Pop Culture Draft! In today's episode (a 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 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 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 Planet Money’s 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 2008, Chicago’s budget was in a bad place. The city needed money. One way to raise money was to increase property taxes, but what politician wants to do that? So instead, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration looked around at the resources the city had, and thought, ‘Any of this worth anything?’ They opted to lease out the city’s metered parking system — to privatize all 36,000 of its parking meters. 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 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/25/130811940/chicago-s-new-parking-meters-go-missing-tears-are-not-shed, foot chases through City Hall, and trashbags filled with secret documents. 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
From nuclear fission to GPS to the internet, it’s common knowledge that many of the most resource intensive technologies of the last century got their start as military R&D projects in government-funded labs. But as Avery Trufelman explains in her fashion history podcast, https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/gear-chapter-1, 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Planet MoneyPlanet Money Articles of Interest 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
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. 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
http://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?’ https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Indicator 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
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 https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast, Vox’s lively, smart daily news podcast. 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
Givewell is a nonprofit organization that gives money to “save or improve the most lives per dollar.” Part of their whole thing is a rigorous research process with copious and specific datapoints. So, in the chaotic wake of USAID’s gutting, they scrambled to figure out if they could fund the kind of projects USAID used to. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Planet Money 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
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? 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
Tariffs. They’ve been announced, unannounced, re-announced, raised and lowered. It’s an on-going saga with billions at stake! 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. __ __ https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 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.” 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 month, during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States had offered to functionally loan Argentina $20 billion. Despite the sums involved, this bailout required no authorization from Congress, because of the loan’s source: an obscure pool of money called the Exchange Stabilization Fund. The ESF is essentially the Treasury Department’s private slush fund. 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? https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2022 https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1097885472/buy-now-pay-dearly.) 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. Subscribe to Planet Money+ https://n.pr/3HlREPzListen free: Apple Podcasts http://n.pr/PM-digital, Spotify https://n.pr/3gTkQlR, the NPR app https://n.pr/3Bkb17W or anywhere you get podcasts.Facebook https://n.pr/3h92GwS / Instagram https://n.pr/3FqLuws / TikTok https://n.pr/3sGZdrq / Our weekly Newsletter https://n.pr/3zrFvUB.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." 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 people in Maine prisons started getting laptops to use in their cells for online classes and homework, it sparked this new idea. Could they have laptops in their cells to work remotely for real outside world jobs, too??? And get real outside world wages? Today on the show, we have reporting from Maine Public Radio’s Susan Sharon https://www.mainepublic.org/people/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 https://www.mainepublic.org/2025-08-29/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 https://www.mainepublic.org/maine/2025-08-28/cracking-the-code-how-technology-and-education-are-changing-life-in-prison Related episodes: - Fine and Punishment https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963466410/fine-and-punishment - Getting Out Of Prison Sooner https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892465005/getting-out-of-prison-sooner - The Prisoner's Solution https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/03/13/392862778/episode-610-the-prisoners-solution - Paying for the Crime https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/07/20/486785422/episode-713-paying-for-the-crime https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Planet Money 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
This week’s SNAP crisis is just a preview. Tucked inside the giant tax-cut and spending bill signed by President Donald Trump this summer are enormous cuts to SNAP: Who qualifies, how much they get, and who foots the bill for the program. That last part is a huge change. 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 https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/qc -- 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. https://findhelp.org/ https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 Planet Money 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, the U.S. has been the single biggest source of remittances worldwide. A remittance is a transfer of money, typically from an immigrant to their family in their country of origin. But we are in the middle of a big, loud and very public immigration crackdown on those who are here without legal status. And that crackdown is disrupting the global remittance market. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 https://npr.zoom.us/webinar/register/8917610666057/WN_l7mrQgiUS-a8kp0AqLujtw Planet Money 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 U.S. Constitution famously outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments.” But there's another, far more obscure part of the Constitution called the Excessive Fines Clause, which basically says that the fine has to fit the crime. So far, the Supreme Court has been pretty mysterious about what that means. But for Ken Jouppi, the fate of his $95,000 plane hinges on it. 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 https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963466410/fine-and-punishment - The prisoner's solution https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/03/13/392862778/episode-610-the-prisoners-solution - Paying for the crime https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/07/20/486785422/episode-713-paying-for-the-crime - Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1197956698/planet-money-draft-01-26-2024 https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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 TikTok videos started to go viral on Instagram and Reddit, TikTok turned to professional sound designers to protect their content. 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 https://www.20k.org/episodes/tiktoksboombling, 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
Bjarne Caesar Skinnerup works as a maritime pilot in the straits of Denmark. That means he’s used to seeing oil tankers. But after the start of the war in Ukraine, the tankers started getting weird. They were flying flags he’d never seen before. They were old, very old, though many had taken on new names. Something was off. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
In 1975, New York City ran out of money. For a decade it had managed to pay for its hundreds of thousands of city employees and robust social services by taking on billions of dollars in debt. But eventually investors were no longer willing to lend the city any more money. New York teetered on the edge of bankruptcy — the city shuttered more than a dozen firehouses, teachers went on strike and garbage piled up in the streets. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
The U.S. government spends a ton of money, on everything from Medicare to roads to defense. In fact, it spends way more than it takes in. So…it borrows money, in the bond market. By selling U.S. Treasurys, basically IOUs with periodic interest payments. And for decades, people have loved to invest in Treasurys, for their safety and security. 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. https://www.planetmoneybook.com/ 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
Pre-order the Planet Money book here for your free gift. http://planetmoneybook.com Our sister show, The Indicator, is chronicling the evolving business of crime for its Vice Week https://www.npr.org/2025/10/05/nx-s1-5561958/vice-series-the-evolving-business-of-crime 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 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indicator-from-planet-money/id1320118593 podcast feed for the latest on the Indicator Vice Series including an episode on data breaches https://www.npr.org/2025/10/07/nx-s1-5563884/whats-supercharging-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. The IndicatorThe Indicator 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
It’s here! It’s free to download and playtest! It’s the Planet Money game! (Download here http://planetmoneygame.com.) __ __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. 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
We want to make a board game. It must, of course, teach the world about economics. It must be fun. It’d be nice if it sold lots of copies! How hard could that be!? (Monopoly and Catan are popular and basically little economy simulators, after all.) Well, turns out, it’s 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. 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 Planet Money 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
