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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

  • 26 minutes 37 seconds
    What markets bet President Trump will do
    On the day after the election, Wall Street responded in a dramatic way. Some stocks went way up, others went way down. By reading those signals — by breaking down what people were buying and what they were selling — you can learn a lot about where the economy might be headed. Or at least, where people are willing to bet the economy is headed.

    On today's show, we decode what Wall Street thinks about the next Trump presidency — what it means for different parts of the economy, and what it means for everyone. Does the wisdom of the market think President Trump will actually impose new tariffs and lift regulations? What about taxes and spending? And will inflation ultimately go up or down?

    What markets bet President Trump will do. That's today's episode.

    This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Sally Helm, Erika Beras, and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Martina Castro and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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    9 November 2024, 2:17 am
  • 23 minutes 59 seconds
    Moving to the American dream? (update)
    Back in the 90s, the federal government ran a bold experiment, giving people vouchers to move out of high-poverty neighborhoods into low-poverty ones. They wanted to test if housing policy could be hope – whether an address change alone could improve jobs, earnings and education.

    The answer to that seems obvious. But it did not at all turn out as they expected.

    Years later, when new researchers went back to the data on this experiment, they stumbled on something big. Something that is changing housing policy across the country today.

    Today's episode was originally hosted by Karen Duffin, produced by Aviva DeKornfeld, and edited by Bryant Urstadt. The update was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk, produced by Sean Saldana and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Our supervising executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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    6 November 2024, 9:58 pm
  • 36 minutes 48 seconds
    The veteran loan calamity
    Ray and Becky Queen live in rural Oklahoma with their kids (and chickens). The Queens were able to buy that home with a VA loan because of Ray's service in the Army. During COVID, the Queens – like millions of other Americans – needed help from emergency forbearance. They were told they could pause home payments for up to a year and then pick up again making affordable mortgage payments with no problems.

    That's what happened for most American homeowners who took forbearance. But not for tens of thousands of military veterans like Ray Queen.

    On today's show, we follow two reporters' journey to figure out what went wrong with the VA's loan forbearance program. How did something meant to help vets keep their houses during COVID end up stranding tens of thousands of them on the brink of foreclosure? And, once the error was spotted, did the government do enough to make things right?

    Today's episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Meg Cramer. And fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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    1 November 2024, 9:46 pm
  • 28 minutes 59 seconds
    So your data was stolen in a data breach
    If you... exist in the world, it's likely that you have gotten a letter or email at some point informing you that your data was stolen. This happened recently to potentially hundreds of millions of people in a hack that targeted companies like Ticketmaster, AT&T, Advance Auto Parts and others that use the data cloud company Snowflake.

    On today's show, we try to figure out where that stolen data ended up, how worried we should be about it, and what we're supposed to do when bad actors take our personal and private information. And: How our information is being bought, sold, and stolen.

    This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Meg Cramer. It was engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin with an assist from Kwesi Lee, and fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Help support
    Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    31 October 2024, 12:13 am
  • 26 minutes 27 seconds
    Why do hospitals keep running out of generic drugs?
    There's something strange going on in hospitals. Cheap, common drugs that nurses use every day seem to be constantly hit by shortages. These are often generic drugs that don't seem super complicated to make, things like dextrose and saline (aka sugar water and salt water).

    So what's going on? The answer, as with anything in healthcare, is complicated.

    On today's show: why hospitals keep running out of generic drugs. The story behind these shortages tells us a lot about how these drugs are made, bought and sold–and, it shows us how these markets can falter without the proper care.

    This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin, with help from James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Martina Castro. Fact-checking by Dania Suleman. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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    25 October 2024, 10:51 pm
  • 17 minutes 28 seconds
    Romance on the screen and on the page: Two Indicators
    On today's show, we have two stories from The Indicator, Planet Money's daily podcast. They just launched Love Week, a weeklong series exploring the business and economic side of romance.

    First, hosts Wailin Wong and Adrian Ma fire up the gas logs and pour a mug of cocoa to discuss the made-for-TV rom-com machine, and how television executives learned to mass produce seasonal romance.

    Then, Wailin and host Darian Woods discuss another romance medium: the romance novel. Once relegated to supermarket aisles, these books are now mainstream. And authors, an often-maligned group within publishing, have found greater commercial success than many writers in other genres. We find out how romance novelists rode the e-book wave and networked with each other to achieve their happily-for-now status in the industry.

    This episode is hosted by Erika Beras, Wailin Wong, Adrian Ma, and Darian Woods. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Julia Ritchey and engineered by Kwesi Lee. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator's Editor.

    You can listen to the rest of the series at
    The Indicator's feed, or at npr.org/love

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    23 October 2024, 9:24 pm
  • 30 minutes 55 seconds
    The Subscription Trap
    Over the past two decades, there's been a sort of tectonic economic shift happening under our feet. More and more companies have switched from selling goods one by one to selling services, available as a subscription. These days everything from razor blades to meal kits to car washes have become subscriptions. But all that convenience has also come with a dark side – some companies have designed their offerings to be as easy as possible to sign up for and also as difficult as possible to cancel. Many consumers are now paying for way more subscriptions than they even know about.

    On today's show, we discover how we all fell into this subscription trap – who is winning and who is losing in this brave new subscription based world – and what both the government and the free market are doing to try and fix it.

    This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Help support
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    18 October 2024, 10:55 pm
  • 21 minutes 23 seconds
    We asked 188 economists. And the survey says...
    (For our story on this year's Nobel in Economics, check out our daily show, The Indicator!)

    Let's face it. Economics is filled with terms that don't always make sense to the average person. Terms that sometimes mean what you think they mean, but sometimes not at all. Not even close.

    We surveyed 188 economists. And we asked them: What are the most misunderstood terms in the field of economics?

    On today's show, their answers! Hear stories about near recessions, a problem with insurance, econ at your local movie theater, and... an economics term that will make undergrads blush. Strap in, and bring your popcorn!

    This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Help support
    Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    16 October 2024, 2:40 pm
  • 25 minutes 51 seconds
    So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's??
    Even in our modern world with planes and jets and drones, the vast majority of goods are moved around the planet in cargo ships. Which means our ports are the backbone of our global economy. The longshoremans' strike closed the eastern ports for only three days, but those three days raised a lot of questions.

    Like - why is a discount furniture store the fourth largest importer on the East Coast? How come so many bananas come through Wilmington, Delaware? Why do we need live frogs delivered into the US six times a month? And... how do we even keep track of all of these imports? On today's episode, we get into #PortFacts!

    This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Audrey Quinn, and fact-checked by Dania Suleman. Engineering by Cena Loffredo and Kwesi Lee with an assist from Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Help support
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    11 October 2024, 11:12 pm
  • 24 minutes 5 seconds
    Can cap and trade work in the US?
    Recently, the state of Washington embarked on an ambitious new plan to combat climate change. Taking a page from economics textbooks, the state instituted a statewide "cap and trade" system for carbon emissions. The state establishes a cap on the total amount of carbon pollution it is willing to allow each year, and then gives away or auctions off carbon emission permits that add up to that total. Companies can then trade those permits on the open market.

    Economists love cap and trade plans because they establish a limit on carbon emissions while letting the market find the most efficient way for decarbonization to occur. But cap and trade has had a hard time catching on, especially in the U.S.

    The stakes are high for Washington's new plan. If it succeeds, it could convince other states to implement their own versions, but if it fails, it might serve as a cautionary tale. On today's show, we take a look at how Washington's grand experiment with cap and trade is faring.

    This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Emily Siner. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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    9 October 2024, 10:55 pm
  • 18 minutes 54 seconds
    What's up with all the ads for law firms?
    The lawyer commercial is almost an art form unto itself. Learned practitioners of the law doing whatever it takes to get your attention, from impressive dirt bike stunts to running around half naked. All so when you land in trouble, you don't have to think hard to remember their name. Odds are you can name one or two right now.

    This world of law ads did not exist fifty years ago. Then, lawyers were not allowed to advertise. Not by law, by the exclusive organization that decides who gets to be a lawyer: state bars.

    On today's episode, how that changed. How a couple of lawyers placing an ad in a local newspaper led to the inescapable world of law firm ads we know today. And, how the right to advertise got put on the same level as some of the most important, fundamental rights we have.

    This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Help support
    Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    4 October 2024, 9:25 pm
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