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Planet Money

Planet Money

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

  1. 3D AGO

    In Gaza, money is falling apart

    Israel has been blocking the flow of physical money into Gaza since the start of the war. So whatever paper cash was in Gaza before the war, that’s all that’s been circulating. It's falling apart from overuse.  Two best friends, one in Gaza and one in Belgium, are now trying to get money in. But how do you get money into a bank account in Gaza? And how do you get that money out, in Gaza, when there are no functioning banks or ATMs? And almost no electricity. And spotty internet. And what is there to buy? How does money even work in Gaza right now?  Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo, Robert Rodriguez, and James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.  Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    35 min
  2. When CEO pay exploded (update)

    6D AGO

    When CEO pay exploded (update)

    (Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2016.) It’s no secret that CEOs get paid a ton – and a ton more than the average worker. More than a hundred times than what their average employee makes.  But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did this gap get so vast? And why?  On today’s episode … we go back to a specific moment when the way CEOs were paid got changed. It involves Bill Clinton's campaign promises, and Silicon Valley workers taking to the streets to protest an accounting rule. And of course, Dodd Frank.  Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and Stacey Vanek Smith, and was originally produced by Nick Fountain. This update was reported and produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Alex Goldmark. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    23 min

  3. SEP 16 · BONUS • PLANET MONEY+ ONLY

    It's our first ever Planet Money Pop Culture Draft! (PM+)

    In today's bonus episode, Kenny Malone, Jeff Guo, and Wailin Wong go head to head and each pick 3 pieces of pop culture -- a movie, a song, and a wild card -- from the year 1999 to form a Planet Money pop culture team! It could be a movie related to economics, a song about money, or maybe a fad that reflects a business trend. (As long as they came out in 1999!) Whatever it is, our players will be making the case to YOU why their pop culture picks best represent Planet Money. So listen through to the end of this episode. We’ll tell you how to vote, and, at a future date, reveal who drafted the ultimate Planet Money Pop Culture Team of 1999! p.s. Kenny, Jeff, and Wailin also share what they were up to in 1999. Who was watching Total Request Live? Who was excited to see Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace? Who was maybe learning fractions in school? Show your support for Planet Money and the reporting we do by signing up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. You'll be able to unlock this episode and other great bonus content! Regular episodes remain free to listen! Email the show at planetmoney@npr.org.

    55 min
  4. The U.S. now owns a big chunk of Intel. That’s a huge deal.

    SEP 12

    The U.S. now owns a big chunk of Intel. That’s a huge deal.

    Last month, President Donald Trump announced an unusual deal. Intel, the biggest microchip maker in America, had agreed to give the United States a 10 percent stake in its business. That means the U.S. government is now Intel's largest shareholder — and a major American company is now a partially state-owned enterprise.  This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesses like this. Some have accused the president of taking a step toward, well, socialism. But the Intel deal didn’t come out of nowhere. It's actually the latest chapter in one of the most aggressive economic experiments the United States has ever attempted. An experiment that Trump is now taking in a surprising new direction.  On today's show, we unpack the Intel deal. Where did it come from, and what does it say about President Trump’s unconventional approach to managing the economy.  For more: - The President's Golden Share in U.S. Steel  - Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight  - A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.   Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    25 min
  5. Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?

    SEP 10

    Asking for a friend … which jobs are safe from AI?

    There’s one question we seem to be hearing everywhere: “Is my job safe from AI?” Dozens of you, our listeners, have written to us about this. Saying things like, “Maybe my yoga teacher side gig is actually my safest bet now,” and “My parents were in real estate, and I never thought I’d say it ... but maybe that’s what I should do?”   If only there were a list that could tell you which jobs are safe from AI. We go looking for that list … and find that the AI future is going to be even weirder than we’d imagined. Today on the show: We talk to two researchers who have come up with some first drafts of the future. We learned more about the machines that might be coming for our jobs, and also, more about what it actually means to be human. Further Reading: - GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs - The EPOCH of AI: Human-Machine Complementarities at Work Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. Today’s episode was produced by Eric Mennel and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    29 min
  6. What happens to central banks under pressure?

    SEP 6

    What happens to central banks under pressure?

    President Donald Trump has been pressuring the Federal Reserve from a few angles. So we wanted to look at other examples of political pressure on central banks, to see what it might mean for us and for the economy.  Enter the watchers. The people who’ve had their eyes trained on central banks all over the world, for years, notebooks out, scribbling down their observations. They’ve been trying to gauge just how independent of political pressure central banks actually are – and what happens when a central bank loses that independence.  Today on the show, we sidle up next to three of the leading central bank watchers, to watch what they’re watching. Further reading:- Carolina Garriga’s: Revisiting Central Bank Independence in the World: An Extended Dataset- Lev Menand’s: A New Measure of Central Bank Independence- Carola Binder’s: Political Pressure on Central Banks Further listening:- Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed- A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence- The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes- A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez and Maggie Luthar. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    26 min
  7. The million dollar mystery behind Milk.com

    SEP 3

    The million dollar mystery behind Milk.com

    When we stumbled upon Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?   Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.   On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind. Planet Money is writing a book! Sign up for updates about pre-sale special gifts and for book tour events. Subscribe to Planet Money+ Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts. Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter. This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

    21 min
  8. Getting under the hood of how the jobs numbers are collected (and revised) (PM+)

    SEP 1 · BONUS • PLANET MONEY+ ONLY

    Getting under the hood of how the jobs numbers are collected (and revised) (PM+)

    Ahead of a new monthly jobs report later this week (and on this Labor Day!), we're sharing an extended conversation between Darian Woods and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, William Beach. In this bonus episode, they talk about how the jobs numbers are collected and how revisions work (particularly his reaction to the large revision we recently got). We also get his reaction to the firing of Erika McEntarfer. She served as BLS commissioner until President Trump fired her last month, accusing McEntarfer of "rigging" the jobs numbers.  Show your support for Planet Money and the reporting we do by signing up for Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. You'll be able to unlock this episode and other great bonus content! Regular episodes remain free to listen!  Email the show at planetmoney@npr.org.

    19 min
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  • A bite-sized show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening in today's economy. It's a quick hit of insight into money, work, and business. Monday through Friday, in 10 minutes or less.

    • 4.6 (9159)
    • BUSINESS

  • Economics is a game you should know how to play. And once you get the fundamental concepts, you start to see it everywhere: the news, the supermarket and even your dating life. So it's time to learn the rules. Planet Money Summer School is a crash course in economics for your ears. See the world through the lens of an economist and you'll start to feel a little less overwhelmed when making financial decisions. And if you're in front of the classroom? Teachers, this is made for you, too. Let us be your breezy and fun companion to assigned readings. We'll even assign the homework (and spare you the groans). Go beyond summer school and stay up-to-date on the economy with the latest episodes of the Planet Money podcast.Got money on your mind? Try Planet Money+ — a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. A subscription also gets you access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without interruptions.

    • 4.6 (179)
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  • We kept hearing how a ton of wealth is stored in offshore tax havens. How does this secret, shady world work? We set up not one, but two shell companies to find out. Turns out it's pretty easy? (This series originally ran in 2012.)

    • 4.9 (7)
    • BUSINESS

  • Gold has been used as money for thousands of years. Why gold? We bought and sold some to find out. Along the way, we look at the gold standard and learn a lot about (economic) bubbles. (This series originally ran in 2010-2011.)

    • 2.0 (1)
    • BUSINESS

  • Remember toxic assets? Those complicated mortgage bonds that almost brought down the financial system? We bought one to figure out how the 2008 housing crisis played out. We called it Toxie. (This series originally ran in 2010-2011.)Subscribe to Planet Money+ now to get access and get sponsor-free listening to Planet Money.

    • 4.0 (2)
    • BUSINESS

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About

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

Information

  • Channel
    Planet Money
  • Creator
    NPR
  • Years Active
    2008 - 2025
  • Episodes
    618
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2015-2021 NPR - For Personal Use Only
  • Show Website
    Planet Money
  • Provider
    NPR

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