Last night, after years on cable, WWE's flagship show, Monday Night Raw, made its debut on Netflix. It's another example of live sports programming making the move to streaming as more people abandon cable television.

Today on the show, we talk to a TV analyst about what Netflix's increasing investments in live sports means for the war between streamers and cable companies.

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There's a rural area in Arizona with massive groundwater basins underneath the earth. Water should be plentiful there, but wells are running dry. Today on the show, what's behind the water issues in rural Arizona?

Related episodes:
Why Midwest crop farmers are having a logistics problem (Apple / Spotify)
Why the US government is buying more apples than ever (Apple / Spotify)

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On this edition of Indicators of the Week, we discuss the economic legacy of former President, Jimmy Carter. Today on the show, we detail some of his top accomplishments from empowering the Federal Reserve's aggressive approach to inflation, deregulation of major industries and his push for cost saving energy measures that we still feel to this day.

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People with American stocks in their portfolio are likely very happy right now. U.S. stocks were on a tear in 2024. But to some investors, that's a reason to look a longer look at their portfolio. Today on the show, one investor makes the case for the only free lunch in finance: diversification.

Related episodes:
Invest like a Congress member (Apple / Spotify)
Rethinking what counts in investing (Apple / Spotify)

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Even before the Dune: Part 2 popcorn bucket went viral this year, movie theaters have been trying all types of ways to lure customers back. There's reclining seats, expanded menu options, and even more merchandise. Today on the show, we track the rise of the popcorn bucket and its afterlife on eBay.

This piece originally aired on July 23, 2024.

Related episodes:
Coyote vs. Warner Brothers Discovery (Apple / Spotify)
??Why platforms like HBO Max are removing streaming TV shows (Apple / Spotify)
Is movie night back?

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There are some new funds that track stock trading by members of Congress and their family. So we thought, why don't we get in on that?

Today on the show, we crack open the Planet Money Investment Jar to learn more about how our political leaders play the market, investing in funds tracking Democratic and Republican stock trades.

Whether Congressional stock trading should be limited is a hotly debated matter. So to test whether lawmakers are beating the market, Dartmouth College economist Bruce Sacerdote and his co-authors pitted lawmakers' stock picks against reindeer at a Christmas-styled theme park.

Trust us for this ride! It'll all make sense with some intriguing results.

This piece originally aired June 18, 2024.

Related listening:
Stock traders are trying to beat the market ? by copying lawmakers
WTF is a Bitcoin ETF?(Apple / Spotify)
Planet Money's Toxic Asset
Planet Money Summer School: Investing

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If you need some reading glasses in the United States, you don't have to break the bank to pick some up. That's important for older folks who need a little extra magnification. But in some parts of the world, people who need readers don't have that privilege. Today on the show, we'll find out why that is and learn the economic solution to the reading glasses shortage.

This piece originally aired October 9, 2024.

Related episodes:
Two indicators: supply chain solutions (Apple / Spotify)

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Gaming provides entertainment and community for billions of people worldwide. However, video games haven't always been accessible to those with disabilities. But this is changing. Today we explain how accessibility has become an increasingly important priority for game developers and how advocates pushed them to this point.

This piece originally aired April 23, 2024.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
The Indicator's video game series

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Happy Holidays from The Indicator! For the next week, we're running some of our favorite shows from this year. On today's show, we 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.

This piece originally aired October 21, 2024.

Related episodes:
Love Week series page
TV holiday rom coms and the alpaca bubble that burst (PM+ only)

Special thanks to Grant-Lee Phillips for our Love Week theme song and Kaitlin Brito for episode artwork.

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2024 is over (phew!). We had weird consumer sentiment vibes, Bitcoin went to the moon, and the economy might have achieved a soft landing. And that's just a few 2024 indicators!

As we enter 2025, what indicators should we keep an eye on? Planet Money co-hosts Kenny Malone and Jeff Guo look ahead with Adrian Ma for Indicators of the Year ... Ahead!

Related Episodes:
Econ Battle Zone: Disinflation Confrontation
The Fed cut rates ... now what? (featuring: Sasquatch)
The Indicators of this year and next (2023)

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2024 was a wild year for the U.S. economy: The economy did well in terms of inflation and unemployment, but vibes ruled the roost. (Mostly didn't feel great!) Additionally, Bitcoin went to the moon and some wacky stuff was happening with unemployment and job opening rates, showing that we might have achieved an economic soft landing.

So ... which of these economic stories defined the year?

Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator duke it out in ... Family Feud!

Tell us who you think won today's episode by submitting your vote to Planet Money's Instagram or email us with "Family Feud" in the subject line.

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Is the financial media making us miserable about the economy?
What's behind Bitcoin's bullrun?
What the Beveridge curve tells us about jobs

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The "silver tsunami" of aging Americans is often seen as a potential way to alleviate the country's housing affordability woes. However, the data suggests that an influx of empty-nester homes coming on the market won't have much of an impact on the problem?because of a geographical mismatch.

Today on the show, we speak to an economist who's looked into the silver tsunami's impact on the housing market and thinks this theory might be more of a red herring.

This episode was fact checked by Sierra Juarez

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What would it take to fix retirement?
How big is the US housing shortage?
The highs and lows of US rents

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President-elect Donald Trump has called for a weaker dollar given it would be good for American exporters. But tariffs, a staple of his economic policy, would actually strengthen the dollar. Today on the show, we explain tariffs and currencies by following one bag manufacturer from New Jersey.

Related episodes:
How Trump's tariffs plan might work (Apple / Spotify)
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (update) (Apple / Spotify)

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In the not-so-distant past, serving as someone's job reference meant answering a few questions over the phone. Nowadays, that process is often more involved, with prospective employers asking references for written responses or to fill out a form online. What's behind this shift? On today's show, we check in on reference checks, and ask whether they still matter.

Related episodes:
Ghost jobs (Apple / Spotify)

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President-elect Donald Trump's administration picks are shaping up to be a very affluent bunch. If all are confirmed, Trump's incoming administration would be the wealthiest in the nation's history with a combined net worth upwards of $300 billion.

Today on the show, we talk to a few experts about how massive amounts of wealth in high levels of government can impact policy.

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The Economist's Simon Rabinovitch argues the U.S. economy has a set of structural advantages that have allowed it to perform remarkably well in the last couple of years compared to other developed countries. But could President-elect Donald Trump's second term in office put that edge at risk? Adrian Ma spoke with Rabinovitch for a recent episode of The Indicator. This episode is an extended cut of their conversation, previously released for Planet Money+ supporters.

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It's the most wonderful time of year, er, week, because it's that time when we look at the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's Indicators of the Week: A messy grocery store breakup, a quantum leap in subatomic computing and an unexpected change to the Christmas tree market.

Happy holidays!

Related Episodes:
The Efficient Christmas: Why Economists Hate Gifts
We buy a lot of Christmas trees
Can an old law bring down grocery prices?

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In 2012, Karam Shaar had to leave his home country of Syria due to the civil war. But he still wanted to make a difference. Through his economic analysis, he uncovered concerning patterns about how the Assad regime and its cronies were siphoning money from humanitarian aid. Today on the show, the story of how one Syrian exile contributed to the resistance while on the other side of the world.

Related episodes:
The cost of a dollar in Ukraine (Apple / Spotify)

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The Federal Reserve's last Beige Book of 2024 is like Spotify Wrapped but for the economy. There's a little bit of everything inside ? labor markets, inflation and even natural disasters. On today's show, we spotlight Western North Carolina's challenging recovery after Hurricane Helene, and check in with an Asheville malt manufacturer on the impact to local businesses.

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Back in 2016, the economy of Mozambique tipped into crisis. The culprit was a government corruption scandal linked to more than $1 billion that officials borrowed in secret.

This was a high-profile example of hidden debt, but it's far from the only example. In fact, this kind of secret borrowing is a large and common problem among countries.

Today on the show, a pair of economists share their new research on hidden debt and how it affects everyday people.

Related Episodes:
Why a debt tsunami is coming for the global economy
What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn't a bond?

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Influence. The ability to persuade, motivate, or connect with other people. It's one of these skills that's hard to measure, but incredibly important in the office. However, some would argue that we often misunderstand how influence works.

Today on the show, we talk to Steve Martin, Faculty Director of Behavioral Science at Columbia Business School, about the unspoken rules of influence in the workplace.

Steve is author of a recently published book titled, "Influence at Work".

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Many men in America don't feel like they're doing as well as their fathers. But what does the data say? Today on the show, we speak to Richard Reeves from the American Institute for Boys and Men about what's really going on with men's wages and what potential solutions could look like.

Related episodes:
Jobs Friday: Why apprenticeships could make a comeback
Getting more men into so-called pink-collar jobs

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SpaceX is capping off a busy 2024, with more than 100 rocket launches, including its vaunted Starship. NPR Science Correspondent Geoff Brumfiel attended the November launch of Starship alongside SpaceX founder Elon Musk and president-elect Donald Trump. He spoke with NPR's Short Wave about the environmental impact of these launches in south Texas ? and what a second Trump administration could mean for the company.

Related episode:
Elon's giant rocket

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From retail to fast food to nursing, one-day strikes have been a growing trend over the last decade.

But what makes one-day strikes more or less effective than longer strikes? Do they achieve the same goals?

On today's show, what do short strikes say about union power in the US and what can you accomplish with only 24 hours on the picket line.

Related Episodes:
What the data reveal about U.S. labor unrest
The Indicator Quiz: Labor Edition
The never-ending strike

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Boeing continues to struggle. Safety concerns, a door blowing off mid-flight, a labor strike, impending layoffs ... and that's just the past year.

What's gone wrong at Boeing? For many observers, the mistake was shifting focus from engineering to financial engineering.

Today on the show we explain what financial engineering is and why this cultural change at Boeing may have led to the company's current problems.

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Help Wanted at Boeing
Boeing's woes, Bilt jilts, and the Indicator's stock rally

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President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of economic promises on the campaign trail, but none as sweeping as his plan to enact tariffs. Trump believes taxing imports from other countries will help reduce the U.S. trade deficit and raise money for things like tax cuts. Today on the show, how might these tariffs work and will they work? Or is everything about to get more expensive?

Find more of Kyla Scanlon's work on YouTube and TikTok.

Related episodes:
What are Trump's economic plans (Apple / Spotify)
Why tariffs are SO back (Apple / Spotify)
Trade wars and talent shortages (Apple / Spotify)
A brief history of tariffs

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Many were waiting longer than expected to hear Donald Trump name his nominee for Treasury Secretary, the person in charge of pursuing his economic agenda. Now, we have an answer: hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Today on the show, what are the actual implications of what a Treasury Secretary does on you and me? And how does the Treasury Department affect regular Americans?

Related episodes:
The IRS wants to do your taxes for free. Will it last? (Apple / Spotify)
The U.S. economy's biggest superpower, explained (Apple / Spotify)

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Across the U.S., millions of people are feeling the burden of high housing costs. During his campaign, president-elect Donald Trump promised to do something about that. But what exactly is that something? Today on the show, NPR's business correspondent, Laurel Wamsley, explains Trump's ideas for the housing market. For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Housing affordability is a top concern for Americans and a hot political topic. Estimates for the number of needed homes stretch into the millions, but how is this actually counted? Today on the show, we explain the tricky business of quantifying the US housing shortage.

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We are back with a pricey Indicators of the Week. Today, we're digging into why it's so hard to get price information from funeral providers, how much a single banana could possibly cost, and just how much richer Elon Musk has become since Donald Trump's election win.

Related episodes:
Why is everyone talking about Musk's money? (Apple / Spotify)
Artists vs. AI (Apple / Spotify)

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As Wall Street investors divine what a second Trump administration might mean for markets, there's talk of a new gang in town: the bond vigilantes. On today's show, where they came from, what they want, and how to tell when they're about to spring into action.

Related episodes:
Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields
What the 'bonkers' bond market means for you

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There's been a lot of research showing how third spaces ? a place that isn't the home nor the workplace ? have brought communities together, even catalyzed revolutions. New research shows that coffee shops in particular could be key to sparking new businesses, too.

Today on the show, caffeine-fueled entrepreneurship. We go back a few decades for the story of how Magic Johnson partnered to build Starbucks cafes in Black and Latino neighborhoods, and how new research has shed light on how Magic's plan changed entrepreneurship in those communities.

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Oil gluts, Russian bucks, and Starbucks
Magic Johnson on basketball, business, and being the face of HIV

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Events like the recent dock worker's strike and hurricanes sparked panic buying among American shoppers. Today, a logistics expert helps us craft a shopper's guide for how to navigate a supply chain crisis.

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There is a LOT of economic news happening at the moment (it all happens, so very much of it, all the time), so we wanted to give you an idea of what we here at The Indicator are keeping tabs on.

Today on the show, we look ahead to: countries coughing up money for climate change at COP29, how confident are home builders feeling right now, and ... is US manufacturing REALLY in decline?

Related Episodes:
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Why aren't more people taking on the trades?
Do polluters pay, or do they get paid?

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Today, we're sharing an episode of a podcast that we've enjoyed, and think you will, too! It's called The Economics of Everyday Things. It's made by the Freakonomics Radio Network and on each of its episodes, host Zachary Crockett uncovers the hidden stories behind ordinary things! Stock photos, girl scout cookies, and cashmere sweaters, you name it.

In this episode, you're about to hear Zachary crack the lid open on ... the humble pizza box.

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On Indicators of the Week, we cover our favorite numbers in the news. On this week's edition we cover Netflix's foray into live sports, the possible psychology behind the post-election cryptocurrency rally, and a struggling DNA company's fight for survival.

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Nuclear energy hasn't been a growing industry in decades. But now, it seems to be making a comeback. This week, the Biden administration announced a goal to triple nuclear energy capacity in the US by 2050. And over the past few months, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all made deals to use nuclear energy to power their artificial intelligence appetites. Today on the show, could nuclear energy work differently this time?

Related episodes:
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Wind boom, wind bust (Two windicators) (Apple / Spotify)
How China became solar royalty (Apple / Spotify)

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Major flooding events are increasingly common across the U.S., but homeowners looking for flood insurance will find few choices. The main providers of flood insurance is the U.S. government through the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP. But even though the NFIP is one of the only flood insurance games in town, it's drowning in debt. On today's episode, the NFIP's struggle to stay afloat.

Related listening:
Hazard maps: The curse of knowledge (Apple / Spotify)
When insurers can't get insurance
Flood money

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In a first-best world, we'd all save enough money and there'd be no scammers. In a second-best world, we'd all know how to protect ourselves.

That's what Sheila Bair thought, too. As former chair of the FDIC, she noticed many kids and adults weren't quite getting the education they needed. So, she decided to do something about it.

Today on the show: What Sheila Bair has learned about American capitalism as one of its top regulators and how she's trying ? one book at a time ? to help new generations from falling into its traps.

We learned about Sheila Bair's kids books from listener Erin Vetter. If you've come across anything that makes finance fun, email us! We're at [email protected].

Related Episodes:
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Beach reads with a side of economics

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The federal government has been tracking the weather for more than 150 years. Yet over the last few decades, the rise of the Internet and big tech have made weather forecasting a more crowded space. Today on the show: the value of an accurate forecast and the debate over who should control the data.

Related stories:
Hazard maps: The curse of knowledge (Apple / Spotify)
Should we invest more in weather forecasting?
After a year of deadly weather, cities look to private forecasters to save lives

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It's ... Indicators of the Week! It's that time of week when we look at the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's episode: Election aftermath. Stocks jump, the temperamental Mexican peso, and which states are raising minimum wage.

Related Episodes:
Should We Raise The Minimum Wage?
America's economy is the envy of the world. Will it stay that way?

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This week, a powerful hurricane hit Cuba, causing nationwide electricity outages ? right after a string of power failures that have plagued the country in recent months. These power outages are a low point for a country that has struggled economically for years and is experiencing mass emigration.

Today on the show, we explain why Cuba is struggling to keep the lights on and investigate the root causes of the Caribbean nation's dramatic fall.

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Donald Trump's victory in this year's election had a lot to do with how many Americans feel about the US economy (surprise: not good). But Simon Rabinovitch, US Economics Editor for The Economist, argues that, despite the turmoil of the past few years, America's economy remains the envy of the world. Today on the show, Simon explains why that is, but also why he believes a Trump presidency puts America's 'economic exceptionalism' at risk.

The envy of the World - The Economist

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Why are some nations richer? (Apple / Spotify)

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It's the most important day of the year for the country ... The Beigie Awards! The Beigie Awards are back to recognize the regional Federal Reserve Bank with the best Beige Book entry. This time, we shine a spotlight on one entry that speaks to a logistics problem affecting farms in the midwest.

Related episodes:
Using anecdotes to predict recessions (Apple / Spotify)
The Beigie Awards: Why banks are going on a "loan diet" (Apple / Spotify)

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For the second year in a row, the U.S. government is buying the largest quantity of apples in its history because there are not enough consumers and processors who want to buy them. Today on the show, an abundance of apples and why some apple growers are getting out of the game altogether.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% and 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy during October. It's a lower-than-expected jobs number, from a period that saw two significant hurricanes in the southeast and a strike from workers at Boeing. Today on the show, we explain the complexities of calculating the monthly job numbers, and why the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be trusted.

Related episodes:
Behind the scenes of Jobs Friday (Apple / Spotify / NPR)

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In 1880, the Chinese were the biggest group of immigrants in the western U.S. But Sinophobic sentiments crystallized into racist policies and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The rationale was that banning Chinese laborers would boost job opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Today, an economist explains how the Chinese exclusion laws affected the economies of western states and what it says about our current debate over immigration and jobs.

Read the working paper co-authored by Nancy Qian.

A digital scan of the photo album in the California Historical Society's collections is available here.

For more on this period of history, check out At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943 by Erika Lee.

Related episodes:
What's missing in the immigration debate (Apple / Spotify)

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Immigration is a top concern among U.S. voters this election cycle. But Zeke Hernandez, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies immigration,thinks politicians and the media aren't giving the public the full story. Too often, he argues, they paint immigrants as objects of pity or fear, when the reality is much more complex ? and positive. Today on the show, we look beyond the binary and explore the less talked about ways documented and undocumented immigrants shape the U.S. economy.

Zeke's book is called The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers.

Related listening:
Is the border crisis really a labor market crisis? (Apple / Spotify)
Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages? (Apple / Spotify)
Welcome to the USA! Now get to work (Apple / Spotify)

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Social Security has thus far been self-sustaining?payroll taxes go into this big fund, which then pays out monthly checks. But the problem we have now is the money coming into that fund is not keeping up with the money going out.

The election hasn't been great for people concerned about the government's finances. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Donald Trump's election proposals will speed up the rundown in the Social Security fund by a few years.

So, when Social Security runs out of money as it's projected to do ... could we just borrow more money? And if so, what would that mean for the already rising government's debt?

Today on the show, how worried should we be about Social Security and the federal debt? We explain a fresh indicator to assess whether or not America's getting too far in the red.

Related Episodes:
What does the next era of Social Security look like?
Iceberg ahead for Social Security

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The Maldives is a small island nation struggling with a heavy debt load. Its borrowing includes $500 million worth of something called sukuk. These are bond-like investments that don't pay interest, to be in line with Islamic law. Today on the show, we explain how sukuk works, how it fits into the larger world of Islamic finance and what might happen if the Maldives can't pay back its debt.

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

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