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. 

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This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Kwesi Lee. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Vito Emanuel. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Music: Universal Music Production - ?Lagos to London,? ?Sleazy Does It,? ?The Sundown Set.?

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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??

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The original Indicator episodes were hosted by Wailin Wong, Darian Woods, and Adrian Ma. They were produced by Cooper Katz McKim and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Debbie Daughtry. They were fact checked by Sierra Juarez. They were edited by Paddy Hirsch and Kate Concannon. 

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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 Today Explained, Vox?s lively, smart daily news podcast. 

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This episode was hosted by Noel King. It was produced by Ariana Aspuru, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and engineered by Adriene Lilly.

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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.

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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Vito Emanuel, and engineered by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Planet Money?s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. 

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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?

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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Meg Cramer and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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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.


Related episodes:

Are Trump's tariffs legal? What is Temu?What "Made in China" actually means
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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.


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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?


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This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Erika Beras. It was produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Eric Mennel and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2022.)

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. 

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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."


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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 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 

- Cracking the code: How technology and education are changing life in Maine prisons 


Related episodes:

- Fine and Punishment  

- Getting Out Of Prison Sooner 

- The Prisoner's Solution 

- Paying for the Crime 


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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez with reporting from Susan Sharon. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with reporting help from Vito Emanuel. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez, with help from Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer. 

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People in the U.S. are feeling the financial squeeze, in part because of rising inflation, higher consumer prices and slowing job growth. The Indicator from Planet Money is tackling a special series on the rising cost of living. Today, two stories from that series. 

First, what?s making ticket prices go up? We look at the economics behind the ticket market and how ?reseller bots? are wreaking all sorts of havoc. The industry is not a fan, and yet they do serve an economic function. 

And? why pet care costs have surged. It comes down to unique skills, people?s love for their pets and something called the ?Baumol effect.? 

Related episodes:
- The Vet Clinic Chow Down
- What Do Private Equity Firms Actually Do? 
- Kid Rock vs. The Scalpers
- Ticket scalpers: The real ticket masters 

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This episode is hosted by Darian Woods, Adrian Ma, and Wailin Wong. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Angel Carreras. Cooper Katz McKim produced this episode. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator?s editor. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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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 -- 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.

Looking for hunger-relief resources? Try here.

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This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin, edited by Marianne McCune and Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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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.

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Register here for our live Zoom event about our board game project on November 1st.

This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Luis Gallo with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune with fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Patrick Murray. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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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
- The prisoner's solution
- Paying for the crime
- Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune

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Today?s episode was produced by James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Luis Gallo. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Tagasugi Chernovin with help from Robert Rodriguez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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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, 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.

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This adapted episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Dallas Taylor. It was produced by Casey Emmerling and James Sneed. The episode was edited by Jess Jiang. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer.

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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.


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This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Daniel Ackerman. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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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.

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Today?s episode of Planet Money was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Julia Ritchey. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Debbie Daughtry and Cena Loffredo. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Special Thanks: Denis Coleman, David Schleicher, Liall Clarke, Kevin Hennigan and everyone at Classical King FM in Seattle.

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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.

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This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our Executive Producer. 

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Our sister show, The Indicator, is chronicling the evolving business of crime for its Vice Week 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 podcast feed for the latest on the Indicator Vice Series including an episode on 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. 

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This episode is hosted by Darian Woods, Adrian Ma, and Wailin Wong. These episodes of The Indicator were originally produced by Cooper Katz McKim and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. They were fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is The Indicator?s editor. Alex Goldmark is the Executive Producer. 

Music: NPR Source Audio - ?Diamond High? 

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It?s here! It?s free to download and playtest! It?s the Planet Money game! (Download here.)
Download and playtest the game go here Sign up for the 11/1 virtual AMA event and get updates about the gameSubmit your feedback on the gameWatch the how-to video with Kenny and Elan for playtest instructionsIn 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.

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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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 hugely popular and basically little economy simulators, after all.)

Well, turns out, it?s quite 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. 

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This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Gilly Moon and Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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The next time you open your fridge, take a second to behold the miracles inside of it: Raspberries from California, butter from New Zealand, steak from Nebraska. None of that would have been remotely possible before the creation of the cold chain. 

The cold chain is the name for the end-to-end refrigeration of our food from farm to truck to warehouse to grocery store and ultimately to our fridges at home. And it?s one of the great achievements of the modern world. 

On today?s show, Nicola Twilley, food journalist and author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, tells us the story of how our world got cold, and what that?s meant for the economy.  

We?ll hear about two pioneers of cold: The cheapskate meat baron Gustavus Swift, and the train-hopping chemist Polly Pennington. And we?ll take a look at whether all this refrigeration might have created some new problems. 

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Today?s episode of Planet Money was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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On Wall Street, fortunes are often won and lost with the tiniest advantages. And for the past few years, one trading firm has stood out from the rest for both huge profits and careful secrecy ? Jane Street Group.

But last year, one of Jane Street?s biggest and most lucrative trading strategies was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom. The news ricocheted around the world. It drew the attention of competitors and regulatory agencies, destabilized billions of dollars worth of trades, and called into question some of the most fundamental strategies in global finance. 

Some Planet Money episodes about finance:
- The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management
- How George Soros forced the UK to devalue the pound

Further reading: 
- Jane Street Group, LLC v. Millennium Management LLC, Douglas Schadewald, and Daniel Spottiswood
- ?Jane Street?s Indian Options Trade Was Too Good,? from Bloomberg
- SEBI's report: "Interim Order in the matter of Index manipulation by Jane Street Group"
- ?Jane Street Defends India Trading Activity, Blasts Regulator,? from Bloomberg

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This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Mary Childs. It was produced by Eric Mennel, with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Cooper Katz-McKim. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money?s executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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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? 

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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. 

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(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. 

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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.


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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

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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.  

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Federal Reserve has been under intense pressure from President Donald Trump as he pushes for more control over the historically independent agency. The Fed is tasked with keeping inflation and unemployment under control, and it?s supposed to be insulated from politics so it can do whatever is necessary for the economy. But Trump has been openly saying he wants interest rates to be lower. A lot lower.

And on Monday, Trump posted a bombshell. He said that he was removing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, ?for cause.? Lisa Cook has told NPR she intends to remain in office, and is now suing Trump. 

On today?s show: inside the Fed Board of Governors. How realistic is a plan to control monetary policy through loyalists on the Board? We hear from former Board governors to understand what the job is, and what we might be in for. 

Further listening on the Fed and Fed independence:

- A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
- Happy Fed Independence Day
- The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
- A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed
- Trump's unprecedented attack on the Fed
- Turkey's runaway inflation problem 
- Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?

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Get your own personalized summer school diploma here.

Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute the unsung heroes of government service. And we will pick our valedictorian from among you of the class of 2025. 

Editorial Note:

President Trump attempted to fire Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee to the Federal Reserve Board. Our daily podcast, The Indicator, has coverage on their latest episode. We?ll have an episode in the Planet Money feed soon, in the meantime, here?s some background listening on why this is so important. 

Years before she joined the Fed, we profiled the work of Lisa Cook. Listen here.

Also these: 

Happy Fed Independence Day
A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
Turkey's runaway inflation problem 
Arthur Burns: shorthand for Fed failure? 
Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?
Can the Federal Reserve stay independent? 
It's hard out there for a Fed chair 

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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In the past couple years, demand has gone wild for drugs like Ozempic ? and its cousins, Zepbound, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. For people who had never been able to lose weight before, suddenly the numbers on the scale were plummeting. And everybody wanted to get their hands on them. 

Now, in most industries, if a product goes viral like this, it?s a golden ticket. And thanks to government-granted monopolies designed to encourage innovation, the big drug companies behind these blockbuster injections are currently the only ones allowed to make them.

In theory, anyway. 

But, what if that explosive demand backfired, opening the door to legal knock-offs? You?ve maybe seen them - copycats advertised as the same thing as Ozempic. So, what?s the difference? And just how legal are they? On today?s show - a drug that?s changing people's lives is also challenging the traditional way we buy and sell medicine.

This episode was hosted by Sydney Lupkin and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Gilly Moon and Debbie Daughtry. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money?s executive producer.

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Music: Source Audio - ?Subtly Silly Thug,? ?Got The Moves,? and ?Vive le Punk?

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Tariffs are the favorite tool of our current president, but there are lots of other ways that governments insert themselves into the free exchange of goods and services. Some of these trade barriers are so insidious and have been going on for so long that it may surprise you that they even exist. 

We bring you the classic story of what happens when you try to protect an American industry and end up hurting another American industry. Well intentioned plans turn into trade barriers that make our lives more expensive. 

Check out our Summer School video cheat sheet TikTok.

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Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

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For most Americans, we just lived through the highest period of inflation in our lives. And we are reminded of this every time we go grocery shopping. All over TikTok, tons of people have posted videos of how little they got for? $20. $40. $100. Most upsetting to us: an $8 box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Food prices are almost 30% higher than they were five years ago. It?s bad. And those new, higher prices aren?t going away.

At the same time, prices are no longer inflating at a wild pace. For the last two years, the rate of inflation has slowed way down. And yet, our fears or feelings that things will spiral out of control again? Those have not slowed down.

This mismatch has been giving us all the... feelings. Inflation feelings. Infeelings. 

On our latest show: we sort through our infeeltions. We talk to the economists who have studied us. We learn why our personal inflation calculators don?t always match the professional ones.

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In economics, a market is a place (even virtual) where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods or services. Economists love markets. It's like all of our supply and demand graphs have come to life. Almost everything you buy goes through some sort of marketplace?your cup of coffee came from trading in the bean markets. Your spouse might have come from the dating marketplace on the apps. Even kids will tell you one Snickers is worth at least two Twix.

But sometimes, as we'll see today, markets can go terribly wrong; greed can run out of control; lives can be at risk. That's when the government often steps in and gives the market a little nudge to work better. Today's episode: Market Design.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

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After President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists and statisticians across the board were horrified. Because the firing raises the spectre of potential manipulation ? and it raises the worry that, in the future, the numbers won't be as trustworthy.

So: we looked at two countries that have some experience with data manipulation. To ask what happens when governments get tempted to cook the books. And...once they cook the books... how hard is it to UN-cook them?

It's two statistical historical cautionary tales. First, we learn how Argentina tried to mask its true inflation rate, and how that effort backfired. Then, we hear about the difficult process of cleaning up the post-cooked-book mess, in Greece.

For more:
- Can we just change how we measure GDP?
- The price of lettuce in Brooklyn
- What really goes on at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Update)
- Can we still trust the monthly jobs report? (Update)
- How office politics could take down Europe
- The amazing shrinking economy might stop shrinking

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LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here.

Traditional economics says the market is guided by the forces of supply and demand. Customers decide what they want to buy, and private enterprise responds to that need.

So what makes government think that it's smarter than capitalism? Why offer tax breaks to Hollywood or incentives to build silicon chip factories in Arizona? Why those industries and not others? And when does the free market fail and need government to step in?

Today, we discuss what happens when the government really wants to get its hands dirty and shape the direction of the economy, even decide which companies should prosper and which ones should fail, through industrial policy.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.

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Trust in experts is down. In all kinds of institutions and professions - in government, in media, in medical science... and lately, economists are feeling the burn acutely. In fact, President Trump just fired the economist who ran the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing her ? with no evidence ? of faking a jobs report that showed fewer gains than expected.

In decades past, economists whispered in the ears of presidents. Now, many politicians and voters are disenchanted with the field.

On today's show, we speak with economists about how distrust is messing with their minds and interfering with their work. Can they build up trust again?

Today's episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and edited by Marianne McCune with help from Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here.

There are occasional incentives in business that make it very profitable to do bad things; maybe cheat at the game and steal other people's ideas, or cut some corners on safety. In theory, the government as referee steps in to make the rules and enforce them, and manage competition in a way that hopefully makes things better for us all.

But you have to ask... When is the government protecting you and when is it protecting the already rich and powerful?

We'll meet a man trying to corner the market for frozen meat, with the help of patents. And then we'll head to the salon, and ask ? Should the government really require dozens of hours of training for a license to braid hair?

Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the code!)

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

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LIVE SHOW ALERT: August 18th, NYC. Get your tickets here.

When news broke that a Japanese company, Nippon Steel, was buying the storied American steel company U.S. Steel, it was still 2023, just before an election.

And right away, politicians from both sides of the aisle came out forcefully against the deal, saying the company should remain American. Before leaving office, President Biden even blocked the sale.

But in a dramatic twist a few weeks ago, President Trump approved it. With a caveat: the U.S. would get what Trump called 'a golden share' in U.S. Steel.

On our latest show: what even is a "golden share"? When has it been used before, and why? And, could deals like this be a good way to get foreign investment in American manufacturing...or is it government overreach?

Related episodes:
- When Uncle Sam owned banks and factories
- How Big Steel in the U.S. fell

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Marianne McCune. Research help from Emily Crawford and Emma Peaslee. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes, sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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Although it seems like the government can spend an endless amount of money, it cannot actually do all the things it wants to do. So the big question in this week's lesson is: How do we decide? Why does the government spend so much money on some things and not on others? And honestly, is there any limit?Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code!)The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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It seems like politicians cannot agree on a lot. But many seem to agree on... manufacturing. Leaders of both political parties have been working to try and make the U.S. a manufacturing powerhouse again.

On today's show, what is so special about manufacturing? Is it particularly important for the economy? And if manufacturing jobs are so great, then why have companies been struggling to fill the manufacturing jobs we already have?

For more on manufacturing in the U.S:

- Made in America, an episode about what manufacturing work in the U.S. can be like for garment workers and how much they're paid to make each piece of clothing "made in the U.S."
- Why aren't Americans filling the manufacturing jobs we already have?
- What makes manufacturing jobs special? The answer could help rebuild the middle class
- Can bringing back manufacturing help the heartland catch up with 'superstar' cities?
- And, for more, check out the Planet Money newsletter's manufacturing series at npr.org/manufacturing.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit donate.npr.org now.

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We all know the government uses taxes to pay for things. But what about using taxes to control behavior? This week on Summer School, Professor Darrick Hamilton of The New School, helps us explore the true power of the tax code. Can taxes help lift people out of poverty? What about saving the planet?

Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code!)

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford and Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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What people might picture when they think of "Made in America" ... might not look like the "Made in America" we have today.

The U.S. does have a domestic manufacturing industry, including a garment manufacturing industry.

In today's episode: We buy a garment made by factory workers in the U.S. ? a basic purple sports bra ? and learn how many people it took to make it, how much workers got paid to work on it ... and whether garment manufacturing is a job Americans want, or even know how, to do.

Plus: why domestic garment manufacturing exists at all in the U.S., and whether the industry can grow.

Other episodes:

- What "Made in China" actually means

This episode was reported and hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin with production help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and it was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez who also helped with research. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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Government. The Big G. We like to imagine the free market and the invisible hand as being independent from political influence. But Nobel laureate, Simon Johnson, says that influence has been there since the birth of economics. Call it political economy. Call it government and business. Call it our big topic each Wednesday through Labor Day.

We're kicking off another semester of Planet Money Summer School asking the biggest question: Why are some nations rich and others poor? With stories from India, New York City and Peru, we look at the ways in which government bureaucracy can help make or break an economy.

Tickets for Planet Money Live at the Bell House available here. Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Go to plus.npr.org to sign up, if you haven't already, and listen to the July 8th bonus episode to get the discount code.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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Planet Money+ supporters get early access to new episodes of Summer School this season! You also get sponsor-free listening, regular bonus episodes, and you'll help support the work of Planet Money.

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If we think about the economic effects of President Donald Trumps big taxing and spending and domestic policy bill, we can roughly sum it up in one line. It goes something like this:

We will make many big tax cuts permanent and pay for those tax cuts by cutting Medicaid and a few other things and also...by borrowing money.

A lot of money.

Even more than we've already been borrowing over the past twenty years. (And that was already a lot, too!)

Today: simple arithmetic with profound ramifications. Tax cuts, spending cuts, and whether they balance out. (Spoiler: no.)

We look under the hood to see how all this is calculated. And we ask: how will a bigger deficit play out for all of us, in our normal, regular lives?

We've covered a bunch more having to do with the big taxing and spending bill and the federal debt recently on Planet Money and our short daily show The Indicator:

- So, how's this No Tax On Tips thing gonna go?
- A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem
- The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'?
- The debt limit, the origins of the X Date, and why it all matters
- What's a revenge tax?
- Is the federal debt REALLY that bad?

Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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There's an economic fantasy you sometimes hear in D.C. It often gets trotted out when politicians are trying to add billions or trillions to the national debt. They claim that all the new spending will be worth it in the end because we will supercharge economic growth.

This fantasy recurs again and again, because economic growth is a potent force. Over the next few decades, tiny changes in how fast our economy grows could decide the fate of the federal government ? whether we can bring the massive national debt under control or whether we spiral into a fiscal crisis.

Today on the show, we talk to three economists who have been sifting through the latest evidence. They're trying to figure out what the government could actually do to make the economy grow faster. Could we even grow fast enough to outrun our national debt?

For a list of citations, check out our episode page.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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In 2019, President Trump tweeted: "I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies." Today, the Trumps are all over crypto.

There are memecoins for Trump and the first lady. They own a stablecoin, a bitcoin mining operation, and a crypto financial services company. And, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Trump's media group announced they're raising 2.5 billion dollars from investors to buy bitcoin.

At that same conference, speakers included two White House advisors, two sons of the US president, the son of the U.S. Commerce Secretary, and a Trump appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a cryptocurrency built on independence from big government, this was a swerve.

So, what happens when the President of the United States showers his love on the crypto community ... while also becoming a crypto entrepreneur himself? We follow along as Trump Inc.'s Ilya Marritz and Andrea Bernstein spend three days at the Las Vegas conference center where convicts are cheered, oversight and regulation are booed, and the separation of crypto and state no longer applies.

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Econ Battle Zone is back! On today's episode Mary Childs and Kenny Malone enter Econ Battle Stadium to throw down against reigning champion Erika Beras.

Can Mary explain what effect extending the 2017 tax cuts will have on economic growth AND make her entire segment rhyme? Will Erika be able to overcome her fear of singing and craft a country song about the history of Medicaid? Can Kenny put together a piece about what warning signs economists look for to know whether the national debt has grown too large... but as a romantic comedy?

Guest judges Betsey Stevenson and David Kestenbaum face a difficult choice... but only one contestant can claim the coveted Econ Battle Zone Belt.

Artists featured in this episode: Rexx Life Raj (IG: @rexxliferaj); Merle Hazard; Alison Brown; Tristan Scroggins; Matt Coles; and Garry West.

Special thanks to Liz Garton Scanlon, Robin Rudowitz and Sarah Rosenbaum.

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The U.S. has been policing bribery all over the world for nearly half a century using a law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. But now, President Trump has said that this anti-corruption law is crippling American businesses. Since taking office, his administration has reduced the number of investigators, killed some cases, and changed the rules.

In this episode, we look at the FCPA case against Glencore, a large commodity trading company, found guilty in 2022 for paying cash bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts all over the world.

And we go back to the inception of the law, a time when using bribes to pay off foreign officials was considered "grease in the wheels" - a reasonable (if unethical) way to get business done.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Erika Beras. It was produced by Willa Rubin. It was fact-checked by Emily Crawford with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

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

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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