Accessibility links
Planet Money The economy, explained, with stories and surprises. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, "Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy." Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money. People seem to like it.

Planet Money

The Economy Explained
The Beigie Awards: Manufacturing takes center stage
Miba Industrial Bearings

The Indicator from Planet Money

The Beigie Awards: Manufacturing takes center stage

The Beigies roll around once again to recognize the regional Federal Reserve Bank with the best Beige Book entry. This edition's winner put a spotlight on a company increasing their efforts to recruit young people for an important piece of the manufacturing puzzle.

The Beigie Awards: Manufacturing takes center stage

Listen · 9:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954171/1200449830" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Coca Cola v. Coca Pola
Schneyder Mendoza/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Coca Cola v. Coca Pola

The coca leaf has been an important part of Andean culture for thousands of years. But when one indigenous woman decided to use the plant in a drink she calls Coca Pola, she awoke a sleeping giant. Today on the show, a small business goes head to head with Coca-Cola over a trademark dispute.

Coca Cola v. Coca Pola

Listen · 9:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954152/1200226417" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How to launder $600 million on the internet
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Planet Money

How to launder $600 million on the internet

Erin Plante is a private detective who specializes in chasing down stolen cryptocurrency. In March of 2022, she got the biggest assignment of her career: Hackers had broken into an online game called Axie Infinity and made off with over $600 million worth of digital money.

How to launder $600 million on the internet

Listen · 26:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954055/1199945422" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Economics, boosternomics and Swiftnomics
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Mana

The Indicator from Planet Money

Economics, boosternomics and Swiftnomics

For this week's Indicators of the Week, Darian is joined by NPR colleagues Jeff Guo and Sydney Lupkin. We get into the latest numbers on child poverty in the U.S. and what it tells us about effective policy intervention. Sydney brings an update on the new covid booster and who's paying for it. And Jeff talks about Taylor Swift...again. He promises it has to do with economics.

Economics, boosternomics and Swiftnomics

Listen · 9:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954124/1199935864" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Wait — did we really need to raise rates?
CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Wait — did we really need to raise rates?

Inflation remains stubbornly high as the Federal Open Markets Committee weighs whether they will raise interest rates again. However, new research suggests that elevated interest rates weren't the primary driver for the decline in inflation. Today, we take a look at the debate surrounding disinflation and what comes next for the Federal Reserve.

Wait — did we really need to raise rates?

Listen · 9:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954105/1199645347" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Giant vacuums and other government climate bets

Global Thermostat's pilot plant for direct air carbon capture, on April 4, 2023, in Brighton, Colorado. The company is also receiving funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to build a plant with 1,000 times the capacity of this demonstration plant. Hart Van Denburg/CPR News/Hart Van Denburg/CPR News hide caption

toggle caption
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News/Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

The Indicator from Planet Money

Giant vacuums and other government climate bets

Yesterday we brought you a debate over whether the government should subsidize industries in the name of economic growth and societal benefits. Today on the show, we zero in on the climate industrial policy of the Biden administration, which is funneling billions into experimental projects that promise to remove, capture and store carbon. It's an effort by the U.S. to meet its ambitious climate goals, but it's not without its skeptics.

Giant vacuums and other government climate bets

Listen · 9:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197954051/1199390081" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
China's weakening economy in two Indicators

This photo taken on June 14, 2023 shows university graduates and youths attending a job fair in Yibin, in China's southwestern Sichuan province. Unemployment among Chinese youths jumped to a record 20.8 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on June 15, 2023, as the economy's post-Covid growth spurt fades. CNS/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
CNS/AFP/Getty Images

Planet Money

China's weakening economy in two Indicators

In China, data on the economy is sometimes difficult to come by. The Chinese government has put a pause on releasing some of its official economic data. But many of the stories emerging from the country paint a clear picture: the second largest economy in the world is struggling.

China's weakening economy in two Indicators

Listen · 18:32
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197953094/1199366983" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Industrial policy, the debate!

DURHAM, NC - MARCH 28: Union workers look on during a series of remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden during a visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, as he kicks off his Investing in America Tour on March 28, 2023 in Durham, North Carolina. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Industrial policy, the debate!

There is a lot of taxpayer money going into propping up industry in the U.S. From semiconductor chip fabrication in Arizona to green hydrogen plants in California. Is this smart policy? Today on the Indicator, our guests debate!

Industrial policy, the debate!

Listen · 9:29
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197953091/1199092174" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Is retail theft getting worse?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Is retail theft getting worse?

Lately, retailers have been complaining to their investors about thieves coming to their stores and stealing stuff and blaming them for falling profits. It's the biggest part of a well-known industry problem called "shrink," but is this trend as pervasive as stores are making it out to be? Today on the show, retail theft and what stores are doing about it.

Is retail theft getting worse?

Listen · 8:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197953024/1198818366" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Apple, drugs, Grindr
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Apple, drugs, Grindr

Today on Indicators of the Week: government iPhone restrictions in China that walloped Apple's market value. Plus plans emerge over how the US government plans to negotiate drug prices. Also, a mass exodus of employees from a top dating app that sheds some light on where the whole working from home debate is.

Apple, drugs, Grindr

Listen · 9:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198534335/1198988773" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How the Phillips Curve shaped macroeconomics
London School of Economics Image Library

Politics & Policy

How the Phillips Curve shaped macroeconomics

When economists and policymakers talk about getting inflation under control, there's an assumption they often make: bringing inflation down will probably result in some degree of layoffs and job loss. But that is not the way things have played out since inflation spiked last year. Instead, so far, inflation has come down, and unemployment has stayed low.

How the Phillips Curve shaped macroeconomics

Listen · 23:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197953033/1198447727" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Welcome to the USA! Now get to work.'

Syrian refugees take notes during their Vocational ESL class at the International Rescue Committee center in San Diego on August 31, 2016. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

'Welcome to the USA! Now get to work.'

When refugees arrive in the U.S. the clock starts ticking. They usually have up to 90 days to get a job and become 'self-sufficient'.

'Welcome to the USA! Now get to work.'

Listen · 9:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198338411/1198988769" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The dementia tax

April Simpkins, left, was her husband Joe's primary caregiver after he was first diagnosed with dementia in 2013. As the disease progressed, April moved Joe to a memory care facility in Nashville, Tenn. Joe Simpkins died in January 2020. (Photo: April Simpkins) April Simpkins hide caption

toggle caption
April Simpkins

The Indicator from Planet Money

The dementia tax

More than 7 million Americans are living with dementia. To take care of this population, family members must often make the difficult choice of giving up work or paying for a costly facility. Today on the show, the rising cost of memory care in an aging population.

The dementia tax

Listen · 8:27
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197883843/1198988765" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Andy Warhol Supreme Court case and what it means for the future of art

A portrait of Prince taken by Lynn Goldsmith (left) in 1981 and 16 silk-screened images Andy Warhol later created using the photo as a reference (right). Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States hide caption

toggle caption
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

Planet Money

The Andy Warhol Supreme Court case and what it means for the future of art

In 1981, photographer Lynn Goldsmith took a portrait of the musician Prince. It's a pretty standard headshot — it's in black-and-white, and Prince is staring down the camera lens.

The Andy Warhol Supreme Court case and what it means for the future of art

Listen · 28:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197609729/1198961448" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Jobs Friday: More jobs and more unemployment
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Jobs Friday: More jobs and more unemployment

The jobs report is in! And both the rate of employment AND unemployment went up in August. How does that happen? Plus, how disabled people are doing in the labor market.

Jobs Friday: More jobs and more unemployment

Listen · 8:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197400755/1198988757" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How one man fought a patent war over turmeric
Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Planet Money

How one man fought a patent war over turmeric

Back in the 1990s, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar was in his office in New Delhi when he came across a puzzling story in the newspaper. Some university scientists in the U.S. had apparently filed a patent for using turmeric to help heal wounds. Mashelkar was shocked, because he knew that using turmeric that way was a well known remedy in traditional Indian medicine. And he knew that patents are for brand new inventions. So, he decided to do something about it – to go to battle against the turmeric patent.

How one man fought a patent war over turmeric

Listen · 25:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197321273/1198961444" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A drought, a jam, a canal — Panama!

(Photo by GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

A drought, a jam, a canal — Panama!

The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It sees hundreds of billions worth of stuff pass through it every year. But a historic drought is making it a little harder for big cargo ships to get through the fifty-one mile long channel. Today on the show, we look at how this backup presents yet another test for global supply chains.

A drought, a jam, a canal — Panama!

Listen · 9:05
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1197046076/1198988753" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Young, "spoiled and miserable" in China
Feng Li/Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

Young, "spoiled and miserable" in China

by , , Aowen Cao , , Paddy Hirsch

Every day, A Ze, a young woman in Beijing, would wake up early, do her makeup, and walk to her old work bus stop... and keep going. She'd left her job but couldn't let her parents know.

Young, "spoiled and miserable" in China

Listen · 9:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1196890793/1198988729" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The problems with the US's farm worker program
Mike Kane/NPR

The Indicator from Planet Money

The problems with the US's farm worker program

Over the years, U.S. agriculture has grown increasingly dependent on the H-2A Guest Worker program to bring in foreign workers to harvest crops. H2A is a vestige of a U.S. and Mexican policy called the Bracero Program, which ended in the 1960s. Today on the show, why farmers and farm worker advocates are calling for more scrutiny of the current-day visa program, which has been dogged by concerns about worker exploitation and safety.

The problems with the US's farm worker program

Listen · 9:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1196573413/1198988733" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org