IMF Bonds (!!!!)

I put the exclamation points there because, OK, it sounds dull. Bonds, you think, are dull. International Monetary Funds, probably more so.

But this is one of those stories that brushes up against the profound.

The news: The International Monetary Fund has decided to issue what could be $70 billion dollars worth of bonds. It's the first time the IMF has raised money through bonds. The fund has been short of cash to lend out because of the financial crisis.

The interesting bit: The bonds are denominated in a kind of synthetic currency called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). SDRs are used internally at the IMF as units of account. But China has proposed turning them into a new kind of global currency that could one day replace the dollar's central role.

Continue reading "IMF Bonds (!!!!)" »

David Kestenbaum

2:27 PM ET | 07- 2-2009 | permalink

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An Unusual Request

I got this email yesterday and worried I might be being set-up for some Borat movie.

Dear Editor in Chief

As an actor who has played the role of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 6 Films in Turkey, I would like to make an interview with your newspaper by e-mail

Information about myself is given below.

Sincerely yours

Yavuz HEKYM
President
GROUP OF EGEKONS
Egekons Prefabricated-Metal Building Industry & Trade Ltd.Co.
actory & Main Office
Ankara Asfalty 40.Km Armutlu Kavpaoy 35170 Kemalpapa Yzmir
www.egekons.com

Our email exchange follows:

Continue reading "An Unusual Request" »

David Kestenbaum

11:13 AM ET | 07- 2-2009 | permalink

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Flamboyant Financial Felons

Even after he scammed millions from investors, some people still heart Conrad Black. gordasm/flickr

 

Bernie Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in prison yesterday, may be the mastermind behind America's biggest Ponzi scheme, but he's certainly not the only person to run a scam for millions of dollars. Financial corruption has been around as long as people have been making money. And some of the corrupt have had some pretty quirky personalities.

Continue reading "Flamboyant Financial Felons" »

Mathew Katz

10:30 AM ET | 06-30-2009 | permalink

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A Trillion Seconds

tizianoj/flickr

 

It turns out Senator Johnny Isakson stepped into a very well studied, but complicated area of scientific measurement when he attempted to explain a trillion dollars.

Isakson tried to covert a trillion seconds into years, months and days.

It turns out no one can tell you how many days in the future a trillion seconds would put you. And it's not even like, 'we're not sure it's a Thursday or a Tuesday'. We don't even know what month it would be.

I called up Tom O'Brian, chief of the Time and Frequency Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who works on super-precise atomic clocks.

He says there are just too many uncertainties. Among other things tidal forces with the moon are slowing down the earth's rotation. (Many years from now, he says, the moon will sit fixed above one spot on earh.)

You can listen to our conversation:

Or download it here.

Continue reading "A Trillion Seconds" »

David Kestenbaum

2:10 PM ET | 06-19-2009 | permalink

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Where's My Carbon Credit, Dude?

We took a righteous stab this morning at explaining the basics of how a cap-and-trade program like the one being considered in congress might be used to limit global warming and carbon emissions. Or, say, limit the use of the word dude.

Internally, there was much debate here about what movie clip to use. Our producer Jacob Ganz emailed : "Dude, you can totally tax a turtle."

Our editor Uri Berliner remembered the Bud Light ads (video above, other ads here and here.)

Continue reading "Where's My Carbon Credit, Dude?" »

David Kestenbaum

7:44 AM ET | 06-12-2009 | permalink

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Question Fail

Honk if you get it. Marzia Niccolai writes:

I recently bought the foreign service exam study guide since I am taking the test this Friday. The test consists of, among other things, basic economics questions. I was so amused by one of the sample questions that I just had to share:

All of the following are examples of United States products that would typically fail to be produced to optimal output without government intervention EXCEPT:

A. national defense products.
B. light provided by lighthouses.
C. new automobiles.
D. new highways.

And in the answer section:

Continue reading "Question Fail" »

Laura Conaway

3:42 PM ET | 06-10-2009 | permalink

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Amazing: Race To Refinance

Winner: The newly refinanced Noel Paterson. Race to Refinance

 

UPDATE: We have a winner. What timing, huh?

Every so often, someone comes along and pulls off a project that amazes you. Eric Sipple, also known as @saalon, a certifiable Web genius, built the Planet Money Listener Race to Refinance. Check it out in brief after the jump and in all its glory at Sipple's site. (For the intrepid few, note the possibility of joining in.)

Continue reading "Amazing: Race To Refinance" »

Laura Conaway

12:15 PM ET | 06-10-2009 | permalink

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Video: '200 Years That Changed The World'

I have to say, a lot of those fancy info-graphic data-visualization techniques, designed to make numbers and statistics easier to absorb, often just leave me confused.

The video above from the folks at gapminder.org is an exception.

I love how Rosling has to narrate the graph as it's changing, like he's a baseball play-by-play announcer. (And I love his accent.)

You can play with the graph here.

Continue reading "Video: '200 Years That Changed The World'" »

David Kestenbaum

8:28 AM ET | 06- 5-2009 | permalink

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What Would You Do With 5 Years?

NPR's Wright Bryan sends this, from the Financial Times:

"How would you like to spend more time with your family -- like the next five years?" is not the kind of offer employees usually want to hear from their bosses in the depths of an economic crisis.

But BBVA, Spain's second-biggest bank, has posed that question to staff as part of its latest cost-cutting drive. It is hoping at least some of its 29,954 Spanish employees agree not to come to work for up to five years -- in exchange for nearly a third of their usual salary and a guaranteed job when they return.

Admittedly, most of us couldn't make it on a third of our salaries alone. But if you're anything like me, you're thinking, hey, with five semi-free years I could...

What would you do? Just asking.

Laura Conaway

10:28 AM ET | 06- 3-2009 | permalink

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The 'Gravy Boat Recession'

It's early yet, but odds for Press Release of the Day are on this one, from the University of Central Florida:

In his national quarterly forecast released this morning, Sean Snaith says the pace of the economic downturn and anticipated recovery looks like the slanted handle, bowl bottom and prolonged spout of a traditional sauce serving dish.

"It has that shape," says Snaith, director of UCF's Institute for Economic Competitiveness, poking fun at the more typical descriptions of recession shapes and graphs.

"Forget the V-shape or other letters that economists talk about when they describe the economy," he adds. "This will be a 'gravy boat recession' with a steady and gradual recovery. After touching bottom in the third quarter of 2009, we'll see GDP slowly climb like a gravy boat's spout."

Laura Conaway

9:38 AM ET | 06- 3-2009 | permalink

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There's Always Beer

One thing consumers worldwide can agree on: beer. kern.justin

 

As the companies that we once believed to be bedrocks of the American economy go into bankruptcy, there's an industry that's actually seeing continued growth in this economy: beer. Since the recession hit, Americans are drinking more of it.

Reuters reports that MillerCoors, the second-largest brewer in the U.S., predicts the American beer market will continue to grow, albeit by a smaller amount than in previous years. The brewer expects to see a 0.6 percent growth in 2009-2012, down slightly from the 0.9 percent growth the industry saw in 2004-2008.

This comes as a new report says beer sales are up 5.6 percent this year, especially among craft beers and discount brews.

Continue reading "There's Always Beer" »

Mathew Katz

4:03 PM ET | 06- 2-2009 | permalink

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Monster Trucks, Now And Then

Instant folk art.

 

Word has it that a Chinese company is buying the gigantaloid Hummer brand from GM, which is getting bought by Uncle Sam.

After the jump, the story behind that monster thing in the photo.

Continue reading "Monster Trucks, Now And Then" »

Laura Conaway

2:48 PM ET | 06- 2-2009 | permalink

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A Six-Day Car Crash

"Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle," in video at Opposition Art

 

Chrysler's on its way out of bankruptcy. GM's on its way in. This seems as good a Friday afternoon as any for video of a super-slow-motion car crash with no passengers. Opposition Art's got it.

(Thanks to listener Chris Hoge.)

Laura Conaway

3:51 PM ET | 05-29-2009 | permalink

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Our Favorite Recession Haiku

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TEXT.

Last week, we issued our Recession Haiku challenge, and you responded with vigor -- on the blog, on Twitter, on Facebook (x2), over e-mail. At this rate, we'll get to our millionth Recession Haiku by the time the economy turns around.

We gathered a dozen of our favorites for the gallery above. My personal honorable mention is after the jump.

Continue reading "Our Favorite Recession Haiku" »

Laura Conaway

2:38 PM ET | 05-28-2009 | permalink

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In Pain? Count Cash

They make you feel better. Steve Rhodes/Planet Money Flickr pool

 

Counting cash can make you feel better, at least according to this new study. In one experiment, the researchers had students count either money or paper, then plunged their fingers into hot water.

The students who had counted money felt less pain.

"Handling money . . . reduced distress over social exclusion and diminished the physical pain of immersion in hot water."

Apparently it doesn't even have to be your money.

Continue reading "In Pain? Count Cash" »

David Kestenbaum

10:16 AM ET | 05-27-2009 | permalink

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Challenge: Recession Haiku

(Update: For a medley of Recession Haiku, check out Friday's podcast.)

This is making the rounds among modern Greek PhDs at the University of Michigan (my poet friend says so). It's an interview of sorts with Stephen Ziliak, an economics professor who believes "an economics without poetry is an economics that is blind." What poet doesn't like to hear that? Ziliak is a big fan of haiku because it's an efficient form where economy of words is valued. He assigns haiku challenges for bonus points on exams and holds haiku workshops as part of a course on rhetoric in economics.

We're assigning you a challenge: Write a haiku for the recession and drop it in the comments. It's 17 syllables, in three lines, with a pattern of five syllables, seven syllables, and five more.

After the jump, the interview with Ziliak -- in haiku.

Continue reading "Challenge: Recession Haiku" »

Chana Joffe-Walt

1:31 PM ET | 05-21-2009 | permalink

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Clowning Around

Mornings with NPR

 

Remember Mandy Dalton, the clown who was having trouble getting paid by bankrupt mall owner General Growth Properties? The blog Mornings with NPR turned our story about her into a cartoon.

Caitlin Kenney

10:57 AM ET | 05-14-2009 | permalink

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Large Bills Take Care of Themselves

Picture this: You're on the road and heading to a comfy, homey destination where there will be plenty of good food. You stop to get gas. You're hungry. Those Fritos look really delicious. You look in your pocket and all you have is a $50 bill. Do you buy the Fritos?

OK, now picture this: Same scenario, but when you look in your pocket you've got a $5 bill. Or how about this: Your pocket is full of change!

I've got a story today on All Things Considered that some of you may recognize from the podcast about what's called the Denomination Effect. It's research by Priya Raghubir and Joydeep Srivastava published in the Journal of Consumer Research (sub required) that shows people are much more willing to spend the same sum of money if they had smaller denominations instead of one large bill. In other words you would totally buy those Fritos with a pocket full of change. You may go for it with your five. But there is no way you are breaking a $50 for a stupid bag of Fritos.

Like the Mexican folk saying that opens their paper: You should take care of small, loose bills, because large bills take care of themselves.

Continue reading "Large Bills Take Care of Themselves" »

Chana Joffe-Walt

3:20 PM ET | 05-12-2009 | permalink

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Not The Stairway To Heaven

From Fail BLog

 

Sometimes Fail Blog just lights up your life.

Laura Conaway

2:08 PM ET | 05-12-2009 | permalink

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Contest: Decipher This

PM editor Uri Berliner sends along this indecipherable business alert.

REUTERS SUMMIT-BATS EXCHANGE CEO SAYS POSSIBLE NEW OPTIONS MODEL WOULD BE MAKER-TAKER

Anyone know what this means?

Caitlin Kenney

5:53 PM ET | 05-11-2009 | permalink

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What Happened To Mother Nature?

Mother Nature used to look like this.This lady, progenitor of the Heat and Snow Miser follows the standard depiction of Mother Nature as a sylvan, earthy, vaguely counter-culture figure. Her clothes were loose and flowing, like a stream or breeze. Advertisers who used Mother Nature (she's a fair use ICON!) stuck to this basic script. Like this lady, who warns margarine users not to mess with Mother Nature, could have been outfitted from the same trunk as a summer stock production of Hair.

But look at how Mother Nature is showing up these days -- dressed in a sharp business suit.

-- Mike Pesca

Continue reading "What Happened To Mother Nature? " »

Caitlin Kenney

3:39 PM ET | 05- 8-2009 | permalink

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Funniest 10 Words All Week

"Is is possible we have too many choices in America?" @not_yet

 

Twitter pal @not_yet wins the prize for economy caption of the week.

Laura Conaway

1:37 PM ET | 05- 8-2009 | permalink

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Freak Out: Jimmy Choo Sale

Our pal Dan Pashman shot this video on Thursday in Manhattan. Pashman writes:

On my way to work, I came across a long line. A really long line. A line that would make Walt Disney jealous. There's an unemployment office near my office, and a few months ago there was a pretty long line there for a job fair. So I figured this was probably for another job fair.

I was wrong. The line was for a Jimmy Choo sample sale.

Continue reading "Freak Out: Jimmy Choo Sale" »

Laura Conaway

3:07 PM ET | 05- 4-2009 | permalink

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When Chrysler Tried This

Check the paneling, y'all. Jalopnik.

 

We're talking Chrysler on the podcast today, and along the way we stopped to remember the K Car.

Go ahead and raise your hand if you remember the last great model for saving the company. The K Car, we'll just tell you now, has its own fan club. Of course.

Laura Conaway

1:56 PM ET | 05- 1-2009 | permalink

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It's All About The Flag

Flying the Mongolian Flag in Hakodate Bay, Japan. Click to enlarge. Photo by Joe Jones via Flickr

 

One of the things that was so surprising about the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama was that it was an American flagged ship. Pirates rarely hijack ships registered in the US and that is intentional. They prefer not to face off with Navy Seals. Also, shipping companies often don't register in the US. The taxes are too high and the regulation too strict.

Shipping companies, just like pirates, prefer to exist in a world of little regulation. They register their ships in countries like Liberia, Panama and the Bahamas that offer lax regulation and lower taxes. If you fly the Bahamian flag (even if you're a Danish company with a Russian crew) you follow Bahamian labor laws, inspection rules and pay Bahamian taxes. That is how ships wind up flying the Mongolian flag - a country that has no coastline!

Continue reading "It's All About The Flag " »

Chana Joffe-Walt

3:32 PM ET | 04-24-2009 | permalink

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Mark-To-Market, Country Style

We've been talking a lot about mark-to-market accounting lately -- the rule that gives banks and businesses leeway in estimating future profits and taking credit for them right away.

Now comes this musical message for the Financial Accounting Standards Board by country singer Merle Hazard (a.k.a. Jon Shayne).

Lyrics, etc., after the jump.

Continue reading "Mark-To-Market, Country Style" »

Devin Dwyer

10:56 AM ET | 04-21-2009 | permalink

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The Million Year Regulation

Our podcast yesterday talked about how hard it was to get a handle on the really large numbers. Lawmakers have to deal with these things all the times, a million dollar line in the budget, billion dollar bank bailouts, a trillion dollar federal deficit.

Sometimes government has to deal with long timescales too. In fact there is one regulation that would extend a million years into the future.

(In that story we take a time machine back one million years. And I have to say, before I did the story I wasn't quite sure what would be there.)

David Kestenbaum

9:37 AM ET | 04-16-2009 | permalink

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Big Numbers That Rhyme

Doing math for the podcast on my tray-table Chana Joffe-Walt

 

The Toxic Asset Relief Program was $700 billion. The AIG execs are grabbing $165 million in bonuses. The Fed plans to inject $1.2 trillion into the financial system.

Come on, be honest now, do you really know what these numbers mean? Nothing in our regular lives is measured in millions or billions, and certainly not in trillions. These numbers are so huge and they all rhyme. Today on the podcast we're going to follow the advice of a neuroscientist friend who says we need to measure impossibly large numbers against something we know.

The Internet has already figured that one out. Perhaps you'd like to think about a trillion in terms of tomatoes? Or grocery bags and palettes, or doormats, and pennies.

Chana Joffe-Walt

11:20 AM ET | 04-15-2009 | permalink

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Twitter Crowd Opens NASDAQ

Quick: What's the name for a real-life get together of Twitter users (or, tweeters?) who meet up to tweet? A tweet-up!

Tech-savvy business leaders are beginning to see the benefits of Twitter. So NASDAQ invited social media strategist and author David Meerman Scott -- and 30 of his Twitter friends -- to tweet-up at the market.

We were there, and yes, we're on Twitter.

Devin Dwyer

9:58 AM ET | 04-14-2009 | permalink

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Madoff's Peeps. Literally.

Sweet, marshmallowy revenge, as imagined by Heather Kelly, Scott Fay and Michael Mavretic. WashingtonPost.com

 

Worth the ad: the Washington Post's Peeps Diorama contest. My heart's with the Madoff scene above. You can still vote in the people's choice poll.

Laura Conaway

1:06 PM ET | 04-13-2009 | permalink

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Finding An Escape In Romance?

Stewf Flickr

 

There's definitely no shortage of bad news these days, and it seems many Americans are finding solace in something both escapist and inexpensive: love.

U.S. News and World Report cites romance novel publishers and condom makers in its top 10 list of "winners in the recession," citing the robust sales figures for each.

Harlequin -- the leading publisher of series romance -- says its year-over-year sales of titles like Naked Attraction and Mistletoe Cinderella grew at the end of 2008, even as total U.S. book sales declined.

Continue reading "Finding An Escape In Romance?" »

Devin Dwyer

10:55 AM ET | 04- 7-2009 | permalink

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Spellcheck Economics

Found in my inbox this morning, an updated analyst's note:

Apologies -- due to an errant spell-checking, "euro-ization" became "euro inaction" and "dollarization" became "polarization." Attached is the corrected version.

Laura Conaway

9:17 AM ET | 04- 6-2009 | permalink

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Pic: Fowl Interest

Give me two hotels and put 'em on my bill. girlonbike/Planet Money Flickr pool

 

Don't let the duck run the bank.

Laura Conaway

3:28 PM ET | 04- 3-2009 | permalink

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Last Drop's A Doozy

I don't know how educational this, but I'm sure my kid will like it. The video follows housing prices, adjusted for inflation, through 2007. The latest figures show existing home values falling by 19 percent in the last year.

(Thanks, @sdvet)

Laura Conaway

9:58 AM ET | 04- 1-2009 | permalink

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Crisis Card

 

We got the following email from our big boss here at NPR, Ellen Weiss.

Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:53 AM

To: PlanetMoney

Subject: Here's my question for you today

Systemic Risk Regulator? Who the heck will that be and would you love or hate having that on your business card?

The treasury department today outlined what it wants to see as the new "rules of the road", financial regulations to make sure we don't drive into a ditch again. The wish list includes a very powerful Systemic Risk Regulator whose job it is to somehow understand the interconnectedness of all things.

I made Ellen the business card above. We welcome your submissions. Whose name should be on it? What slogan? What logo?

David Kestenbaum

1:28 PM ET | 03-27-2009 | permalink

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Blocking It Out

Seen in the window of a fashion store in Germany. Maren Schmohl /Planet Money Facebook group

 

Bianco Footwear offers a suggestion on how to deal with the global financial crisis -- ignore it.

Caitlin Kenney

3:08 PM ET | 03-24-2009 | permalink

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The Credit Crunch Bride

Forget about an increase in divorce when the economy sours, in Japan marriage is on the rise. Bloomberg reports:

Women the Japanese call "marriage-hunters" are looking to tie the knot as companies from Toyota Motor Corp. to Sony Corp. fire thousands of workers and the nation heads for its biggest annual economic contraction since 1945. Marriages surged to a five-year high of 731,000 in 2008 as wages stagnated and the unemployment rate rose for the first time in six years.

"Financial concerns are a major reason for the increase in marriage-hunting," said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "Women are motivated more than ever to find a financially sound partner."

Continue reading "The Credit Crunch Bride" »

Kathleen Brooks

10:15 AM ET | 03-18-2009 | permalink

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Kids Make The Darndest Financial Responsibility Posters

PM contributor Chana Joffe-Walt pointed us to this contest, sponsored by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. School kids across the country come up with a poster to illustrate the phrase "I'm Going To Be A Millionaire Because I..." It's kind of like a local talent contest version of the weird Feed The Pig ads where people hand money over to a porcine fellow dressed in a pink seersucker suit.

Most of the posters are pretty straightforward -- laying out a plan that might plausibly lead to financial success somewhere down the line. But we like this one best, and would like to encourage the idea that puns are the surest route to riches.

Jacob Ganz

2:12 PM ET | 03-12-2009 | permalink

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Open Thread: What Is The Economy?

Cashing it in. Avery Cook

 

John from Kansas City, Mo. sends this great little puzzler:

For fun, I was playing with an electronic 20 questions game (20Q) and decided to try and use "economy" as the target for the poor little gizmo to guess. It had no idea of my philosophical bent and I tried to cut it a few breaks. As a 'thing', vegetable and mineral don't qualify. Animal ? It has a life of sorts. Does it have legs? Does it stand on two legs? Does it have a tail? Perhaps this could serve as a creative whack to one's head, to get one thinking along a different line...

Caitlin Kenney

12:45 PM ET | 03-12-2009 | permalink

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Geithner's Blind Date

Paul Detrick/Planet Money Facebook group

 

No comment.

Caitlin Kenney

5:36 PM ET | 03-10-2009 | permalink

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Special Economics

www.xkcd.com

 

My friend Owen (inspired by the above comic) started poking around on the simple english version of Wikipedia for various economic terms.

It's like the Wikipedia you know and love, except that all the definitions are supposed to only use the most common 1,000 words in the English language. It's intended for people around the world who are just learning the language. But it has the happy side effect of eliminating all that awful economic jargon.

Owen particularly liked the entry on money, which begins:

"Besides being easier to carry than cows, using money had many other advantages. Money is easier to divide than many trade goods. If someone own cows, and wants to trade for only "half a cow's worth" of wheat, he probably does not want to cut his cow in half. But if he sells his cow for money, and buys wheat with money, he can get exactly the amount he wants."

He laments there is no entry for collateralized debt obligation. Anyone want to take a whack at it?

David Kestenbaum

11:26 AM ET | 03- 4-2009 | permalink

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For Mardi Gras, Bailout Floats

Click to let les bons temps roulez. Barbara Baldwin/Planet Money Flickr group

 

Listener Barbara Baldwin of New Orleans went down to the parades this Mardi Gras, and bumped right into the economy. Click to share her curbside view.

Laura Conaway

4:34 PM ET | 02-24-2009 | permalink

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Rick's Rant

In case you missed it, CNBC's Rick Santelli went off about Obama's new plan to help homeowners on the floor of Chicago Board of Trade yesterday. The clip makes a guest appearance on today's podcast, but you can watch it in full above.

Caitlin Kenney

1:25 PM ET | 02-20-2009 | permalink

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'At Least Someone's Hiring'

Hopeful sign? engineer27 via Planet Money Flickr pool

 

Twitter pal @engineer27 sends this snapshot from Boca Raton for your Friday lift.

BTW, I'm still tinkering with the idea of a story about the quits rate. One element missing for me has to do with the fear of leaving one job to take another -- say you have an opportunity at another company, but you're afraid the new place will be more likely to lay you off. So you stay put. That's also part of the quits rate, or the decline in it.

Laura Conaway

10:08 AM ET | 02-20-2009 | permalink

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Moving Picture: Credit Crisis

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

A lot of our listeners wanted to share this video with us, including its designer Jonathan Jarvis. He writes:

I wanted to send you this animation I just posted explaining the subprime crisis simply and in a way (that I think) is good-looking and fun to watch. I am sending it to you because listening to your podcasts and the This American Life episodes in no small way inspired and helped me along the way.

Thanks Jonathan! My favorite part -- the depiction of a subprime mortgage (it's at about 7:30).

Caitlin Kenney

4:27 PM ET | 02-19-2009 | permalink

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Explaining the Crisis to Gamers

Still confused by who is who on Wall Street? The cast and crew of CB Fresh have an answer, especially for those of you spent the early '90s developing carpal tunnel syndrome and poor eyesight playing video games for hours on end.

Packed with cartoon violence and toting a warning label for children, it's Wall Street Fighter 4. Watch your favorite investment banks and rating agencies throw "Sonic Bloombergs" at each other as they battle for market dominance.

(Hat tip to the blog Wall Street Fighter, which notes, "Do we have a copyright case against these dudes? Nevermind, this is the awesomest thing I've seen about Wall St. in months!")

Alan Cordova

12:05 PM ET | 02-19-2009 | permalink

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Bad Movie About A Very Bad Bank

I took a little break from the super-serious job of analyzing the troubled efforts to bring relief to troubled assets. I went to a movie. The International, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, opens today. It's a thriller about an evil bank that controls the world.

It's crap.

It's well shot and paced and the acting's good. But the story truly makes no sense at all. I had a piece on Morning Edition this morning about it.

I got upset--absurdly, ridiculously--because a big Hollywood blockbuster has a faulty business model for banking.

Then I got REALLY upset.

Continue reading "Bad Movie About A Very Bad Bank" »

Adam Davidson

7:06 AM ET | 02-13-2009 | permalink

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Productivity Up

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Alan Cordova/NPR

 

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that productivity in the non-farm business sector rose by 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Sounds like good news? Maybe not.

The reason, as the BLS explains it, is that the total number of hours worked fell faster than the total economic output. Something economist Howard Rosen warned us about when we talked to him about furloughs on the podcast. The above chart is based on BLS data that tracks indices for productivity and compensation (all were 100 in 1992).

Alan Cordova

3:14 PM ET | 02- 5-2009 | permalink

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Links Of The Day

Here are a couple of links for your spare time, which may have unexpectedly increased recently:

For map geeks, ProPublica has created a Google Map of the TARP recipients, with a bar graph indicating the amount of funding located at each company's headquarters. Don't bother scrolling around -- as far as we know none of the money has landed in Saudi Arabia or Papua New Guinea!

For history buffs, the New York Times asked three economists to describe the federal government's response to five recessions in the past fifty years.

Finally, for those with a fast Internet connection, I've been playing around recently with economic data on Many Eyes, IBM's visualization engine. Check out a map of negative home equity. I'd love to post reader-generated visualizations -- if you come up with one, drop me an e-mail.

Alan Cordova

1:01 PM ET | 02- 4-2009 | permalink

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Why 'Buy American'?

Alan asks:

What's so bad about protectionism? As part of the infrastructure spending, the "Buy American" requirement has been added to steel purchases. Since I'm Canadian, this is bad! But beyond that, I've heard from lots of sources that this was a big problem during the depression. Does it just turn into a game where everyone puts up barriers? Could you delve into this further and see if we are starting to see the problem show up this time around?

Alan has pretty much hit the nail on the head. The steel industry got what it wanted in the stimulus bill.

Continue reading "Why 'Buy American'?" »

Alan Cordova

12:33 PM ET | 02- 3-2009 | permalink

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Chart: A Savings Rebound?

Blue dots are monthly. The black line is the quarterly average.

Alan Cordova/NPR

 

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released the latest data on personal income and spending. Consumer spending decreased for the sixth in seventh months, which worries economists because it represents approximately 70 percent of economic activity. However, there was one potentially bright spot in the generally grim picture.

Continue reading "Chart: A Savings Rebound?" »

Alan Cordova

3:37 PM ET | 02- 2-2009 | permalink

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Come Talk To Us

Adam Davidson is warming up for his live chat with Simon Johnson and Arnold Kling -- and you. The conversation's about whether the U.S. should nationalize the banks. It starts at noon Eastern. Join in!

Laura Conaway

11:57 AM ET | 02- 2-2009 | permalink

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Trend Du Jour

Via Freakonomics and Bo Cowgill, we have a trend that may or may not shock you: the number of Google searches for "coupon" has exceeded the number of searches for "Britney Spears," a sign, according to Justin Wolfers, that we are most certainly in a recession.

Alan Cordova

10:50 AM ET | 01-29-2009 | permalink

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Poll: Name The Crisis

Since we aired Chana Joffe-Walt's report on naming the mess we're in, you folks have thrown out many terrific nominations. I took the liberty of picking the ones I liked best and putting them into an online poll.

Now it's time to vote. The poll's open until Friday, Jan. 30, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. We'll announce the results on that day's podcast.

Laura Conaway

11:41 AM ET | 01-27-2009 | permalink

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Sing It Again

In November, Ryan Stotland of the Astroturf checked in with "A Central Banker's Dilemma." Now he's back, with "Financial Crisis Revisited." Ryan says he originally called it "Financial Crisis 2008 Revisited," but that's so last year -- and the crisis, of course, is so right now.

Laura Conaway

1:54 PM ET | 01-26-2009 | permalink

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It's All A Game

If all this talk over quantitative easing and split-strike conversions has left you with a headache, surf on over to the Bailout Game for minutes of mindless fun. Let the ax fall on your favorite investment banks, automakers and government-sponsored entities and watch the carnage unfold! (Thanks, Clusterstock!)

Alan Cordova

2:59 PM ET | 01-14-2009 | permalink

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What Economists Are Saying

Click to enlarge.

Paul Kedrosky/InfectiousGreed

 

Paul Kedrosky made this great tag cloud of the papers presented at this year's American Economic Association Conference in San Francisco. Kedrosky notes that the name "Keynes" does not appear in any paper or session at AEA, neither do gold or Federal Reserve.

Caitlin Kenney

1:44 PM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink

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Join Our Twitterverse

We have a lot of conversations on Planet Money -- on the podcast, over e-mail, by phone, out in the streets and in our studios. And, of course, we yak a lot on Twitter.

People who follow our feed send us links and questions and general good humor. It's a fun crowd, and if you're not already part of it, we'd like you to pedal over. Hey, it's free! (For those of you who are new to Twitter, you might find it helpful to think of it as part cocktail party, part microblog.)

Several Twitter folks have expressed an interest in meeting in each other, which for now means signing up for each other's updates. We invite you to post your Twitter names in the comments and to follow the people you see posting there. If you like, add a sentence or two introducing yourself. Let's see where we can take this.

Laura Conaway

1:09 PM ET | 01-13-2009 | permalink

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Planet Money Puzzler

We wanted to lay out a strange puzzle for you on today's podcast, then answer it tomorrow. But we forgot to mention it. So here it is:

Where is all the U.S. currency?

According to the Federal Reserve the total amount of U.S. currency out there is about $900 billion. We're talking real currency, dollar bills, $100's, $20's etc.

That works out to about $3,000 per person. Ok now open your wallet, how much do you have? Not a lot, right? So where is all the cash?

Don't look it up on the internet, that's no fun. Just think about it. We'll have the answer on Morning Edition and a longer extended-dance-remix on the podcast for Friday.

David Kestenbaum

5:25 PM ET | 01- 8-2009 | permalink

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In Search of $200 Mittens

According to prosecutors alleged ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff mailed jewelry and other expensive items to family members as Chanukah gifts, violating the terms of his bail agreement. As New York Times writer Alex Berenson describes it:

Sixteen watches, including diamond-encrusted timepieces from Tiffany and Cartier. Four diamond brooches. Two sets of cuff links. An emerald ring. These are a few of Bernard L. Madoff's favorite things.

It sounds like a bold move. But Madoff's lawyer argued that a lot of the items were no more than $25 cuff links and $200 mittens.

$200 mittens? Really?

Continue reading "In Search of $200 Mittens" »

Caitlin Kenney

4:09 PM ET | 01- 8-2009 | permalink

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The Dog Ate My Job

Adam is going to be talking on All Things Considered tonight about how hard it is to measure something as seemingly simple as the unemployment rate.

You get a sense for things when you look at one of the surveys the labor department uses. Here's one of many questions it asks:

Continue reading "The Dog Ate My Job" »

David Kestenbaum

11:59 AM ET | 01- 8-2009 | permalink

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You've Got Maille

Click for bigger image.

Ben Hatke

 

Ben Hatke, an illustrator, sent this over today. He first posted it back in October, with the idea that fashion might become a silver lining. Me, I'm holding out for a Great Recession t-shirt.

Laura Conaway

3:52 PM ET | 01- 5-2009 | permalink

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Open Thread : Your Forecasts

We all have resolutions for the New Year, but here at Planet Money we want your predictions.

Pick any "economic indicator" -- the price of milk, GDP, unemployment, the stock market, the store that closed on the corner, whatever -- and give us your forecast where it will stand one year from now.

We'll follow up as 2010 dawns and build a podcast or radio story around it.

Stick 'em in the comments section below.

David Kestenbaum

1:23 PM ET | 01- 2-2009 | permalink

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Credit Crunch,The Board Game!

Winner Takes All

 

If you're looking for a party game to play tonight, Kevin Kallaugher, who used to be the political cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun newspaper (back when newspapers had budgets for such things), has crafted one for our times.

"Our board game pits players against each other and encourages them to pick on the weakest, kick opponents when they are down and generally manifest all the characteristics that bring success in the financial world."

It's in the holiday edition of The Economist, but if you cancelled your subscription in these hard times, it's free here.

David Kestenbaum

11:26 AM ET | 12-31-2008 | permalink

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Oops, They Did It Again

Portfolio has assembled its list of the year's top business blunders. The list includes the likely suspects: Societe Generale, Jerry Yang, and Bernie Madoff. Along with a few I'd just plain forgotten about. My personal favorite -- the executives from the big three automakers taking private jets to Washington to ask for a bailout. David Kestenbaum asked David Cole, from the Center of Automotive Research, about this decision back in November, his rationale -- security.

Caitlin Kenney

10:03 AM ET | 12-31-2008 | permalink

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'Turn Around, Downsize'

Earlier this month, Columbia Business School held its semiannual Follies show. Amid jokes about MBA life and the school itself was the latest music video, "Total Collapse of the Street."

Alan Cordova

2:42 PM ET | 12-29-2008 | permalink

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Budget Bright Spot: Parking Meters

Cities and states around are facing tight budgets as tax revenues drop. Maryland is looking at a $400 million shortfall, for instance.

And this isn't going to fix things, but the Baltimore Sun (my wife actually) reports that revenue from parking meters have risen 54% over the last four years, to $7 million. And that, the city says, is without raising rates. How?

New electronic meters. People tend to pay for more time than they need. And the days of pulling up and finding leftover time on the clock are gone.

Of course not everyone is happy about that. And one guy in the story found a way to save himself some money.

David Kestenbaum

9:13 AM ET | 12-29-2008 | permalink

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Item of the Season -- Space Shuttle, Slightly Used

Cleans up nicely.

Getty Images

 

'Tis the season to be buying. Retailers are slashing prices in the hopes that consumers will open their wallets, and analysts are saying now is the time to snap up stocks that have been unfairly hurt by investors' fears of the overall equity markets.

For the museum that has everything, the item of the year might be a space shuttle. Endeavor, Atlantis and Discovery are scheduled to be decommissioned by 2010, and NASA is looking to send them into the comfortable retirement that the prototype shuttle Enterprise currently enjoys. (Thanks Fast Company!)

Alan Cordova

12:26 PM ET | 12-19-2008 | permalink

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Link Of The Day: LOLFed

Love this.

LOLFed

 

The latest timesink at Planet Money is LOLFed. Applying the grammar and vocabulary of LOLCats to the follies of modern finance (especially those of the Federal Reserve), it provides a rather postmodern reflection on our current state of affairs. If the jokes don't make sense because of the LOLCat terminology, get help here; if it's because of the names and faces, you're in the right place.

Alan Cordova

1:36 PM ET | 12-17-2008 | permalink

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For The Birds

Seen in Berkeley, Calif.

Michel Im

 

Michel Im took this picture while out shopping in the East Bay this weekend. The Geithner reference, of course, is to Timothy Geithner, who's up for Treasury secretary.

Laura Conaway

11:08 AM ET | 12-15-2008 | permalink

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Ray Davies, Econ Guru

Add Ray Davies to the list of people who say they had a hunch about the financial crisis. The Kinks leader tells the New York Daily News:

"I'm not saying I saw it coming. But I had felt we might be on the cusp of something for quite some time."

I like the Kinks as much as anyone, but I'm thinking this maybe files best under Broken Watches Still Right Twice a Day.

Laura Conaway

11:22 AM ET | 12-12-2008 | permalink

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What Bernanke Did This Weekend

He bought a pair of earrings and a necklace for his wife.

How do I know this? I was taking a break from economics, shopping at a "Holiday Art Mart" organized by these guys, when I ran into Gayla Lee.

Continue reading "What Bernanke Did This Weekend" »

David Kestenbaum

4:15 PM ET | 12- 9-2008 | permalink

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Music For A Recession

Philip Maymin has a big idea: That the speed of pop music mirrors the volatility of the stock market. Make:Blog's got the graphic read on what might be a tough academic paper. (But go get it and report back, please.)

(With thanks to the good folks -- and cool kids -- over at Radio Sweethearts.)

Laura Conaway

3:17 PM ET | 12- 5-2008 | permalink

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Might As Well Laugh

Courtesy of Twitter listener @elizs, jokes for the economic downturn (OK, recession).

Laura Conaway

12:08 PM ET | 12- 3-2008 | permalink

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Economic Crisis Hits Monopoly Board

I'm realizing our monopoly game segment on yesterday's podcast didn't really go far enough.

Check out Jon Methven's essay in McSweeney's, The Economic Crisis Hits the Markson Family Monopoly Board:

"I believe our major issue was the housing crisis, which began with your properties on Ventnor Avenue and Marvin Gardens. But in order to put that in context it's important that we first discuss the children's inflationary habits. I realize Bethany is only 6, and you find it cute that she writes "$5,000" in crayon on the backs of the Chance and Community Chest cards when she runs out of funds and uses them to purchase houses, but, if you recall, that is exactly what led to the inflation that crippled our Friday fun."

Bonus: A listener mods his own Monopoly board.

David Kestenbaum

12:12 PM ET | 12- 2-2008 | permalink

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Doctor, I Need 'Foreclosen'

With thanks to Twitter listeners @olevia and @marilynm, McSweeney's guide to anti-anxiety meds for the economic downturn.

Me, I'm sticking with "Defaulta." But you can take 10 mgs of "Nojoblin" and call me in the morning.

Laura Conaway

10:35 AM ET | 11-21-2008 | permalink

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A Cool Mapping Tool For You

Got this today from Robert Benincasa, NPR's new data guru:

A World Bank Group blogger has invited his readers to use the bank's data tools to run a reality check on members of the G-20 and their post-summit embrace of entrepreneurship and market principles.

Ryan Hahn of the Bank's "Doing Business" blog pointed to several World Bank resources, including its fun interactive "Business Planet" data-mapping mashup.

Continue reading "A Cool Mapping Tool For You" »

Laura Conaway

6:06 PM ET | 11-20-2008 | permalink

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Lunch Break: Paulson in Pictures

"Lovin' That Tie, Bro!"

Wall Street Fighter

 

The folks over at Wall Street Fighter have compiled a great collection of pictures of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Some of them are definitely Photoshopped, but they are all equally hilarious.

Caitlin Kenney

1:46 PM ET | 11-18-2008 | permalink

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How Low Would You Go?

Betting on the fallout.

NPR

 

We asked Planet Money readers yesterday a most serious and important question: who out there has office bets going on about how low the Dow will go?

Never ones to let us down, you quickly sent us your responses and even some evidence.

Exempli Gratia: here is a pic of an "anonymous" office pool that wanted to share their wagers but asked not to be indentified. "SM" is predicting a bottom of 5500. Yikes! Let's hope they don't win the bet.

Daniel Costello

11:49 AM ET | 11-14-2008 | permalink

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Why Are Healthcare Costs So High?

I've spent most of the last ten years as a healthcare reporter. What I've learned is that the system is so much more complex (in both good and absurd ways) than lawmakers and other "experts" try to make it sound in silly Congressional floor speeches and cable sound bites.

This is short and leaves a lot of nuance out, but here's a brief You Tube video titled "Why is Healthcare So Expensive." It's the third most watched clip today.

One beef I have is the part about supporting malpractice reform. I genuinely apologize for the shameless plug, but I did a story last year on California's malpractice reform, which is considered the most influential reform in the country. Like many things, the devil is in the details. That goes double for malpractice reform.

Daniel Costello

5:05 PM ET | 11-11-2008 | permalink

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Advisor Quiz

Who's who? (Click to enlarge.)

Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

 

Barack Obama gave his first news conference as president-elect today. In case you missed it, check out the video here.

Obama appeared with so many advisors that even we had a hard time figuring out who they all were. So our challenge to you is: How many of Obama's advisors can you identify in the photo?

This is for a possible total of 18 points. Answers after the jump. No peeking.

We don't know who the third from right is or the second from left. Can you help us?

Continue reading "Advisor Quiz" »

David Kestenbaum

4:24 PM ET | 11- 7-2008 | permalink

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Defining Funny

On yesterday's podcast, we talked about LIBOR, the London interbank offered rate. A measure of the interest banks charge each other for loans, LIBOR has lately been falling.

Yet when we asked money trader Will Aston-Reese about it for the podcast yesterday, he told us that despite lowered interest rate, he's still seeing precious little lending between banks. Which prompted Gordon Wilson to send us what looks at first like an entry for the Planet Money Glossary:

LIBOR = The rate at which banks will still not lend each other money...

Laura Conaway

12:26 PM ET | 11- 6-2008 | permalink

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NYT vs NYT

Today we have the odd sight of one New York Times blog picking apart another.

In one corner : The Economix blog, which is asking readers to play a game picking, not stocks, but election results as a test of how well markets work.

In the other corner : The Freakonomics blog arguing that the contest won't test what it's supposed to.

Footnote: The website 538 does what -- as a former physicist -- I've always wanted to see leading up to an election. The folks there take the latest poll data and use it to simulate lots of elections. So when a state is a toss-up, for instance, you literally flip a coin. Right now McCain has to win a lot of coin tosses in a row. The site puts the odds of Obama victory at 96 percent.

At least that's what I think they're doing. Lots of caveats, but a fun experiment.

David Kestenbaum

1:20 PM ET | 11- 3-2008 | permalink

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When Brains Go Bad

It's late. We're still working. And David Folkenflik sent this YouTube clip.

(Yes, Mama, it sometimes gets like this.)

Laura Conaway

9:22 PM ET | 10-30-2008 | permalink

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Forensic Economics

Ray Fisman at Slate has a story on new research looking into whether intelligence agents of years past were maybe doing some insider trading on the side.

The study looked to see if certain stocks jumped in price before CIA-led coups.

David Kestenbaum

9:16 AM ET | 10-30-2008 | permalink

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Found: WaMu Ad

I'm using part of this in the podcast today.

Laura Conaway

3:50 PM ET | 10-24-2008 | permalink

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How Much Are You Willing to Spend?

Our correspondent Mike Pesca, had a nice story on this week about an auction for football seats which looks like a sweet deal for taxpayers.

As the story explains, the auction is a classic example of what economists call price discrimination.

The idea is to charge everyone as much as they are willing to pay. So say you are Starbucks...

Continue reading "How Much Are You Willing to Spend?" »

David Kestenbaum

3:00 PM ET | 10-24-2008 | permalink

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Calling For Guinea Pigs: The Economist House Call

This Friday, at 9:30 a.m., we are going to try an experiment. We want to place your life in the context of the global financial crisis.

We want to ask YOU to send us a note at planetmoney [at] npr.org or in the comments below, describing the rough outline of your economic situation -- your job, your concerns. Something brief.

Please note how we can reach you Friday morning. We don't have to use your full name on the podcast, but we -- Laura and I -- have to know it.

Then we'll pick a few and call you along with a prominent economist. And we'll analyze your personal economic picture. We'll place your life in a global economic context.

I can't think of anyone better to do this than Planet Money friend Simon Johnson. He is former IMF chief economist, current MIT professor and helpful guide of the excellent Baseline Scenario site, which is tremendously helpful in understanding the financial crisis.

I think this will be fun.

Adam Davidson

4:05 PM ET | 10-21-2008 | permalink

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Your Own TED Spread Reader

For the iGoogle crowd, Shaun Hervey sends this TED spread gadget. Created by Erik Saltwell, this little bugger sits on your customized Google page and gives you a picture of the credit markets in friendly colors and a happy font. Just now, the TED spread is at 2.62.

(What's the TED spread?)

Laura Conaway

9:37 AM ET | 10-21-2008 | permalink

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He Got Rich and Quit.

Andrew Lahde, a 37-year-old hedge fund manager just cashed it in, saying he was content to invest the money he'd already made. Lahde wrote a farewell letter to clients that included an argument for legalizing marijuana. He wrote:

"It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover."

Laura Conaway

4:46 PM ET | 10-17-2008 | permalink

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Not Heard on Today's Podcast

Today on the podcast we'll be talking to economist Satyajit Das about Iceland's credit crisis. Das has a lot of interesting things to say about Iceland's economy, but one thing you won't hear in the podcast, is the terrible joke he told us about how Iceland got into this mess. Das admits that only a derivates trader would find this joke funny, and we agree.

Everybody is asking,'Well how did the Icelandic banks get involved in CDOs?' and the joke goes, 'Well Iceland has a long tradition of cod fishing, c-o-d, and they might have confused their expertise in cod with CDOs, collateralized debt obligations.'

Caitlin Kenney

10:56 AM ET | 10-17-2008 | permalink

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Dina's Downers

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston is a self-described eternal optimist. Lately, we're seeing the other side of her.

With every twist and turn of the markets, Dina's been the first to report the up-to-the-minute bad news at our water cooler with lightening speed.

We're grateful, honest. And in her honor we've decided to create a brand new category on our Planet Money Blog titled "Dina's Downers" so you readers can join in on the fun.

Today's latest:

"For the first time in history, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded in a 1000 point range," says Dina.

Daniel Costello

4:10 PM ET | 10-10-2008 | permalink

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Amid The Gloom, You Have To Find Things to Laugh About

The gods of fairness and television taste must be looking down on us this morning. The good news: the Los Angeles house where the (in my humble opinion) sign-of-the-end-of-the-world "Bachelor" series is filmed is now on the market and selling for a cool $4.25 million below its asking price.

Daniel Costello

9:41 AM ET | 10-10-2008 | permalink

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Change We Can Believe In

A few years ago, I was an editorial writer at one of the newspapers where I worked. So I know it's not always easy making those unsigned editorials sound both smart and interesting at the same time.

But one of my favorite past times lately has been to watch the Wall Street Journal's notoriously conservative and free market editorial page contort itself into defending the government's slapdown of laissez faire economics in recent weeks.

Even if I don't always agree with what the paper's editorial board says, I often think they make very smart and well researched arguments. Lately, not so much.

Today's takes the cake. Here's my favorite shapeshifting line: "The government that helped to create the mess has to play a role in cleaning it up."

Take a read.

Daniel Costello

9:51 AM ET | 10- 9-2008 | permalink

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Mildly Rosy View For Bailout

As the House of Representatives again debates the bailout bill it voted down, the folks at Intrade have bet its passage up by 5.9 percent this morning .

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has nosed up 2.34 percent. The Dow's up 1.71 percent. NASDAQ's up 2.66 percent -- and so on down the list of indicators.

Laura Conaway

11:50 AM ET | 10- 3-2008 | permalink

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British Television Explains The Crisis

My Uruguayan/Spanish mother-in-law forwards this video to the global economy.

Laura Conaway

9:44 AM ET | 09-26-2008 | permalink

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Now Galveston?

The geek in me really likes many of the blogs all these university faculties have started. Fine, judge. But they are really interesting.

To wit: The University of Chicago law school faculty (Sen. Obama's former cohorts) have an interesting item on their blog today by Prof. Randal Picker slamming the bailout and lamenting the endless moral hazards it will bring.

Continue reading "Now Galveston?" »

Daniel Costello

9:27 AM ET | 09-25-2008 | permalink

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'Not From Nigeria' E-Mail

If it's true that only 31 percent of Americans favor the Bush administration's plan for bailing out Wall Street, that means anyone in the other 69 percent could have crafted the following parody e-mail. It landed in my inbox yesterday, labeled "FWD: not from Nigeria this time."

Continue reading "'Not From Nigeria' E-Mail " »

Laura Conaway

9:56 AM ET | 09-24-2008 | permalink

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Calculus Of Anxiety

We just aired this piece I did about the "fear index" which does actually measure anxiety about the stock market. (Surprisingly, it's not as high now as it was during the 1987 crash.)

You can see what the fear levels are right now. And here's the other measure of anxiety that comes up in the story, the Ted Spread.

In the piece I glossed over how the fear index was actually calculated, which is pretty fascinating. An explanation after the jump.

Continue reading "Calculus Of Anxiety" »

David Kestenbaum

7:57 AM ET | 09-22-2008 | permalink

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When Wall Street Fell, It Looked Like This

Straight from Paul Detrick of EyeBlast.tv, a kaleidoscopic look at the week in business (and a dose of love for our own Adam Davidson).

Laura Conaway

5:44 PM ET | 09-17-2008 | permalink

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Lunch Break: Sarah Palin's Tanning Bed

Not looking pasty: Sarah Palin

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

We interrupt the hand-wringing over Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch for an old-fashioned analysis of cost and benefit. It comes from Michael Turk, a Republican political strategist, and it concerns the tanning bed that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin reportedly installed in her state's governor's mansion.

Turk, the funny guy behind PalinFacts.com, writes that Palin's tanning bed likely cost about as much as a half dozen haircuts for onetime Democratic candidate John Edwards. Turk takes into account the scarcity of sunlight that far north:

Given the relative inability to lay out in the sun, and the relative cost efficiency over time of having a tanning bed in residence as opposed to paying a monthly membership to a tanning salon, this doesn't seem eggregious.

If they have a receipt that shows they paid 10 or 20 times market value for the bed, maybe. But $2,000 . . . on a tanning bed so your Governor doesn't look pasty when she goes on TV is not a stretch.

Laura Conaway

12:10 PM ET | 09-15-2008 | permalink

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I Really, Really Shouldn't

You know those e-mails you write and shouldn't send.

Well, I sent it. And now, I'm posting it. Publicly.

Continue reading "I Really, Really Shouldn't" »

Adam Davidson

5:43 PM ET | 09-14-2008 | permalink

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The Deal Gets Nasty

The Executive Editor of The Deal wrote a snotty attack on me.

My favorite part:

"But it's going to be fun. There's no jargon, I promise," reporter Adam Davidson reassures his listeners, as if the mere utterance of the term "mortgage-backed security" would be enough to send NPR fans in search of Howard Stern. "In fact, in a minute or so, you'll meet a real amusement park sideshow carny," he chirps.

Lucky us.

She goes on. Apparently, I'm information-free.

I got my knickers in a bit of a twist and was writing a snotty response back to Ms. Kantrow. Instead, I decided to raise the issue here. This cuts to the very heart of what we're doing here on Planet Money, so I thought it was worth discussing.

Continue reading "The Deal Gets Nasty" »

Adam Davidson

5:35 PM ET | 09-14-2008 | permalink

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Hunter-Gatherer: If The Economy Never Recovers

Maybe the news isn't all bad. Just today, I got a bulletin from Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman, who says the dollar has recovered a bit and may recover some more after several months' time. At least, I think that's what he said. I'll paste a key quote after the jump.

While we're waiting for the great dollar bounce, I'm hearing much angst from people who've heard I'm working on Planet Money. Mom wants to know whether India and China "own us now." One friend wants me to know if the whole world economy could just collapse. Everyone wants to know when the job market will turn around.

Look, we all need to know what color our parachute is. Mine, thanks to this guy, is the color of a squirrel melt sandwich. Hunt your own. Never mind money, securities, arbitrage, reverse amortization, whatever. I'm hunting my own.

Continue reading "Hunter-Gatherer: If The Economy Never Recovers" »

Laura Conaway

2:24 PM ET | 09-12-2008 | permalink

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Great Big Report Puts U.S. On Top

No. 52, with a vengeance: A Venezuelan tanker docks in Honduras, part of a drive President Hugo Chavez to give Caribbean countries preferential pricing.

Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images

 

On Tuesday, the World Economic Form unleashed the first ever Financial Development Index. The report pulls together 120 variables on the economies in 52 nations. The United States slid into first place ahead of the United Kingdom -- by .02. Germany's third, with the Netherlands and Singapore clinging to the bottom of the top 10.

This week I caught up with one of the project's great minds, economist Nouriel Roubini. Roubini says the report is designed to help countries get a grip on their economic shortcomings -- but it can also help people like me figure out where to put our (buckets and buckets of) money.

Oh, and one other thing: The U.S. came out on top for now, but with all that rattling in our banking system -- Fannie/Freddie, Lehman Brothers and the rest -- we can't rest too easily.

Grab the report for yourself. It's 362 pages, but much of that acreage is in charts for individual countries. Don't be scared of it.

Laura Conaway

3:10 PM ET | 09-11-2008 | permalink

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On The Important Boringness Of Global Economics

As a guy who has covered science for more than a decade, I've sat through some pretty arcane conferences. This conference I'm at of former finance ministers from around the world has a similar feel. Except that you sense that the future of the world could hang in the balance somewhere in all the talk about regulation and transparency and international cooperation. That's if you're awake for it. Steve Liesman, an economics reporter for CNBC is moderating the current discussion. He just complained that when he mentions the Basel Accords to his editors, they fall asleep somewhere between the "B" and the "asel."

David Kestenbaum

11:06 AM ET | 09- 9-2008 | permalink

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Let The Carnies Explain Freddie And Fannie

See, it works like this.

Bob Sacha

 

When the news gets tough, the tough reporter heads to Coney Island. Adam Davidson, on the right in the picture above, turned to a carnie for help in explaining the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout.

Basically, the game here is that the U.S. buys more from China than China buys from us. China then lends us that money back, so we can buy more Chinese stuff. The way they do that is by buying bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And seriously, that's the whole deal -- the simple version of the whole deal, anyway.

Listen here, and you'll understand this giant game of Kentucky Derby in three minutes. Promise.

Laura Conaway

12:10 PM ET | 09- 8-2008 | permalink

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Proof: Money Matters More Than Friends

From Slate's Tim Harford, news of an experiment among British strawberry pickers. You'd better read it, because your boss (if you have one) will.

Laura Conaway

2:33 PM ET | 08-25-2008 | permalink

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