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Planet Money The economy explained. 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.

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The economy explained. 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.

Got money on your mind? Try Planet Money+ — a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. A subscription also gets you access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without ads. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Most Recent Episodes

Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market

You can learn a lot about a person from their job. The same can be said of an economy. The market for jobs can us a lot about how the economy is doing, but more importantly, it is where we look to see who the economy is working for, and who is left behind. In today's lesson we'll visit two workplaces each facing a different labor puzzle. At one end, there's the question of when to replace a worker with a robot, and what it is like to be that worker waiting for the robots to come. We'll also visit a farm where raising wages aren't enough to attract the workers needed to do the work. How wages are set, and who gets the raises on this session of Summer School. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market

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A new way to pay for college (Update)
Andrew Hancock/Andrew Hancock/Purdue University

A new way to pay for college (Update)

College has gotten incredibly expensive. And some colleges are offering students a new way to pay. It's not a scholarship. It's not quite a loan. It's more like the students are selling stock in themselves. We check in on how income share agreements at one school have been working. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

A new way to pay for college (Update)

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Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies

Inflation can be one of the scariest forces in the economy. As prices rise and your dollar doesn't go as far, you feel poorer, and it's all out of your control. To better understand inflation, we turn to the story of Brazil, where, in the 90s, hyperinflation threatened to derail the whole economy until the country turned to a group of unlikely heroes: four drinking buddies. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies

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BONUS: Micro-Face: The Musical

Micro-Face: The Musical Trisha Pickelhaupt/NPR hide caption

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Trisha Pickelhaupt/NPR

BONUS: Micro-Face: The Musical

This episode, Micro-Face: The Musical. A full concert recording of a one-of-a-kind Planet Money superhero musical, taped during our recent live show at the Roulette Theater in Brooklyn, New York.

BONUS: Micro-Face: The Musical

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Two recession Indicators
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Two recession Indicators

So are we in a recession or not? The jury is still out, but there are some warning signs. GDP is down and inflation is up. But how much do we know about the 'indicators' that tell us how the economy is doing? Today, the stories of two of our most important indicators, the Consumer Price Index and GDP, and what they can and can't tell us about our current economic predicament.| Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Two recession Indicators

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Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us

Life has its ups and downs. Same for the economy. Today we ask, can the business cycle be tamed? Two stories of recession and techniques for moderating the ferocity of booms and busts. Plus, how bankruptcy is a secret weapon of the American economy. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us

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Little House on the Blockchain
Amanda Aronczyk/NPR

Little House on the Blockchain

It has great bones, three bedrooms and one and half baths, and it comes with its own machine that mines cryptocurrency. But in a year of reckoning for crypto, how interested are potential buyers? | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Little House on the Blockchain

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Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts

What even is "the economy"? And how do you measure it? Our path out of the economic darkness and into the light has been guided in large part by one single statistic: GDP. This week: the origins, history, and problems with the economic indicator to rule them all. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts

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Best by, sell by, use by

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 20: A customer scans the expiration date on gallons of milk sitting on a cooler shelf at a Safeway grocery store August 20, 2007 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Best by, sell by, use by

Wait, wait...don't throw that out! What if much of what you've been told about food expiration dates is... wrong? | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Best by, sell by, use by

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Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

A student discovers macroeconomics in the darkness of the Great Depression. James Yang for NPR hide caption

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James Yang for NPR

Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

It's macro time! Today: Keynes vs. Hayek.

Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

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