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The Economy Explained
Antitrust in America, from Standard Oil to Bork (classic)

LEFT: Ida Tarbell, photographed between 1905 and 1945. RIGHT: Robert Bork in 1987. Harris & Ewing/Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division/Associated Press hide caption

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Antitrust in America, from Standard Oil to Bork (classic)

by , , Jacob Goldstein , Bryant Urdstadt , ,

Earlier this fall, the Federal Trade Commission filed a high-stakes lawsuit against Amazon.

Antitrust in America, from Standard Oil to Bork (classic)

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Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields
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The Indicator

Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields

by , , ,

If you're wincing at high interest rates on a potential loan right now, it's not just you. And the Federal Reserve's rate hikes actually isn't (entirely) to blame either. There's another culprit: the rate of a return, or yield, on a Treasury bond issued by the U.S.

Trying to solve the mystery of big bond yields

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Are real estate agent fees a racket?
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The Indicator

Are real estate agent fees a racket?

by , , ,

In the typical home sale, the home seller pays a commission, not just to their agent, but also to the buyer's agent. This fee-sharing arrangement is part of a decades-old practice involving what real estate agents call an "offer of compensation."

Are real estate agent fees a racket?

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A finance fright fest
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The Indicator

A finance fright fest

by , , ,

Halloween is just around the corner and our hosts are scrambling to find the perfect costume. Today on the show, we scare up fresh costume ideas based on Wall Street's scariest financial jargon. If you know where to look, you can find witches and zombies lurking near dark pools and shadow banks. Are these terms as scary as they sound?

A finance fright fest

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All you can eat economics
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Planet Money

All you can eat economics

by , , ,

You might expect to find economic concepts in the pages of an economics textbook. But you know where you can really see a lot of economic concepts in action? Buffets.

All you can eat economics

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Europe vs. US economies... and a dime heist

SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 28: Genna Dubrob (L) and Manuel Ordonez (R) move a finished mattress at McRoskey Mattress May 28, 2009 in San Francisco, California. New orders for US durable goods rose 1.9 percent in April, the biggest monthly gain since December 2007. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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The Indicator

Europe vs. US economies... and a dime heist

by , , , ,

This time on Indicators of the Week: the U.S. is seeing massive economic growth, but there are a couple of asterisks.

Europe vs. US economies... and a dime heist

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What happened to the internet without net neutrality?
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The Indicator

What happened to the internet without net neutrality?

by , , ,

The fiery debate over how the government should regulate the internet came to a head in 2017. That's when the Trump-led Federal Communications Commission repealed so-called net neutrality rules put in place during the Obama administration. The rules were meant to curtail practices like intentionally slowing down someone's internet speed. Now, under a new Democratic majority, the FCC is proposing reviving net neutrality. Today on the show, what happened in the years without it and what happens next.

What happened to the internet without net neutrality?

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The rise of the four-day school week
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Planet Money

The rise of the four-day school week

by , , Molly Messick ,

Right now, a lot of school districts across the country are making a pretty giant change to the way public education usually works. Facing teacher shortages and struggling to fill vacant spots, they are finding a new recruitment tool: the four-day school week.

The rise of the four-day school week

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The Beigie Awards: Why banks are going on a "loan diet"
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The Indicator

The Beigie Awards: Why banks are going on a "loan diet"

by , , ,

Every time a new Beige Book report rolls around, we honor the regional Federal Reserve bank with the best anecdote with our prestigious Beigie Award. The winner of the October 2023 Beigie highlighted an interesting shift in the behavior of some big banks. Today, we talk to our winner all about "loan diets."

The Beigie Awards: Why banks are going on a "loan diet"

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How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

Former IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr. sits at one of the electronic data processing machines made by his company, May 24, 1956. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

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The Indicator

How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

by , , ,

In the book of corporate folklore, former IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr. deserves a special spot. Specifically, the massive gamble he took in 1964 to introduce the System/360, which had the potential to undermine his own company's entire business model. Today on the show, an interview with author Marc Wortman on what Watson Jr.'s decision reveals about the fragile relationship between innovation and destruction.

How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

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The UAW's decade-long fight to form a union at VW's Chattanooga plant
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The UAW's decade-long fight to form a union at VW's Chattanooga plant

by , , ,

Union membership in the U.S. has been declining for decades. But, in 2022, support for unions among Americans was the highest it's been in decades. This dissonance is due, in part, to the difficulties of one important phase in the life cycle of a union: setting up a union in the first place. One place where that has been particularly clear is at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The UAW's decade-long fight to form a union at VW's Chattanooga plant

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More fraud, higher bond yields, and faster airline boarding

A woman uses a laptop on April 3, 2019, in Abidjan. According to the figures of the platform of the fight against cybercrime (PLCC) of the national police, nearly one hundred crooks of the internet, were arrested in 2018 in Ivory Coast, a country known for its scammers on the web (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP) (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images) ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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The Indicator

More fraud, higher bond yields, and faster airline boarding

by , , , ,

On this edition of Indicators of the Week: older Americans recorded higher losses to certain scams, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is up to the highest it's been in more than a decade and United Airlines has a plan to improve how it boards planes.

More fraud, higher bond yields, and faster airline boarding

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What could convince Egypt to take in Gaza's refugees?
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Planet Money

What could convince Egypt to take in Gaza's refugees?

by , , ,

One of the most crucial players in the war unfolding in the Middle East is Egypt, which neighbors Gaza and is facing pressure from the United States and its allies to open up its borders to refugees.

What could convince Egypt to take in Gaza's refugees?

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There's one business like show business
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The Indicator

There's one business like show business

by , , ,

There's no business like show business. Or is there? It turns out the business of producing a Broadway hit shares a few things in common with the business of investing in tech start-ups. Today on the show, the producer of hits like Dear Evan Hansen and Leopoldstadt explains how he applies lessons learned from venture capital tech funding to investing in multi-million dollar Broadway productions.

There's one business like show business

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Indicator exploder: jobs and inflation
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Planet Money

Indicator exploder: jobs and inflation

by , Stacey Vanek Smith , , , , ,

When someone says "the economy is doing well"—what does that even mean? Like, for workers, for employers, for the country as a whole? According to what calculation? How do you put a number on it?

Indicator exploder: jobs and inflation

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How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability
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The Indicator

How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability

by , , ,

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in 2010 as the legislative response to the Great Recession. It's an aggressive regulator that challenges financial institutions on behalf of consumers. However, the unique power it wields may turn out to be its vulnerability. The bureau's critics take issue with the very tools that give the agency its might and are asking the Supreme Court to make changes. Today, we examine how the CFPB came to be such a powerful regulator and why some want to see the agency overhauled.

How a consumer watchdog's power became a liability

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The Indicator Quiz: Climate Edition
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Planet Money

The Indicator Quiz: Climate Edition

by , , ,

What's spicier than a pumpkin spice latte in the fall? The Indicator Quiz! The show where we bring a lucky listener on to test their econ knowledge. Today's quiz focuses on questions related to climate change. Play along with us and see how you do!

The Indicator Quiz: Climate edition

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Taking the temperature of the US consumer

Betsy Kirchen conducts phone interviews for the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. (Photo: Wailin Wong / NPR) Wailin Wong/NPR hide caption

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Planet Money

Taking the temperature of the US consumer

by , , ,

Economic indicators like the Consumer Price Index can tell us a lot about the past, but what about the future? For close to 80 years, policymakers have relied on the Surveys of Consumers to give them an idea of what the economy might do next. Today on the show, we go behind the curtain at the University of Michigan to meet the people in charge of checking the vibes of the U.S. consumer.

Taking the temperature of the US consumer

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Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic)
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Planet Money

Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic)

by David Kestenbaum

Prices go up. Occasionally, prices go down. But for 70 years, the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola didn't change. From 1886 until the late 1950s, a bottle of coke cost just a nickel.

Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic)

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A treacherous descent? What will the Fed do next?

A tourists is seen in silhouette in front of the Matterhorn mountain in Riffelalp above Zermatt, Switzerland. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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A treacherous descent? What will the Fed do next?

by Paddy Hirsch , , ,

In the world of summiting mountains, more accidents happen on the way down than on the climb up. Today on the show, why that could be a bad omen for interest rates.

A treacherous descent? What will the Fed do next?

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A conversation with Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin (Update)

2023 recipient of the Nobel in Economics, Claudia Goldin. LAUREN OWENS LAMBERT/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Planet Money

A conversation with Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin (Update)

by Stacey Vanek Smith , , , ,

This episode was originally published on November 30, 2021

A conversation with Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin (Update)

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