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The Economy Explained
How Elon bought Twitter with other people's money
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The Indicator from Planet Money

How Elon bought Twitter with other people's money

by , , Nicky Ouellet ,

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, but almost a third of it was in loans—and Twitter's on the hook to pay them back. This strategy, popular in the '80s, is called a leveraged buyout.

How Elon bought Twitter with other people's money

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The American Dream adrift
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The American Dream adrift

by , Corey Bridges ,

NYU professor Scott Galloway thinks America is drifting — away from investing in a strong middle class, and away from prosperity for all. Today on the show, he brings us the indicators that explain why.

The American Dream adrift

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The Indicator Quiz: Crypto and GDP
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The Indicator Quiz: Crypto and GDP

by , , ,

Indicator fans and trivia fanatics, this one's for you. In our first ever Indicator Quiz episode, we invite a listener onto the show and test their knowledge on crypto and GDP.

The Indicator Quiz: Crypto and GDP

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Inflation hits the Thanksgiving dinner table
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Inflation hits the Thanksgiving dinner table

by , ,

Thanksgiving isn't immune from inflation — an annual survey recently found that a holiday meal for four is 20 percent more expensive than it was last year. We bring the Indicator team around the dinner table for a very nerdy Thanksgiving.

Inflation hits the Thanksgiving dinner table

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One economist's take on popular advice for saving, borrowing, and spending
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Planet Money

One economist's take on popular advice for saving, borrowing, and spending

by

This episode was first released as a bonus episode for Planet Money+ listeners last month. We're sharing it today for all listeners. To hear more episodes like this one and support NPR in the process, sign up for Planet Money+ at plus.npr.org.

One economist's take on popular advice for saving, borrowing, and spending

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Test driving a four-day work week
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Test driving a four-day work week

by Paddy Hirsch , , Nicky Ouellet ,

Doing more by working less sounds like an oxymoron, but a slew of recent studies show that switching to a four-day workweek is linked with greater health, happiness and productivity for workers.

Test driving a four-day work week

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Ticket scalpers and the Taylor Swift fiasco (Encore)
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Ticket scalpers and the Taylor Swift fiasco (Encore)

by , , Corey Bridges ,

For most people, buying scalped tickets may be the only way to see Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Thanks, Ticketmaster. But economically speaking, the resale market is more complicated than it seems.

Ticket scalpers and the Taylor Swift fiasco (Encore)

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How the cookie became a monster
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Planet Money

How the cookie became a monster

by ,

30 years ago, Lou Montulli set out to solve a fundamental problem with the internet, and accidentally created an entirely different one. On today's show, how the cookie went from an obscure piece of code designed to protect anonymity, to an online advertiser's dream, to a privacy advocate's nightmare.

How the cookie became a monster

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More money, more carbon?
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The Indicator from Planet Money

More money, more carbon?

by , , , ,

For this week's series finale, we explain Indonesia's climate deal, why nobody came #1 in the CCPI's climate rankings and whether it's possible to grow an economy without increasing carbon emissions.

More money, more carbon?

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The carbon coin: A novel idea
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The carbon coin: A novel idea

by ,

What if we could engineer a path towards solving the climate crisis...with monetary policy? Kim Stanley Robinson's novel The Ministry for the Future considers this question, and the idea is catching on in real life too.

The carbon coin: A novel idea

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Sam Bankman-Fried and the spectacular fall of his crypto empire, FTX
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Planet Money

Sam Bankman-Fried and the spectacular fall of his crypto empire, FTX

by ,

Sam Bankman-Fried built a reputation as the one reliable crypto bro. But within the span of days, his empire came crashing down. What the rise and fall of crypto's 30-year-old elder statesman says about the story of crypto so far.

Sam Bankman-Fried and the spectacular fall of his crypto empire, FTX

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An economic argument for heat safety regulation
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The Indicator from Planet Money

An economic argument for heat safety regulation

by ,

Extreme heat takes a toll on workers. From heatstroke to an increased likelihood of workplace accidents, protecting employees from heat illness is a growing priority for state legislatures. We talk to an economist about how higher safety standards help businesses too.

An economic argument for heat safety regulation

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Blue bonds: A market solution to the climate crisis?
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Blue bonds: A market solution to the climate crisis?

by ,

Low- and middle-income countries are facing the worst consequences of the climate crisis, and rising global interest rates are making it harder to repay their debts. What if there was a way to solve both problems at once?For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Blue bonds: A market solution to the climate crisis?

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How electric vehicles got their juice
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The Indicator from Planet Money

How electric vehicles got their juice

by ,

CATL is a hugely important company that a lot of people probably haven't heard of. It's grown from nothing to become the world's largest EV battery supplier — with some strong help from the Chinese government along the way. This story of how EV batteries became cheap kicks off The Indicator's week on the climate crisis — how markets, government and businesses can deal with growing emissions.

How electric vehicles got their juice

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The midterm effect, and a crypto collapse
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The midterm effect, and a crypto collapse

by ,

Crypto? Not doing well right now. But stocks? With elections soon to be behind us, history says they should be on the rise. This week's indicators explain the story behind FTX's bankruptcy and why markets love midterms.

The midterm effect, and a crypto collapse

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The E-Book Wars

ALA members Alan Inouye, Barb Macikas, and Sari Feldman march towards the offices of a major publisher, Macmillan, in Manhattan. They carry boxes of petitions addressed to John Sargent, at the time Macmillan's CEO. The petitions protest a controversial policy on e-books in libraries. American Library Association/ALA hide caption

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American Library Association/ALA

Planet Money

The E-Book Wars

by ,

In 2019, a group of librarians (quietly) stormed the offices of a major publisher, Macmillan, to protest a controversial policy on e-books. On this show, how a tiny change - a book on a screen - threw an industry into war with itself.

The E-Book Wars

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Hedonic adjustment: how to measure pleasure
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Hedonic adjustment: how to measure pleasure

by ,

We all need a little hedonism in our lives sometimes. A spa day, a good meal ... and modeling to account for quality change? Today, how economists model pleasure – and what it means for inflation data.

Hedonic adjustment: how to measure pleasure

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Economists hate car dealerships too
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The Indicator from Planet Money

Economists hate car dealerships too

by Alana Semuels ,

Let's face it: buying a new car sucks. From the hidden dealership fees to the reams of paperwork, it just seems harder than it should be. Well, economically speaking, it is – and today, we explain why.

Economists hate car dealerships too

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COP-out: who's liable for climate change destruction?
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The Indicator from Planet Money

COP-out: who's liable for climate change destruction?

by , ,

As the COP27 climate conference begins, a tricky economic question is on the table: should wealthy nations compensate their lower-income neighbors who suffer most from the climate crisis? And how?

COP-out: who's liable for climate change destruction?

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