Planet Money

By: NPR
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  • Summary

  • Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

    Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
    Copyright 2015-2021 NPR - For Personal Use Only
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Economics Politics & Government
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Episodes
  • A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence

    A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence
    Apr 23 2025
    President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also threatened to oust Powell — which would mark an extraordinary shift away from the independence of the central bank.

    Today on the show, three Indicators: a short history of the Federal Reserve and why it's insulated from day-to-day politics; how the Fed amassed a ton of power in recent years; and a Trump executive order that took some of that power away.

    The original episodes from the Indicator were produced by Corey Bridges, Brittany Cronin, and Julia Ritchey. They were engineered by Cena Loffredo, James Willetts, and Gilly Moon, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kate Concannon is the editor of the Indicator. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

    This episode of Planet Money was produced by James Sneed and edited by Marianne McCune & Mary Childs. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    For more of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at     plus.npr.org. Or, find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.

    Listen free at these links:     Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

    Help support     Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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    20 mins
  • How much for that egg

    How much for that egg
    Apr 18 2025
    Recently, one of our NPR colleagues wrote a message to all of NPR saying he had extra eggs to sell for cheap, but needed a fair way to distribute them during a shortage. What is Planet Money here for if not to get OVERLY involved in this kind of situation?

    Our colleague didn't want to charge more than $5, so we couldn't just auction the eggs off. A lottery? Too boring, he said.

    Okay! A very Planet Money puzzle to solve.

    Today on the show, we go in search of novel systems to help our colleague decide who gets his scarce resource: cheap, farm-fresh eggs. We steal from the world of new product development to try and secretly test for egg love, and we discover a pricing method used in development economics that may be America's next great gameshow.

    This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and it was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

    Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

    Music: NPR Source Audio - "Punchy Punchline," "Game Face," "Feeling the Funk," and "The Host Most Wanted"

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    31 mins
  • OIRA: The tiny office that's about to remake the federal government

    OIRA: The tiny office that's about to remake the federal government
    Apr 16 2025
    OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.

    For the last 45 years, OIRA has overseen most federal agencies by reviewing proposed regulations to make sure they agree with the President's policies and don't conflict with the work of other agencies. But one set of federal agencies has always been exempt from this review process — independent federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, and Federal Reserve. Until now.

    According to a new executive order, those independent agencies are about to get a lot less independent. We take a look at what this change could mean for financial markets...and the future of American democracy.

    This episode was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

    Find more     Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    Listen free at these links:     Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

    Help support     Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

    Music: Universal Music Production - "Tanga," "The Jump Back," and "Kumbatia."

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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    27 mins
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Profile Image for Sara

Very Interesting

Its very interesting they talk about tax loopholes in a way that makes you want to listen to it.

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Best!

This is one of my all time favorite podcasts! keep up the great work 😃

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Profile Image for Jonathan

Incredibly informative analysis on... everything!

Amazing podcast, the energy of the hosts is unmatched (is it just me or does Mary sound exactly like Cortana?)
Everyone should be tuning into every episode.

The tax loophole is still my favorite episode... so far!!

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planet skibidi toilet slay


planet money is so slay and it made me do the griddy. it gave me skibidi rizz 🤔😨😪😧

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Profile Image for Brendan

Nice

This show is a classic, everybody performs so great and such good stories, I highly suggest.
Thank you for reading 

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Profile Image for John K.

too much advertising

Way too much advertising which makes it real annoying to listen. otherwise the content is good.

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