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NPR1 min read
The Great German Land Lottery
Every ten years, a group of German farmers gather in the communal farm fields of the Osing for the Osingverlosung, a ritual dating back centuries. Osing refers to the area. And verlosung means "lottery," as in a land lottery. All of the land in this
NPR1 min read
The Strange Way The World's Fastest Microchips Are Made
This is the story behind one of the most valuable — and perhaps, most improbable — technologies humanity has ever created. It's a breakthrough called extreme ultraviolet lithography, and it's how the most advanced microchips in the world are made. Th
NPR1 min read
What Markets Bet President Trump Will Do
On the day after the election, Wall Street responded in a dramatic way. Some stocks went way up, others went way down. By reading those signals — by breaking down what people were buying and what they were selling — you can learn a lot about where th
NPR1 min readFinance & Money Management
The Veteran Loan Calamity
Ray and Becky Queen live in rural Oklahoma with their kids (and chickens). The Queens were able to buy that home with a VA loan because of Ray's service in the Army. During COVID, the Queens – like millions of other Americans – needed help from emerg
NPR1 min read
Romance On The Screen And On The Page: Two Indicators
On today's show, we have two stories from The Indicator, Planet Money's daily podcast. They just launched Love Week, a weeklong series exploring the business and economic side of romance.First, hosts Wailin Wong and Adrian Ma fire up the gas logs and
NPR1 min read
The Subscription Trap
Over the past two decades, there's been a sort of tectonic economic shift happening under our feet. More and more companies have switched from selling goods one by one to selling services, available as a subscription. These days everything from razor
NPR1 min read
Can Cap And Trade Work In The US?
Recently, the state of Washington embarked on an ambitious new plan to combat climate change. Taking a page from economics textbooks, the state instituted a statewide "cap and trade" system for carbon emissions. The state establishes a cap on the tot
NPR1 min read
What's Up With All The Ads For Law Firms?
The lawyer commercial is almost an art form unto itself. Learned practitioners of the law doing whatever it takes to get your attention, from impressive dirt bike stunts to running around half naked. All so when you land in trouble, you don't have to
NPR1 min read
How Venezuela imploded (update)
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2016.)Back in 2016, things were pretty bad in Venezuela. Grocery stores didn't have enough food. Hospitals didn't have basic supplies, like gauze. Child mortality was spiking. Businesses were shutter
NPR1 min read
How To Get A Haircut In Space
Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything. How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it come
NPR1 min read
Can Money Buy Happiness?
People often say that money can't buy you happiness. Sometimes, if you ask them to tell you more about it, they'll mention a famous 2010 study by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton. That study found that higher household income corr
NPR1 min read
Rate Expectations: What It Means That The Fed Is About To Lower Interest Rates.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to get inflation under control. One side effect is that taking out a mortgage to buy a home has gotten very expensive. That's especially a problem for some homeowners who managed to get a lower mortgage rate
NPR1 min read
Gen Z Asks: What Is School For? Plus, Rebranding Gentrification
It's September, which means millions of young learners across the country are dusting off their backpacks and heading back to school. But a new study from Gallup and The Walton Family Foundation has shown that students are less engaged, and feel less
NPR1 min read
Summer Camp Capitalism
Summer camp is a classic rite of passage in the U.S. It's a place of self-discovery, where kids come to make new friends and take on new challenges. But what if it were ALSO a place where children came to learn how to survive in a free market economy
NPR1 min read
New Music Friday: The best albums out Aug. 30
You know that mind-expanding feeling when an album — even one that fits solidly in a familiar genre — gives you something that feels brand new? This week on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered, NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Ann Powers find
NPR1 min read
History 8: Big Ideas And Life Lessons From Marx, Keynes And Smith And More
Take the 2024 Planet Money Summer School Quiz here to earn your personalized diploma!Find all the episodes from this season of Summer School here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. We are assembled here o
NPR1 min read
Summer School 8: Big Ideas And Life Lessons From Marx, Keynes And Smith And More
Take the 2024 Planet Money Summer School Quiz here to earn your personalized diploma!Find all the episodes from this season of Summer School here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. We are assembled here o
NPR1 min read
The Trade Fraud Detective
When David Rashid took over US autoparts maker Plews and Edelmann, the company was losing business to its Chinese rival, Qingdao Sunsong. Both companies make power steering hoses, but Sunsong was offering its hoses to retailers at a much lower price.
NPR1 min read
Summer School 7: The Great Depression, The New Deal And How It Changed Our Economy
Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. When we last left the United States of America in our economic telling of history, it was the early 1900s and the country's l
NPR1 min read
History 7: The Great Depression, The New Deal And How It Changed Our Economy
Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. When we last left the United States of America in our economic telling of history, it was the early 1900s and the country's l
NPR1 min read
Summer School 6: China, Taiwan And How Nations Grow Rich
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. In the middle of the twentieth century, China and its neighbors in East Asia were
NPR1 min read
Will The Olympics Break Breakdancing?
For some sports, picking the winner is simple: It's the athlete who crosses the finish line first, or the side that scores the most goals. But for the new Olympic sport of breaking (if you want to be cool, don't call it breakdancing), the criteria ar
NPR1 min read
History 5: 250 Years Of Trade History In Three Chapters
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. Trade has come up in all of the episodes of Summer School so far. An early use of
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