The Indicator from Planet Money

The Indicator from Planet Money


Latest Episodes

Help us pick the indicator of the year!
December 20, 2024

2024 was a wild year for the U.S. economy: The economy did well in terms of inflation and unemployment, but vibes ruled the roost. (Mostly didn't feel great!) Additionally, Bitcoin went to the moon and some wacky stuff was happening with unemployment and

Can empty-nesters boost housing affordability?
December 19, 2024

The "silver tsunami" of aging Americans is often seen as a potential way to alleviate the country's housing affordability woes. However, the data suggests that an influx of empty-nester homes coming on the market won't have much of an impact on the proble

Trump's contradictory trade policies
December 18, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has called for a weaker dollar given it would be good for American exporters. But tariffs, a staple of his economic policy, would actually strengthen the dollar. Today on the show, we explain tariffs and currencies by followin

Do job references matter?
December 17, 2024

In the not-so-distant past, serving as someone's job reference meant answering a few questions over the phone. Nowadays, that process is often more involved, with prospective employers asking references for written responses or to fill out a form online.

There are a lot of billionaires in Trump's coming administration
December 16, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump's administration picks are shaping up to be a very affluent bunch. If all are confirmed, Trump's incoming administration would be the wealthiest in the nation's history with a combined net worth upwards of $300 billion.Today o

Why the US economy is still the envy of the world
December 14, 2024

The Economist's Simon Rabinovitch argues the U.S. economy has a set of structural advantages that have allowed it to perform remarkably well in the last couple of years compared to other developed countries. But could President-elect Donald Trump's second

A supermarket beef, a quantum leap, and Christmas trees for cheap
December 13, 2024

It's the most wonderful time of year, er, week, because it's that time when we look at the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. On today's Indicators of the Week: A messy grocery store breakup, a quantum leap in subatomic computing and an unex

An economist's role in the fall of Syria's government
December 12, 2024

In 2012, Karam Shaar had to leave his home country of Syria due to the civil war. But he still wanted to make a difference. Through his economic analysis, he uncovered concerning patterns about how the Assad regime and its cronies were siphoning money fro

The brewing recovery in Western North Carolina
December 11, 2024

The Federal Reserve's last Beige Book of 2024 is like Spotify Wrapped but for the economy. There's a little bit of everything inside labor markets, inflation and even natural disasters. On today's show, we spotlight Western North Carolina's challenging

The Tuna Bonds Scandal and the fishy business of hidden debt
December 10, 2024

Back in 2016, the economy of Mozambique tipped into crisis. The culprit was a government corruption scandal linked to more than $1 billion that officials borrowed in secret. This was a high-profile example of hidden debt, but it's far from the only exampl