The Indicator from Planet Money

The Indicator from Planet Money


Latest Episodes

How influence actually works
December 09, 2024

Influence. The ability to persuade, motivate, or connect with other people. It's one of these skills that's hard to measure, but incredibly important in the office. However, some would argue that we often misunderstand how influence works. Today on the sh

Men without college degrees aren't doing well
December 06, 2024

Many men in America don't feel like they're doing as well as their fathers. But what does the data say? Today on the show, we speak to Richard Reeves from the American Institute for Boys and Men about what's really going on with men's wages and what poten

What a second Trump term could mean for SpaceX
December 05, 2024

SpaceX is capping off a busy 2024, with more than 100 rocket launches, including its vaunted Starship. NPR Science Correspondent Geoff Brumfiel attended the November launch of Starship alongside SpaceX founder Elon Musk and president-elect Donald Trump. H

What a difference a one-day strike makes
December 04, 2024

From retail to fast food to nursing, one-day strikes have been a growing trend over the last decade. But what makes one-day strikes more or less effective than longer strikes? Do they achieve the same goals? On today's show, what do short strikes say abo

Boeing's biggest blunder? Financial engineering.
December 03, 2024

Boeing continues to struggle. Safety concerns, a door blowing off mid-flight, a labor strike, impending layoffs ... and that's just the past year. What's gone wrong at Boeing? For many observers, the mistake was shifting focus from engineering to financia

How Trump's tariffs plan might work
December 02, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of economic promises on the campaign trail, but none as sweeping as his plan to enact tariffs. Trump believes taxing imports from other countries will help reduce the U.S. trade deficit and raise money for things li

What's in your wallet? Ask the new Treasury Secretary
November 27, 2024

Many were waiting longer than expected to hear Donald Trump name his nominee for Treasury Secretary, the person in charge of pursuing his economic agenda. Now, we have an answer: hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Today on the show, what are the actual imp

Trump's plans for the housing market
November 26, 2024

Across the U.S., millions of people are feeling the burden of high housing costs. During his campaign, president-elect Donald Trump promised to do something about that. But what exactly is that something? Today on the show, NPR's business correspondent, L

How big is the US housing shortage?
November 25, 2024

Housing affordability is a top concern for Americans and a hot political topic. Estimates for the number of needed homes stretch into the millions, but how is this actually counted? Today on the show, we explain the tricky business of quantifying the US h

The most expensive banana in the world and other indicators
November 22, 2024

We are back with a pricey Indicators of the Week. Today, we're digging into why it's so hard to get price information from funeral providers, how much a single banana could possibly cost, and just how much richer Elon Musk has become since Donald Trump's