Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in America, the bank of choice for tech startups and big-name venture capitalists. Then, in the span of just a few days, it collapsed. Whispers that SVB might be in trouble spread like wildfire through group texts and Twitter posts. Depositors raced to empty their accounts, withdrawing $42 billion in a single day. Last Friday, after regulators declared that SVB had failed, the FDIC seized the bank. As the dust settles on the biggest bank failure — an...
Mar 16, 2023•21 min•Ep 1622•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past year, dozens of shows have been disappearing from streaming platforms like HBO Max and Showtime. Shows like Minx, Made for Love, FBoy Island, and even big budget hits like Westworld have been removed entirely. So why did these platforms, after investing millions of dollars in creating original content, decide not just to cancel those shows, but to make them unavailable altogether? We dive into the economics of the television industry looking for answers to a streaming mystery that ...
Mar 11, 2023•26 min•Ep 1621•Transcript available on Metacast As a kid, Ryanne Jones' friend accidentally hit her in the mouth with a hammer, knocking out her two front teeth. Her parents never had enough money for the dental care needed to fix them, so Ryanne lived much of her adult life with a chipped and crooked smile. Ryanne spent a while as a single mom working low-wage jobs, but she had higher aspirations: she interviewed dozens of times a year for higher-paying roles that she was more than qualified for. But she never landed any of them. And to her,...
Mar 09, 2023•22 min•Ep 1621•Transcript available on Metacast The 90s sit-com Seinfeld is often called "a show about nothing." Lauded for its observational humor, this quick-witted show focussed on four hapless New Yorkers navigating work, relationships...yada yada yada. Jerry, George, Elaine & Kramer set themselves apart from the characters who populated shows like Friends or Cheers , by being the exact opposite of the characters audiences would normally root for. These four New Yorkers were overly analytical, calculating, and above all, selfish. In other...
Mar 03, 2023•19 min•Ep 1620•Transcript available on Metacast If you are a congressperson or a senator and you have an idea for a new piece of legislation, at some point someone will have to tell you how much it costs. But, how do you put a price on something that doesn't exist yet? Since 1974, that has been the job of the Congressional Budget Office, or the CBO. The agency plays a critical role in the legislative process: bills can live and die by the cost estimates the CBO produces. The economists and budget experts at the CBO, though, are far more than ...
Mar 01, 2023•24 min•Ep 1619•Transcript available on Metacast More than 20 years ago, something unusual happened in the small town of Dixfield, Maine. A lady named Barbara Thorpe had left almost all of her money—$200,000—to benefit the cats of her hometown. When Barbara died in 2002, those cats suddenly got very, very rich. And that is when all the trouble began. Barbara's gift set off a sprawling legal battle that drew in a crew of crusading cat ladies, and eventually, the town of Dixfield itself. It made national news. But after all these years, no one s...
Feb 25, 2023•27 min•Ep 1618•Transcript available on Metacast This episode originally ran in 2020 . In 2005, Franklin Leonard was a junior executive at Leonardo DiCaprio's production company. A big part of his job was to find great scripts. The only thing — most of the 50,000-some scripts registered with the Writers Guild of America every year aren't that great. Franklin was drowning in bad scripts ... So to help find the handful that will become the movies that change our lives, he needed a better way forward. Today on the show — how a math-loving movie n...
Feb 22, 2023•23 min•Ep 1617•Transcript available on Metacast Every year, the U.S. government spends more money than it takes in. In order to fund all that spending, the country takes on debt. Congress has the power to limit how much debt the U.S. takes on. Right now, the debt limit is $31.4 trillion dollars. Once we reach that limit, Congress has a few options so that the government keeps paying its bills: Raise the debt limit, suspend it, or eliminate it entirely. That debate and negotiations are back this season. One thing that is in short supply, but v...
Feb 18, 2023•26 min•Ep 1616•Transcript available on Metacast A lot of the time, economic policy can seem pretty impersonal — cold, hard, data-driven. But at the heart of the Federal Reserve are people: fallible, complicated people who are just doing their best to steer the economy in the right direction. Often, we remember them just for their economic decisions. But today, we're airing two episodes from our daily economics show The Indicator that profile the people inside the Fed. First, we're heading back to the 1970s to revisit Arthur Burns' oft-critici...
Feb 16, 2023•19 min•Ep 1615•Transcript available on Metacast Every Valentine's Day, we at Planet Money consider the things that we love, the things that we can't stop talking about, the things that get our hearts racing...in a good way. And we give them valentines! This year our valentines go out to: ImportYeti, a website that lets you see exactly where U.S. companies are importing goods from. Economic data revisions, those tweaks to the data that make things like the jobs numbers even more accurate. The office (the place, not the show). Audio description...
Feb 11, 2023•27 min•Ep 1614•Transcript available on Metacast Take a look in any supermarket ice cream freezer section and you may see a mystery. There are big containers of the typical ice cream brands: Breyers, Turkey Hill, and Edy's. And there are specialty brands that make gelato, low-fat and vegan ice creams. And then there are the fancy pints: which is mostly Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs. Häagen-Dazs has flavors like vanilla, chocolate, pistachio—the sort of flavors that run smooth. And then Ben & Jerry's specializes in chunky flavors: Cherry Garcia...
Feb 08, 2023•24 min•Ep 1613•Transcript available on Metacast Anyone who has tried shopping for day care knows that it is tough out there. For one, it is hard even to get your hands on information about costs, either online or over the phone – day cares will often only share their prices after you have taken a tour of their facilities. Even once you find a place you like, many day cares have waitlists stretching 6 months, 9 months, a year. Waitlists are a classic economic sign that something isn't right, that prices are too low. But ask any parent and they...
Feb 03, 2023•23 min•Ep 1612•Transcript available on Metacast It's Groundhog Day, and once again, the eyes of the nation have turned to a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Every February 2nd, the only story anyone can talk about is whether or not Punxsutawney Phil will see his own shadow. If he does: six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't: spring is on its way. This year, in a cruel twist of fate reminiscent of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day , two Planet Money hosts have found themselves facing a curse. They'll be trapped in this never-ending groundhog ne...
Feb 01, 2023•24 min•Ep 1611•Transcript available on Metacast A great economics paper does two things. It takes on a big question, and it finds a smart way to answer that question. But some papers go even further. The very best papers have the power to change lives.That was the case for three economists we spoke to: Nancy Qian, Belinda Archibong, and Kyle Greenberg. They all stumbled on important economics papers at crucial moments in their careers, and those papers gave them a new way to see the world. On today's show - how economics papers on the Penteco...
Jan 27, 2023•24 min•Ep 1610•Transcript available on Metacast Monopoly is one of the best-selling board games in history. The game's staying power may in part be because of strong American lore — the idea that anyone, with just a little bit of cash, can rise from rags to riches. Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game . But there's another origin story – a very different one that promotes a very different image of capitalism. (And with two sets of starkly different rules .) That story s...
Jan 26, 2023•22 min•Ep 1609•Transcript available on Metacast Some of history's biggest financial scams owe their name to Charles Ponzi. Here's the story of the man behind the eponymous scheme. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jan 21, 2023•23 min•Ep 1608•Transcript available on Metacast Driving a truck used to mean freedom. Now it means a mountain of debt. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jan 18, 2023•24 min•Ep 1607•Transcript available on Metacast If the Fed had a mantra to go along with its mandate, it might well be "two percent." We look into how that became the target inflation rate, why some economists are calling for a change and how the inflation rate becomes unanchored. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 13, 2023•18 min•Ep 1606•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the Planet Money Movie Club, a regular series from Planet Money+ in which we watch an economics-related movie and discuss! On today's episode, Kenny Malone, Wailin Wong, and Willa Rubin talk about Frank Capra's 1946 classic 'It's A Wonderful Life.' They discuss CPI adjustments, how a copyright lapse helped make the film more popular, and what exactly a 'Building and Loan' is. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message c...
Jan 11, 2023•23 min•Ep 1605•Transcript available on Metacast All sorts of lessons (even about economics) can be learned from kids' books. On today's show, we visit an elementary school to try to teach third graders econ using some beloved childrens' classics. And, along the way, we learn a few things ourselves. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 06, 2023•29 min•Ep 1604•Transcript available on Metacast It's that time of year again! Our annual year-end tradition of checking in on previous stories to hear what happened after the microphones stopped running. We'll hear from a CEO who was trying to get her company out of Russia amidst the war in Ukraine, check in with an organizer who was trying to turn his community into a city, follow-up on our experiment in polling, and get the latest from our record label — Planet Money Records. Plus, we learn of a romance sparked by a podcast episode! Check o...
Dec 31, 2022•24 min•Ep 1603•Transcript available on Metacast 2022 was a year of big economic changes. But what economic story most defined the year? Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator battle it out over what should be crowned the indicator of the year. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 28, 2022•11 min•Ep 1602•Transcript available on Metacast Cold economic reasoning says, supposedly, that gifts are inefficient transfers of wealth . But Planet Money host Jeff Guo believes in the economic virtues of gift giving. On today's show, Jeff tries to win over Planet Money's resident Scrooge, Kenny Malone, by going on a quest to find him the perfect gift. Along the way, they're visited by the spirits of three Nobel prize-winning economic theories that can explain why gift-giving is actually good. And by the end, Kenny's heart may just grow thre...
Dec 24, 2022•22 min•Ep 1601•Transcript available on Metacast "ESG" investing – Environmental, Social, Governance – has attracted a lot of attention from investors, and from Republican politicians who call it "woke investing." On today's show, what the fight over ESG reveals about the potential and limitations of sustainable investing. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 21, 2022•22 min•Ep 1600•Transcript available on Metacast Inflation is making prices go up, except not for...sports tickets? So, we set out on a daylong sporting event marathon to learn why. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 16, 2022•29 min•Ep 1599•Transcript available on Metacast Telemarketing calls are not only annoying; in some cases, they are illegal. Congress even gives you the right to sue scofflaw telemarketers for $500 a call. Today, the story of one man who collected a surprising amount of money bringing telemarketers to justice. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 14, 2022•27 min•Ep 1598•Transcript available on Metacast Jelle Peterse's company ships cheese all over the world, but they don't always get their cheese racks back. In this episode, we try to fix a supply chain problem. Gouda grief! Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 09, 2022•28 min•Ep 1597•Transcript available on Metacast A lot of computing pioneers were women. For decades, the number of women in computer science was growing. But in 1984, something changed. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 07, 2022•17 min•Ep 1596•Transcript available on Metacast There's a big difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. But sometimes even avoiding taxes (legally) can feel like you're getting away with something. Today, we share some of our — and your! — favorite loopholes in the U.S. tax code. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 03, 2022•26 min•Ep 1595•Transcript available on Metacast Soccer star Lionel Messi is currently hoping to lead Argentina to victory in the World Cup. His path to global fame was shaped by a crisis in Argentina's economy. This episode was made in collaboration with NPR and Futuro Studios's The Last Cup podcast. Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Dec 01, 2022•28 min•Ep 1594•Transcript available on Metacast 
