Episodes

  • Running the numbers on deportation, interest rates and math

    Running the numbers on deportation, interest rates and math
    Jan 31 2025
    Why haven't American 8th graders' math scores recovered? Does Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actually have the resources to make all the deportations Trump's promised? And what's the path for interest rates in the Trump economy? All that on Indicators of the Week.

    Related Episodes:
    The U.S. once banned Chinese immigrants — and it paid an economic price
    Why Is The Fed So Boring?

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Canada's key resource against Trump's potential trade war

    Canada's key resource against Trump's potential trade war
    Jan 30 2025
    Canadians have a key leverage point if President Trump makes good on his threat to impose 25% tariffs: oil. We talk to a business journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on why oil would be the "biggest arrow in the quiver" should Canada and the U.S. descend into a trade war — but only as a last resort.

    Listen to CBC's Cost of Living with Paul Haavardstrud here.

    Related episodes:
    I will PAY you to take my natural gas
    Oil prices and the Israel-Hamas war

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment

    Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
    Jan 29 2025
    President Trump is making big moves to shrink and reshape the federal workforce. He's offered buyouts, instituted a hiring freeze, and called for prioritizing job seekers who are "passionate about the ideals of our American Republic." While his actions have drawn criticism, some see an opportunity for the new administration to improve the federal hiring process.

    Today on the show, Jennifer Pahlka, Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center, tells us why, in her view, government hiring has been broken for a long time while sharing her thoughts on Trump's proposals to fix it.

    Related episodes:
    What happens when Social Security runs out of money? (Apple / Spotify)
    Why Trump's potential tariffs are making business owners anxious (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict

    The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict
    Jan 28 2025
    The story of a man who started buying and selling stocks as a hobby ... and got seriously addicted. We also speak with a neuroeconomist about the human brain on day trading.

    Related episodes:
    The young trolls of Wall Street are growing up
    Invest like a Congress member

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • How GoFundMe can affect your FEMA eligibility

    How GoFundMe can affect your FEMA eligibility
    Jan 27 2025
    With the LA wildfires still burning, we were left with a lot of questions. Today, we answer two of them: whether GoFundMe campaigns could interfere with receiving federal assistance and how much of those "proceeds" from special product sales actually go to wildfire victims.

    Related episodes:
    After the fires (Apple / Spotify)
    Why is insurance so expensive right now? And more listener questions (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Why China's DeepSeek AI is such a big deal

    Why China's DeepSeek AI is such a big deal
    Jan 24 2025
    Indicators of the Week unpacks numbers from the news. This week, we delve into what President Trump's first AI announcement reveals about the economics of the industry, a Chinese company's answer to OpenAI, and the reason why Prince Harry may have settled with Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

    Related listening:
    Is AI overrated or underrated? (Apple / Spotify)
    AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Why Trump's potential tariffs are making business owners anxious

    Why Trump's potential tariffs are making business owners anxious
    Jan 23 2025
    A freshly re-inaugurated President Trump is reportedly considering making his first moves on tariffs: a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, both of which he says could start as early as next week.

    If the U.S. slaps tariffs on foreign products, U.S companies that import foreign goods, and their customers, will bear the cost. But, before any of that happens, businesses can also face a less tangible cost—uncertainty.

    Today on the show, we hear from a couple business owners who experienced Trump's first trade war. And we'll learn how the uncertainty from tariffs, or just the threat of them, can have ripple effects throughout the economy.

    Related episodes:
    How Trump's tariffs plan might work
    Trump's contradictory trade policies

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    8 mins
  • Go ask ALICE about grocery prices

    Go ask ALICE about grocery prices
    Jan 22 2025
    Grocery prices have gone up 27 percent since before the pandemic. And high prices are especially painful for lower income households, who have less wiggle room to adjust their spending. But their experience isn't always reflected in broad measures of inflation.

    Today on the show, we look at a different way of measuring price increases that's designed to capture the pain that many households feel daily, including at the supermarket.

    Read more about the ALICE Essentials Index.

    Related Episodes:
    A food fight over free school lunch
    Feeling inflation in the grocery store

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Fact-checking by     Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins