In the early 90s, when a young economist named Michael Kremer finished his PhD, there had been a few economic studies based on randomized trials. But they were ...
NPR
(Note: This episode originally ran back in 2022.) This past weekend, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had the second largest domestic opening of 2023, ...
It’s the thrilling conclusion to our three-part series on AI — the world premiere of the first episode of Planet Money written by AI. In Part 1 of this ...
In Part 1 of this series, AI proved that it could use real research and real interviews to write an original script for an episode of Planet Money. Our next ...
We used to think some jobs were safe from automation. Though machines have transformed industries like agriculture and manufacturing, the conventional wisdom ...
Lyle Jack wants to build a wind farm on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. But to make the project work, he has to connect that wind farm to the ...
It’s time for another installment of … Planet Money Predictions! *air horn* Last year, we invited two economic forecasters to tell us what they ...
For the last four decades, technology has been mostly a force for greater inequality and a shrinking middle class. But new empirical evidence suggests that the ...
Economists say that inflation is just too much money chasing too few goods. But something else can make inflation stick around. If you think of the 1970s, the ...
(Note: this episode originally ran in 2019.) In the 1800s, catching your train on time was no easy feat. Every town had its own “local time,” based ...
Back in 2005, Burt Banks inherited a plot of old family land in Delaware. But when it came time to sell it, he ran into a problem: his neighbor had a goat pen, ...
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut, a doctor or maybe a famous athlete? Today one of the most popular responses to ...
After a successful career in advertising, Erika Williams decided it was time for a change. She went back to school to get an MBA at the University of Chicago, ...
Note: This episode originally aired in September, 2014. Zoos follow a fundamental principle: You can’t sell or buy the animals. It’s unethical and ...
Imagine if we built cars the same way we build houses. First, a typical buyer would meet with the car designer, and tell them what kind of car they want. Then ...
This past January, researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason for this is ...
Right now, the economy is running hot. Inflation is high, and central banks are pushing up interest rates to fight it. But before the pandemic, economies ...
Right now, the economy is all over the place. And when things get confusing, we look to basic economic indicators to help explain what’s going on. Today, ...
It’s been a month since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank touched off the worst episode of banking turmoil since 2008. While the financial system ...
Puerto Rico’s beaches are an integral part of life on the island, and by law, they’re one of the few places that are truly public. In practice, the ...