Planet Money

  • How much of your tax dollars are going to Israel and Ukraine

    There’s been a lot of disagreement in Congress and in the country about whether the U.S. should continue to financially support the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Some taxpayers don’t think the U.S. should give…


  • The trouble with Table 101 (Update)

    (Note: This episode originally ran in 2020.) In the restaurant game, you need to make the most of every table every minute you are open. And you need to make sure your guests are happy,…


  • What is Temu?

    It is rare that a new e-commerce company has such a meteoric rise as Temu. The company, which launched in the fall of 2022, has been flooding the American advertising market, buying much of the…


  • How Big Steel in the U.S. fell

    Steel manufacturing was at one point the most important industry in the United States. It was one of the biggest employers, a driver of economic growth, and it shaped our national security. Cars, weapons, skyscrapers……


  • The billion dollar war behind U.S. rum

    When you buy a bottle of rum in the United States, by law nearly all the federal taxes on that rum must be sent to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It’s an unusual…


  • Wind boom, wind bust (Two Windicators)

    The wind power business is a bit contradictory right now. It’s showing signs of boom and bust seemingly all at once. The story of wind energy markets in two acts today. First, the Gulf of…


  • On the Oscars campaign trail

    When you sit down to watch the Oscars, what you are really watching is the final battle in a months-long war of financial engineering and campaign strategy. Because in Hollywood, every year is an election…


  • Is dynamic pricing coming to a supermarket near you?

    Dynamic pricing is an increasingly common phenomenon: You can see it when Uber prices surge during rainy weather, or when you’re booking a flight at the last minute or buying tickets to your favorite superstar’s…


  • Shopping for parental benefits around the world

    It is so expensive to have a kid in the United States. The U.S. is one of just a handful of countries worldwide with no federal paid parental leave; it offers functionally no public childcare…


  • The secret world behind school fundraisers

    Fundraising is a staple of the school experience in the U.S. There’s an assembly showing off all the prizes kids can win by selling enough wrapping paper or chocolate to their neighbors. But it’s pretty…


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