Planet Money

  • PM x Radiolab: Can the economy grow forever?

    Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here…


  • Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

    The deal seemed too good to be true. There’s a website that’s been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn’t find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy…


  • Can we just change how we measure GDP?

    There’s one statistic that rules them all when it comes to keeping track of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP). It’s the sum of all final transactions, so all the goods or services bought and…


  • Escheat show (Update)

    Note: This original episode ran in 2020. Walter Schramm did everything right as an investor — at least according to the philosophy of Warren Buffett. So how come he lost a small fortune? In this…


  • How Tupperware took over our homes, with Decoder Ring

    Tupperware is the stealthy star of our modern homes. These plastic storage containers are ubiquitous in our fridges, pantries, and closets. But the original product was revolutionary. So was its breakthrough sales strategy: the Tupperware…


  • The last time we shrank the federal workforce

    If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save? A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was…


  • How to start a bank

    In some ways, starting a bank is a lot like starting any other business. Who will you hire? Where will you be located? What color will the couches be? But it’s also way more complicated.…


  • The Parable of Peanut the Memecoin

    Memecoins are having a moment. Everyone from Hawk Tuah to President Donald Trump to animal influencers like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo have been turned into cryptocurrency. But what are the costs of all the…


  • The Memecoin Casino

    What do Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, social media sensation Hawk Tuah, and the President of the United States all have in common? They’ve all inspired highly valuable, highly volatile memecoins. The humble memecoin began…


  • The controversy over Tyson Foods’ hiring of asylum seekers

    Last year, Tyson Foods shuttered a meat processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The company said it made the decision because the plant was old and inefficient. But the closure was devastating for the residents of…