Planet Money

  • OIRA: The tiny office that’s about to remake the federal government

    OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.…


  • Trade war dispatch from Canada

    How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump’s tariffs kick in – or are paused or are restarted – businesses around the world are trying to navigate the…


  • Do trade deficits matter?

    At the heart of President Trump’s tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade…


  • How the War on Drugs got us… blueberries

    Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the War on Drugs led to…


  • Tariffs: What are they good for?

    What are tariffs good for? For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they’ve said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more!…


  • 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…


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