The Indicator from Planet Money
A bite-sized show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening in today's economy. It's a quick hit of insight into money, work, and business. Monday through Friday, in 10 minutes or less.
Episodes
June 20, 2025 • 8 mins
It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today's episode: the Senate passes the GENIUS Act, the SALT cap might be DOA in the OBBB, and a gender split on the state of the economy.
Related episodes:
How stable is Stablecoin? (Apple / Spotify)
Feeling inflation in the grocery store
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator f...
On today's episode: the Senate passes the GENIUS Act, the SALT cap might be DOA in the OBBB, and a gender split on the state of the economy.
Related episodes:
How stable is Stablecoin? (Apple / Spotify)
Feeling inflation in the grocery store
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator f...
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June 18, 2025 • 9 mins
Last week, the U.S. Treasury held an auction for 30-year bonds. Some were worried no one would show up to buy these things! That didn't happen, but the 'long bond' isn't exactly thriving at the moment. Today on the show, we look back at why we have such a long maturity bond and why it might be a good idea to start paying attention to it going forward.
Related episodes:
Bond market nightmares (Apple / Spotify)
Bond vi...
Related episodes:
Bond market nightmares (Apple / Spotify)
Bond vi...
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June 17, 2025 • 8 mins
Last month, Eric Trump, executive vice president at The Trump Organization, attended a ceremony in Vietnam to break ground on a $1.5 billion residential development and golf course. This comes as Vietnam's government is in trade talks with the administration of Eric's father, President Donald Trump.
Today on the show, we look at how the Trump family's business projects in Vietnam are raising red flags when it comes to gov...
Today on the show, we look at how the Trump family's business projects in Vietnam are raising red flags when it comes to gov...
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June 16, 2025 • 9 mins
Nintendo has been a titan in the video game industry for decades, but that wasn't always the case. At its very core, Nintendo sees itself as a toy company which is evident in its products from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Nintendo Switch 2.
Today on the show, we explore Nintendo's history and examine how a small playing card company in Japan became a multimedia giant.
Related episodes:
Foreve...
Today on the show, we explore Nintendo's history and examine how a small playing card company in Japan became a multimedia giant.
Related episodes:
Foreve...
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June 13, 2025 • 8 mins
It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today's episode: the monetary cost of Trump's military parade, looks like FEMA could be phased out, and another change to Warner Bros. Discovery.
Related episodes:
Coyote vs. Warner Bros. Discovery (Apple / Spotify)
Gilded Age 2.0? (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The ...
On today's episode: the monetary cost of Trump's military parade, looks like FEMA could be phased out, and another change to Warner Bros. Discovery.
Related episodes:
Coyote vs. Warner Bros. Discovery (Apple / Spotify)
Gilded Age 2.0? (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The ...
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June 12, 2025 • 8 mins
Healthcare churn—when people switch insurance plans—is particularly bad in the US.
In today's episode, why Americans switch healthcare plans so much, and how that can cost a lot in money ... and in health.
Related episode:
How doctors helped tank universal health care (Apple / Spotify)
Healthcare And Economic Despair
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet...
In today's episode, why Americans switch healthcare plans so much, and how that can cost a lot in money ... and in health.
Related episode:
How doctors helped tank universal health care (Apple / Spotify)
Healthcare And Economic Despair
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet...
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June 11, 2025 • 9 mins
There's something interesting happening at the Port of Baltimore. On today's show, we explore the hidden world of bonded warehouses, where you can stash your imported Latvian vodka or Dutch beer tariff free (for a while).
Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at p...
Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at p...
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June 10, 2025 • 9 mins
For four decades, the US has maintained a consistent policy position: money should be fairly free to come and go in and out of the country. That's changing.
Two sections in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would add friction. First is a 3.5% tax on immigrants sending money home, commonly known as remittances. Second is what's known as Section 899 or, colloquially, the 'revenge tax'. This one is making Wall Street wary. It w...
Two sections in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would add friction. First is a 3.5% tax on immigrants sending money home, commonly known as remittances. Second is what's known as Section 899 or, colloquially, the 'revenge tax'. This one is making Wall Street wary. It w...
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June 9, 2025 • 9 mins
A debate has been raging over universal health care in the U.S. since the 1940s. Back then, a formidable opponent emerged to dump a lot of money into ensuring it wouldn't happen. That opponent was doctors. Today on the show, Sally Helm, a Planet Money reporter, comes to us in her capacity as the host of HISTORY This Week to detail how doctors helped tank single pay healthcare back then and the role communism played in the fight.
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June 6, 2025 • 9 mins
For the last couple of years, U.S. labor productivity has been on the rise. And economists don't know exactly why. So today on the show, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago plays economic detective and helps us investigate some different theories about why U.S. workers seem to be more productive than in prior decades.
Related episodes:
What keeps a Fed president up at night (Apple / Spotify)
Product...
Related episodes:
What keeps a Fed president up at night (Apple / Spotify)
Product...
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June 5, 2025 • 9 mins
To hear President Trump tell it, the late 1800s, i.e. the Gilded Age, were a period of unparalleled wealth and prosperity in the U.S. But this era was also marked by corruption and wealth inequality. Sound familiar? On today's show, is history repeating itself?
Related episodes:
Trump's tariff role model (Apple / Spotify)
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator ...
Related episodes:
Trump's tariff role model (Apple / Spotify)
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator ...
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June 4, 2025 • 9 mins
The U.S. government has tallied the economic impact of major natural disasters going back to 1980. State and local governments used this data for budgeting and planning. But last month, the administration retired its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters disaster database. Today on the show, we speak to Adam Smith, the architect of the program, on the work he did and what might be next.
Related episodes:
How mu...
Related episodes:
How mu...
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June 3, 2025 • 9 mins
By 2048, more than $100 trillion is expected to be inherited, or passed down from one family member to another. But a lot of the time, the money doesn't end up where it's intended. On today's show, we navigate the thornier questions in estate planning.
Related episodes:
What women want (to invest in)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts o...
Related episodes:
What women want (to invest in)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts o...
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June 2, 2025 • 9 mins
A significant portion of young people feel like they aren't on solid financial footing. And yet, the numbers show Gen Z adults on average actually earn more and have more wealth than previous generations did at their age.
This phenomenon has been dubbed (by the internet) as 'money dysmorphia'. Today on the show, we chat with a neuroscientist who co-wrote a book, Look Again, that helps explain this phenomenon.
Re...
This phenomenon has been dubbed (by the internet) as 'money dysmorphia'. Today on the show, we chat with a neuroscientist who co-wrote a book, Look Again, that helps explain this phenomenon.
Re...
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May 30, 2025 • 9 mins
It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating numbers from the news.
On today's episode, we examine: General Motors invests big in V-8s; U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel flirt with the Golden Share; Trump's tariffs just got more unpredictable.
Related episodes:
Dealmaker Don v. Tariff Man Trump (Apple / Spotify)
The tensions behind the sale of U.S. Steel (Apple / Spotify)
...
On today's episode, we examine: General Motors invests big in V-8s; U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel flirt with the Golden Share; Trump's tariffs just got more unpredictable.
Related episodes:
Dealmaker Don v. Tariff Man Trump (Apple / Spotify)
The tensions behind the sale of U.S. Steel (Apple / Spotify)
...
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May 29, 2025 • 9 mins
Top Trump advisers have been boasting about 'awesome' trade deals the administration is negotiating with other countries. But are these deals real? Today on the show, we ask a former U.S. trade negotiator whether these agreements hold up.
Related episodes:
Dealmaker Don v. Tariff Man Trump (Apple / Spotify)
Why there's no referee for the trade war (Apple / Spotify)
Is this a bank?
For sponsor-free e...
Related episodes:
Dealmaker Don v. Tariff Man Trump (Apple / Spotify)
Why there's no referee for the trade war (Apple / Spotify)
Is this a bank?
For sponsor-free e...
Mark as Played
May 28, 2025 • 9 mins
If you had to guess, would you say the president of a university usually makes more money than the football coach? Well, you may be wrong. A college's football coach is often their highest paid employee. The University of Alabama pays its football coach on average close to $11 million. Today on the show, why are college football coaches paid so much? Do their salaries really make economic sense?
Related episodes:
Why t...
Related episodes:
Why t...
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May 27, 2025 • 9 mins
Why is building affordable housing so hard these days? We talk to author Derek Thompson about his new book with Ezra Klein, Abundance, about what they believe is keeping affordable housing out of reach in high-income cities.
Related:
How big is the US housing shortage? (Apple / Spotify)
How California's speed rail was always going to blow out (Apple / Spotify)
Why building public transit costs so much
Related:
How big is the US housing shortage? (Apple / Spotify)
How California's speed rail was always going to blow out (Apple / Spotify)
Why building public transit costs so much
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May 26, 2025 • 9 mins
Today on the show, we bring you a special episode from the Understood feed at CBC podcasts. It's an excerpt from a series called Who Broke the Internet hosted by Cory Doctorow. The four part series details his criticisms on the state of the modern internet and what we can do about it.
From his conversations with Eric Corly the publisher of 2600, an iconic hacker magazine, best known under his hacker name Emmanuel Goldste...
From his conversations with Eric Corly the publisher of 2600, an iconic hacker magazine, best known under his hacker name Emmanuel Goldste...
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May 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Can you tell me how to get... how to get to Indicators of the Week? This week's econ roundup looks at Target's sagging sales, Klarna's pay-later problem, and Sesame Street's new streaming address.
Related:
When do boycotts work? (Apple / Spotify)
Buy now, pay dearly?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Related:
When do boycotts work? (Apple / Spotify)
Buy now, pay dearly?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
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