NPR: Planet Money
Money makes the world go around, faster and faster every day. On NPR's Planet Money, you'll meet high rollers, brainy economists and regular folks -- all trying to make sense of our rapidly changing global economy.
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#533: Why Cars From Europe and the US Just Can't Get Along
When a car is sold in the United States, the ...
When a car is sold in the United States, the safety features on that car — the airbags, the bumper — they are built to US safety standards. There is a different set of standards in Europe. To sell a Jeep Wrangler in Europe, Chrysler has to redesign and replace a bunch of seemingly random parts of the car.The Europeans have the same issue. The new Volkswagen Golf R is driving on the autobahns in Berlin, but not yet in the US. Before the car can come to the US, the German company has to manufacture the car for a completely different set of safety regulations.Today on the show: why can’t you build a car that can be driven anywhere in the world?
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#532: The Wild West Of The Internet
There are over 100 million websites ending in .com. But ...
There are over 100 million websites ending in .com. But new options for website names are becoming available. Not only is there .com and .gov .edu, but now .ninja has been added. Also .bike, .plumbing and .cool. In all, over 1000 new ‘top-level domains’ as they are called will be added. Today on the show, what happens when you just create a whole bunch of real estate out of nowhere? We meet some of the new land barons with big dreams. And a guy who worries, it’s just going to be a big mess. For more, check out these web sites: Here's a list of new top-level domains that currently exist. Here's a list of top-level domains that have been applied for. Namestat and nTLDStats are websites that track how well each one is doing – how many web sites have registered with each.
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#531: The Tough, The Sweet and the Nosy
Millions of tax cheats never get caught. And the IRS ...
Millions of tax cheats never get caught. And the IRS seems powerless to stop them. This isn’t just a problem in the U.S. American taxpayers are Dudley Do-Rights compared to people in some other countries. On today's show, we head to some of the cheating-est places on earth to bring you tales from some of the roughest, toughest tax collectors around. These guys have tricks, tax collector mind-games, that they play to get people to do the right thing.
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#530: Marijuana, Law School, And Centuries Of Inequality
After today's show, you'll be ready to design a tax ...
After today's show, you'll be ready to design a tax on marijuana, pick a law school, and explain centuries of inequality — and the hottest book in economics — without having to read a page. For more on these stories, see: * What's The Best Way To Tax Marijuana? It Depends On What You Want * Comparing Law School Rankings? Read The Fine Print * Mystery Of Mounting Inequality Might Find Answer In Brand-New Tome
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#529: The Last Mile
People love to complain about their internet service, but the ...
People love to complain about their internet service, but the thing that seems to make people the craziest is they can't switch. No matter how slow. No matter how bad the customer service. There isn't much choice. But, this isn't true for people in lots of other countries. In Europe, in parts of Asia, there is a real choice of who brings your internet to you.Today on the show: Why do Americans have so few options when buying internet service? Where's my internet jetpack?
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#436: If Economists Controlled The Borders
Note: Today's show is a re-run. It originally ran in ...
Note: Today's show is a re-run. It originally ran in February, 2013. For the first time in a while, there's political momentum building to change the U.S. immigration system. On today's show, we ask three economists: What would the perfect system look like? If we could scrap the mess of a system that we currently have and replace it with anything, what would it look like? Among the answers: Let in lots more doctors and engineers Auction off immigration slots to the highest bidders Open the gates, and let everyone in
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#528: Money, Work and TV
On today's show: Three Planet Money stories that aired on ...
On today's show: Three Planet Money stories that aired on the radio but haven't yet made it into the show. For more on these stories check out: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays? and Does Raising The Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?
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#527: The Amazing Shrinking Economy Might Stop Shrinking
For the past few years, life in Greece has been ...
For the past few years, life in Greece has been like that movie Groundhog Day. Every year, it's been the same thing over and over. The official statistics come out, and the news is bad. The economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year. But this year, things might be different.* The official forecasts are that the amazing shrinking economy will finally stop shrinking.This might sound like good news, but for people living in Greece it's been a painful process. Elias Tilligadas is a government food inspector in Greece. Recently, his pay was cut 45 percent."The numbers are getting better; the people are getting worse," Elias says. "Our lives are getting worse."
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#526: A Planet Money War
There are reportedly tens of thousands of Russian troops on ...
There are reportedly tens of thousands of Russian troops on the Eastern Ukrainian border. The Russians have already taken control of the Crimean Peninsula; what was once Ukraine is now Russia. But, the United States and the rest of Europe refuse to recognize this. There might be an actual war soon, but not this week. For now, the battle is financial.On today's episode: how to use money as a weapon. Can you stop one of the biggest militaries in the world with sanctions?
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#525: Trouble Inside A Babysitting Economy
We all know how lousy a recession feels. And we ...
We all know how lousy a recession feels. And we know how much long-term damage a recession can cause. But there's still a lot we don't know about recessions — like, if you're in a recession, what's the best way to get out? Today, we tackle the question of how to escape a recession, by going small. Economist Tim Harford walks us through two tiny self-contained economies, a babysitting co-op and a prisoner of war camp, facing what he calls "toy recessions."
