Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/02/24/517076055/episode-756-the-bees-go-to-california
Summary: Bee stings hurt, but without bees, fruits and nuts wouldn’t be possible. Every year, millions of bees travel from the east to California to pollinate fields. Planet Money researches this unique business and how efficient trucking bees from Louisiana to California really is.
Original Air Date: February 24, 2017
Length: 22 minutes 54 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/04/18/world/resource-curse/venezuela-ranchers
Summary: Venezuela’s oil dependent economy imports nearly 80% of its food, which is particularly worrisome when oil prices are at an all time low.
Original Air Date: April 18, 2016
Length: 4 minutes 46 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/28/economy/china-launder-millions
Summary: Is China the future global center of money laundering? Marketplace speaks to investigative reporter Erika Kinetz about how Gilbert Chikli got away with millions by using the mechanism of trade through China to launder money.
Original Air date: March 28, 2016
Length: 3 minutes
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/06/455055023/episode-662-omg-tpp
Summary: In this podcast, the Planet Money team investigates the much anticipated Trans-Pacific Partnership and discusses some of the highlights in the bill’s nearly six thousand pages.
Original Air Date: November 7, 2015
Length: 22 minutes 9 seconds
Summary: The Nigerian Internet hosts many ads for stolen oil, inspiring the question: how? Why? Nigeria has one of the top oil reserves, and it is controlled by the government. They lose about $10 million a day from oil theft. This podcast dissects how they get away with it.
Original Air Date: October 29, 2014
Length: 19 minutes 30 seconds
Discussion Question: The podcasts says that this problem is for the Nigerian government to solve. Should it be an international issue?
Prompt: The podcast does not reflect on the legally sold oil, and the effect the stolen oil has on that market. Write how you think the stolen oil would change the market for legal crude oil in the international arena, paying specific attention to the quantity and the prices.
Summary: Return on Investment (ROI) analyzes at the most efficient way to spend money. An example given is the difference between curing malaria and HIV/AIDS. To cure malaria, it would cost about $1,000 per person, while it would cost ten times that to cure HIV/AIDS, and it is decided that they would rather save 10 people from malaria before they save one from HIV/AIDS. The United Nations, with their Millennium Development Goals coming to a close, will be looking to set new goals in 2015, to be completed by 2030. One of the issued they will focus on is how they are setting goals, and how to be more efficient with the help of the Return on Investment analysis.
Original Air Date: October 2, 2014
Length: 43 minutes 34 seconds
Prompt / Discussion: You are a member of the United Nations, and are put in charge of coming up with new development goals for 2015. You have $100 billion to invest in various development aid. Discuss how you would prioritize between an important, expensive goal (such as getting all kids into school, which was one of the Millennium Development Goals), and something that might not be seen as highly important, but cost effective.
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/what-could-slow-uss-surging-oil-output-low-prices
Summary: The oil the United States has been pumping has been getting less and less profitable. In North America, oil comes from fracking shale, and after the first initial output, oil companies have to drill deeper and deeper to get to the oil, causing it to be more expensive to access. However, the price of oil is dropping worldwide, and that could mean that the United States could be out of the oil industry, simply because it costs too much to produce.
Original Air Date: October 10, 2014
Length: 2 minutes
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/stock-market-has-been-and-always-will-be-volatile
Summary: Many people are worried about the stock markets, especially with everything going on in the world (Germany’s bad news, Ebola, etc). However, the stock market is a volatile place–and, according to Quincy Crosby, a financial market strategist at Prudential Financial, it’s meant to be that way.
Original Air Date: October 10, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 11 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/12/31/258687278/a-bet-five-metals-and-the-future-of-the-planet
Summary: A bet between a biologist and an economist over population growth. This Planet Money Podcast reports on a wager between biologist Paul Ehrlich and economist Julian Simon on the affect of population boom to our environment.
Original Air Date: January 2, 2014
Length: 7 minutes
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/12/13/250747279/episode-503-adding-up-the-cost-of-the-planet-money-t-shirt
Summary: A detailed review of the costs that went into producing the Planet Money t-shirt.
Original Air Date: December 13, 2013
Length: 21 min
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