Archive for the ‘Regulation’ Category

Big three credit ratings agencies still hold a huge amount of power   Leave a comment

Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/11/world/big-three-credit-ratings-agencies-still-hold-huge-amount-power

Summary: Marketplace takes a deeper look into the position of the big three credit rating agencies before and after the financial crisis of 2008. Although the ratings agencies were vilified after the financial crisis, they are now bigger and stronger than before.

Original Air Date: March 11, 2016

Length: 3 minutes 37 seconds

The Less Deadly Catch   Leave a comment

less deadlyLink: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/04/454698093/episode-661-the-less-deadly-catch

Summary: The Planet Money team investigates a regulation the Alaskan government implemented to make fishing less frantic and more efficient.

Original Air Date: November 4, 2015

Length: 18 minutes 11 seconds

How To Make $3 Trillion Disappear   Leave a comment

how to makeLink: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/10/23/451228005/episode-659-how-to-make-3-trillion-disappear

Summary: The Planet Money team discusses the end of quantitative easing – how it works and how it is coming to an end.  A particular focus is how this process will impact commercial banks and their clients.

Original Air Date: October 26, 2015

Length: 15 minutes 25 seconds

The Great Inflation   Leave a comment

great inflationLink: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/20/456855788/episode-664-the-great-inflation

Summary: In this Podcast, high inflation in the 70’s and 80’s is examined in depth. The Planet Money team find there is more to inflation than just a surplus of money in the economy.

Original Air Date: November 21, 2015

Length: 24 minutes 45 seconds

The Last Euro in Greece   Leave a comment

last euroLink: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/07/08/421228146/episode-637-the-last-euro-in-greece

Summary: The Planet Money team discusses the role the banks played in the Greek debt crisis and how it affected the Greek people.

Original Air Date: July 8, 2015

Length: 13 minutes 38 seconds

The Curse of the Black Lotus   Leave a comment

blacklotusLink: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/03/11/392381112/episode-609-the-curse-of-the-black-lotus

Summary: Using common goods like magic cards, the NPR team demonstrates market bubbles and how they work as well as how one company deflated theirs.

Original Air Date: March 11, 2015

Length: 16 minutes 56 seconds

The Interstate Tax Break Battle   Leave a comment

interstate tax break battleLink: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/interstate-tax-break-battle

Summary: The Obama Administration has been cracking down on inversions–where companies avoid US taxes by getting a foreign address. Now, it is being taken down to a state level, as states hand out tax breaks to try to increase business and get out of the Great Recession.

Original Air Date: September 24, 2014

Length: 2 minutes 27 seconds

‘Made in Italy’ May Not Mean What You Think It Does   Leave a comment

Italian Fashion Heavyweights Dress Rich And FamousLink: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/made-italy-may-not-mean-what-you-think

Summary: The Country of Origin label is a powerful element on upscale brands. Italians consider it a national economic resource, but the stamp can’t always be believed. US laws say the “last substantial transformation” must be in the country of origin, and tracking manufacturing is difficult at best.

Original Air Date: September 24, 2014

Length: 3 minutes 55 seconds

 

The Boom-and-Bust Story of a Crop Called Guar   Leave a comment

guarLink: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/boom-and-bust-story-crop-called-guar

Summary: Guar is a small bean, and it had a recent rise and fall in the marketplace. Besides being an additive to thicken many foods, it’s also used in fracking. When fracking took off, the price of guar rose. As the price increased, Texas farmers started growing a lot of it, until Pakistan and India–which grow 98% of the guar combined–caught up to the demand. As a result, oil companies stopped hoarding it, and the prices dropped. The Texas farmers were left without buyers, and caused a chain reaction of bankruptcy.

Original Air Date: October 9, 2014

Length: 2 minutes 47 seconds

Spending Big Money To Fight Big Money   Leave a comment

PACsLink: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/08/01/336910418/episode-558-spending-big-money-to-fight-big-money

Summary: What is the role of money in politics? What is campaign finance and what is the Super PAC? How is it that the 1% fraction of the US population have the ability to spend as much as they want in order to influence political power? Planet Money interviews Lawrence Lessing of Harvard University on his idea to create a super PAC in order to fight Super PACs.

Original Air Date: August 1, 2014

Length: 16 min