Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/02/14/585844313/stimulus-response
Summary: What would a liberal economist say about the state of America’s economy today? THE INDICATOR discusses how the country’s economy may need some form of stimulus to boost further economic growth. However, would the benefits of the short run stimulus for the economy that we say we need, outweigh the cost of the long-term tax cuts?
Original Air Date: February 14, 2018
Length: 6 minutes 30 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/02/07/584032956/obama-trump-and-trade
Summary: THE INDICATOR discusses the Trump administration trade policy thus far regarding the tariffs on solar panels and washing machines that were implemented during Obama’s administration. How much of an impact do tariffs actually make on a country’s economy, if they do at all?
Original Air Date: February 7, 2018
Length: 5 minutes 18 seconds
Link: https://www.marketplace.org/2017/10/10/world/where-are-all-women-economics
Summary: Economics is a young and growing field. Although, it has one of the lowest portion of women in its academic ranks. Similarly, to the business world, the lack of women in economics has large consequences on our understanding of the world. Marketplace stresses that this leads to the lack of diversity, fresh ideas, and discussion which means our economic understanding of the world is only half-baked.
Original Air Date: October 10, 2017
Length: 2 minutes 44 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/21/world/melinda-gates
Summary: Work around the house and for the family is unpaid work and mostly done by women. This reduces their labor force participation and ultimately hurts the GDP of a country. Melinda Gates suggests reducing the work through innovation for the developing countries and redistributing the work amongst partners for developed countries. Higher levels of equity between the sexes will contribute to a stronger social fabric and economy.
Original Air Date: March 23, 2016
Length: 8 minutes and 29 seconds
Link: https://www.marketplace.org/2017/10/10/health-care/cost-military-transgender-care-in-spotlight
Summary: In light of the cost of transgender health care, President Trump has advised the Department of Defense to eliminate transition-related care for veterans and active duty transgender troops due to potential high costs that the U.S. can face. Though, in this podcast, one argues that the actual expenses will come from firing perfectly competent transgender troops and training future armed forces. Morality, gender issues, and politics are factors that clash together in this podcast.
Original Air Date: October 10, 2017
Length: 2 minutes 35 seconds
Summary: A large percentage of immigrants move to the United States because they are related to someone who is an American citizen. Whereas, a smaller portion of immigrants come from workers who get visas because they have some needed skill in the workforce. In this podcast, Marketplace considers how a country can find a balanced policy in immigration reform. If immigration is too limited for the labor market, employers lose the number of unskilled workers that they may need for the success of their companies.
Original Air Date: October 9, 2017
Length: 2 minutes 7 seconds
Summary: With significant damages caused by two major hurricanes that recently took place, it is no surprise that the road to recovery will be a long and an expensive one for the affected areas. This podcast considers the statements of President Trump and his stance on Puerto Rico’s debt, as well as Janet Yellen’s view on regulation. In addition, consider concerns whether the financial system of the U.S. itself has been stable and transparent.
Original Air Date: October 6, 2017
Length: 5 minutes 53 seconds
Summary: There are many factors that can damage businesses, but not all businesses can say that mother nature is a leading factor in disrupting their operations. Winery businesses located in Sonoma and Napa counties are the main focus of this podcast, discussing how Northern California wildfires have made business owners realize just how detrimental they are to not only the future of their businesses, but to them and their employees as well.
Original Air Date: October 12, 2017
Length: 3 minutes 34 seconds
Summary: Learn about a little group in North Korea, called the ‘donju.’ The economic prosperity that they developed went on to support the country’s nuclear program and contributed to the growth of their economy. This was all made possible when Kim Jong Un began allowing consultants from overseas to educate North Korean entrepreneurs on accounting, trade, and management. They did this without daring to actually call it a spread of capitalism, as North Korea still remains a strict socialist country.
Original Air Date: October 13, 2017
Length: 24 minutes 25 seconds
Discussion prompt (1): Having listened to this podcast, what type of economic system do you think North Korea has? What impact do you think this system has on people, businesses and the government. Use specific examples from the podcast to support your answer.
Discussion Prompt (2): The podcast points out that in N Korea’s economic system “the state technically owns everything.” How does this impact the ‘Donju’? Think particularly how it impacts the incentives they face to start and grow a business (contributing to economic development).
Discussion Prompt (3): Why would entrepreneurship not be something typically observed in a Centrally Planned/Socialist country? How are the economic incentives of this system related to this lack of entrepreneurship? According to this podcast, how did the economic actions of the Donju contribute to economic growth in N. Korea?
Link: https://www.marketplace.org/2017/10/09/tech/what-linkedin-tells-us-about-economy
Summary: Who says the Labor Department is the only thing that can measure the U.S. economy? LinkedIn keeps track of the U.S. workforce by viewing trends that they see on their members’ profiles and extracting specific data to construct monthly reports. From tracking skills to receiving live updates on when individuals get new jobs, LinkedIn can track certain data that the government cannot.
Original Air Date: October 9, 2017
Length: 6 minutes 24 seconds
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