Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/09/09/493295430/episode-566-the-zoo-economy
Summary: Due to regulations and animal cruelty, the market for animals has almost disappeared over the years. Planet Money discusses how zoos and aquariums use different methods to get their animals without having to pay a single dollar and avoiding a PR disaster.
Original Air Date: September 9, 2016
Length: 17 minutes 22 seconds
Link: http://freakonomics.com/podcast/leicester-city/
Summary: What if the odds of finding Elvis Presley alive were 5000 to 1? You could have had those same odds if you bet on Leicester City to win the most watched soccer league. Freakonomics discusses the near-impossible story of how this little club pulled off the biggest upset in an environment that rewards those who spend.
Original Air Date: May 25, 2016
Length: 45 minutes 15 seconds
Discussion Question: What behavior is being encouraged by the structure of the English league? Compare it with an American league. How is competition affected?
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/05/06/477082513/episode-700-peanuts-and-cracker-jack
Summary: Planet Money attends a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park to learn the economics behind the vendors. They discuss why a vendor doesn’t want to sell ice cold water on a cold October night up in the bleachers.
Original Air Date: May 6, 2016
Length: 21 minutes 31 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/04/08/world/spare-parts
Summary: Several major utility companies are pooling their resources to create a company called Grid Assurance. Grid Assurance is designed to stockpile repair parts to protect against the chances of a grid disaster.
Original Air Date: April , 2016
Length: 2 minutes 6 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/31/health-care/ftc-fights-against-new-strategy-delaying-generics
Summary: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought an important case against ‘pay-for-delay schemes’, seeking to show that non-monetary deals between pharmaceutical companies inhibit the market from functioning properly. More importantly, they seek to demonstrate that these deals are illegal.
Original Air Date: April 1, 2016
Length: 2 minutes 10 seconds
Summary: The Justice Department is planning to investigate 4 major airlines for price collusion. Investigators will question whether the airlines restricted supply to maintain higher ticket prices.
Original Air Date: July 2, 2015
Length: 3 minutes 35 seconds
Link: 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
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/03/353300404/episode-573-why-textbook-prices-keep-climbing
Summary: Something strange is going on in the textbook market. The price has steeply increased over the past decade–and they’re only getting higher. There is a disconnect between the chooser (the professors) and the buyers (the students). Technically, the professor is the consumer, and they’re spending their students’ money. The podcast offers the opposite: high school textbooks, where costs are kept low because the books are paid for by the schools.
Original Air Date: October 3, 2014
Length: 14 minutes 56 seconds
Discussion Question/ Prompt: Propose a solution to the rising textbook price problem. (Example: a price ceiling? professor awareness of prices? incentives for lower prices?)
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/11/07/362060876/episode-581-free-money
Summary: This podcast discusses arbitrage (free money), using the example of used textbooks. Arbitrage (free money) is a risk-free way to buy low and sell high. You can find one thing that’s selling for two different prices, and exploit the mistake.
Original Air Date: November 7, 2014
Length: 14 minutes 29 seconds
Prompt: Imagine you find an opportunity like the one discussed in the podcast. Write an outline of how you would go about this discovery, and what your plan of action would be.
Discussion Question: A woman in the podcast said their practice was immoral. Do you agree or disagree? Is what these two men are doing wrong? Use economic thinking in your discussion.
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/new-financial-innovation-housing-market
Summary: Large investors have started buying houses–in the past few years, they have bought almost 200,000 new homes. The strategy was to buy low, and set the rent high. Interestingly enough, housing prices have appreciated, and rental prices have stayed the same, which results in not as big of a profit for the investors. This has created what they call rental-backed securities.
Original Air Date: October 13, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 52 seconds
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