Archive for the ‘Planet Money’ Category
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/17/1087425495/tech-giants-and-tiny-dogs
Ramon van Meer’s niche business – making ramps for weiner dogs – boomed as he utilized tools from tech giants to help him grow his businesses. The Planet Money team discusses how these tech giants can help small businesses find their target audiences with marketing tools like Facebook ads. On the other hand they can also severely damage a business model by changing up an simple algorithm or rearranging their data. The volatility of these big tech firm decisions are cause for both growth and decline of such small businesses.
Original Air Date: March 18, 2022
Length: 21 minutes 43 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089572956/whistleblower-protection-program
This episode of the Indicator discusses the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the ways in which it regulates businesses. Whistleblowers, the ones who are brave enough to stand up against malpractice in the company, are valuable to the SEC but are often too scared to come forward. Jordan Thomas, a former SEC employee, decided he would make a firm that protected these whistleblowers and made sure they are compensated for the risks they are taking.
Original Air Date: March 29, 2022
Length: 10 minutes 5 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094706897/you-should-probably-get-your-plane-tickets-soon
The Indicator this week discusses what is happening in the airline industry. After hard hits from COVID-19 they are finally expecting to make profits this year, but there are many factors that could crush those expectations. Limited staffing and picketing from fatigued pilots and higher jet fuel prices due to the limited supply of oil are just some of the major problems facing these airline companies. Ticket prices will go up as consumers bear the brunt of the oil shortage. Airlines are also cutting different flight paths as there is not enough incentive to keep servicing certain routes. The biggest take away is to book your tickets early and be prepared for rising prices.
Original Air Date: April 25, 2022
Length: 10 minutes 17 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/08/1091736131/how-manatees-got-into-hot-water
Back in the 1970’s, manatees were close to extinction because of ruined habitats and speedboats. Over time power companies started to notice that groups of manatees were congregating around their power plants due to the warm water they produce. This episode of Planet Money discusses the unlikely partnership between environmentalists and power companies to conserve the manatee and how they make that possible. Conservation policies needed to adapt the idea that to save the manatees, the power plants also need to be saved. The warm water keeps the manatees alive but what happens when we move to more renewable energy resources? Pat Rose, a conservationist known as the “manatee man”, joins the show to explain what is going on in the manatee world today and what the future looks like.
Original Air Date: April 8, 2022
Length: 24 minutes 2 seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2021/12/01/1060610393/a-locked-door-a-secret-meeting-and-the-birth-of-the-fed-classic
On this episode from Planet Money, they discuss the events and people that led the creation of the Fed, relevant in 2022 in light of the pressure the Fed is facing in as inflation continues to rise. A quick guide to J.P. Morgan’ s influence and help with founding the Fed so big bailouts no longer had to fall on his pockets.
Original Air Date: December 20, 2013
Length: 17 minutes 10 seconds
Economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson discuss insurance and risk and how it is related to economics.
Original Air Date: August 26, 2020
Length: 27 Minutes 27 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951460511/bitcoin-losers-classic
The people who lose their passkey to bitcoin have no way of accessing their possible fortune. Find out what this means for all the lost or untouched bitcoin.
Original Air Date: January 1, 2021
Length: 23 Minutes 29 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027086991/planet-money-summer-school-4-bonds-becky-with-the-good-yield
Cornell Professor Vicki Bogan describes what a bond is, how it is different from a stock, and how they help companies grow. Also, learn what happens when you purchase a junk bond.
Discussion Prompt: From your listening (and additional research if you wish), briefly explain the difference between stocks and bonds. What do you think are the pros and cons of investing more in stocks or more in bonds, or a portfolio of both?
Original Air Date: August 18, 2021
Length: 33 Minutes 34 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/23/1030276615/planet-money-summer-school-5-bubbles-bikes-biases
Learn from Planet Money’s Summer School what causes financial bubbles with examples such as the dotcom bubble and the Great British bicycle bubble. Also, hear about how behavioral biases, greater fools theory, and herd behavior make bubbles much worse.
Original Air Date: August 25, 2021
Length: 29 Minutes 57 Seconds
Link: https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047777081/keep-calm-its-just-the-bullwhip-effect
As we already know, the whole world is struggling to get items shipped to distributors because of supply chain issues. The Beergame App, created by logistics expert Mathais Le Scaon, uses the demand of cases of beer to demonstrate the bullwhip effect, where small fluctuations in demand at the retail level cause increasing larger fluctuations up the supply chain. After participating in the game, members of tPlanet Money’s indicator team find that fixing the supply chain is no simple task.
Original Air Date: October 20, 2021
Length: 9 minutes 52 seconds
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