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/2016/03/28/world/happy-saudi-cows-eating-california-alfalfa
Summary: A Saudi dairy company, Almarai, bought a total of 14,000 acres of land across Arizona and California with the intentions of growing alfalfa, a water intensive crop. Almarai plans to export the U.S. grown alfalfa back to Saudi Arabia to be used as fodder.
Original Air Date: April 6, 2016
Length: 2 minutes 22 seconds
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/21/world/venezuela-hot-dog
Summary: Marketplace breaks down the complexities of the Venezuelan economy using the local pepito as a metaphor to explore inflation and the impacts of an oil-dependent economy.
Original Air Date: March 23, 2016
Length: 3 minutes 16 seconds
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.
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/why-ibm-paying-15-billion-lose-business
Summary: IBM has fell 7 percent off its stock price this week. IBM is selling its chip making company to GlobalFoundries for $1.5 billion over the next three years. It would sound unconventional, except when looking to the future. IBM will be receiving chips for the next ten years from GlobalFoundries. Deals like this are exceedingly rare, but IBM has realized truth: it would be more costly to shut down than to sell, and they may be saving money in the end.
Original Air Date: October 20, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 22 seconds
Prompt / Discussion: Discuss how this type of deal differs from collusion.
Summary: In this podcast tariffs are examined, showing both their positive and negative affects on economies. Also mentioned is the Harmonized Tariff Schedule which gages how much each import is to be taxed
Original Air Date: December 12, 2013
Length: 5 minutes 20 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/02/04/383830776/episode-601-the-chocolate-curse
Summary: This podcast explores the shortage in supply of cocoa around the world, as well as one man’s solution to the crisis. However, this solution comes at a price.
Original Air Date: February 5, 2015
Length: 18 minutes 12 seconds
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