Summary: Planet Money considers the debate in the investment world over whether the company Herbalife is a pyramid scheme. Also features a discussion on the ethics of short-selling.
Original air date: January 18, 2013
Length: 17:00
A Billion-dollar Bet Against Weight-loss Shakes Leave a comment
How Much Is A Firefighter Worth? 3 comments
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/12/18/167265874/episode-424-how-much-is-a-firefighter-worth
Summary: A look at how changing building codes, etc. have changed the risk of fires and so impacted the market for firefighters. Considers challenges in current public policy around fire fighting, including whether policies reflect the current market.
Original air date: December 18, 2012
Length: 19:21
An FBI Negotiator Buys a Car Leave a comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/12/21/167802325/episode-425-an-fbi-hostage-negotiator-buys-a-car
Summary: A discussion of strategic negotiating techniques in the context of the fiscal cliff debate.
Original air date: January 4, 2013
Length: 18:04
The Little Lie That Rocked The Banks Leave a comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/03/156222428/episode-384-the-little-lie-that-rocked-the-banks
Summary: The Planet Money team analyzes the externalities of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) scandal and its effects on the international financial sphere.
Original air date: July 03, 2012
Length: 20:42 min
Does Medicaid Actually Help People? Leave a comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/06/15/155135781/episode-379-does-medicaid-actually-help-people
Summary: NPR interviews Katherine Baicker, a health economist at Harvard University to discuss questions concerning the efficiency of Medicaid in relation to its cost and implementation.
Original air date: June 15, 2012
Length: 14:38 min
How Do You Decide Who Gets Lungs? 1 comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/18/153004617/how-do-you-decide-who-gets-lungs
Summary: This podcast outlines the organ market or rather the non-existent, scarce organ market that doctors unfortunately have to face when they put their patients on an organ waiting list.
Original air date: May 18, 2012
Length: 15:11 min
Discussion Prompt (1): Consider the ten principles of economics that Mankiw discussions in Chapter 1. How do they relate to the situation in this podcast?
Discussion Prompt (2): This podcast gives examples of how different systems for allocating lungs create incentives (for doctors, for patients) and thus impact choice. How do you see that incentives, choices and outcomes are impacted if they allocation is based on: whoever is sickest? What if they allocation system is based on who is on the waiting list first? What if the system was a market-based system based on ability to pay? Use examples from the podcast or your own thinking that expands beyond the podcast content.
Follow-up Prompt: You all make some good observations here and lead me to think that it is also important to think about the goal of the system – is the goal to be fair? is the goal for patients not to have to wait? is the goal to have the most number of patients live ? Is the goal to save the sickest? How do you think that understanding the ‘goal’ helps us to see the problems and options for allocation?
Written Assignment Prompt: The podcast mentions doctors signing up patients for lung transplants before they need or are sick enough for them. What are the ethical issues associated with such a decision? Why don’t we see markets at work in this scenario? How might you create an alternate system for allocating this precious item?
Where Dollar Bills Come From Leave a comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/15/152774525/where-dollar-bills-come-from
Summary: NPR visits Dalton, MA where the dollar bill paper mill is located. The podcast outlines the historical relevance along with the contemporary role of paper money in today’s society.
Original air date: May 15, 2012
Length: 19:03
How To Make It In The Food Truck Business 3 comments
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/25/151365350/how-to-make-it-in-the-food-truck-business
Summary: NPR sheds light on the competitive market economy of the food truck business in Manhattan,.
Original air date: April 27, 2012
Length: 14:24 min
Discussion Prompt: Restaurants are a common example of firms operating in a monopolistically competitive type of market structure. In what way do you think food trucks do or do not fall in that same market structure category? Explain using economic thinking.
Follow-up Prompt: The podcast discusses the particular strategies that food truck drivers might employ to be successful in their goal of maximizing profits. How do you think the type of market structure in which a firm operates impacts the strategic thinking and actions that firms engage in? You can make your comments relevant to the food truck example, or think more broadly and connect to other industries or examples.
We’re Headed For A Fiscal Cliff. Should We Jump? Leave a comment
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/04/24/151224338/were-headed-for-a-fiscal-cliff-should-we-jump
Summary: The team outlines the fiscal policies slated to be enacted in January after the presidential election. Simon Johnson, an economist and professor at MIT, explains the harsh realities of the “fiscal cliff” which the year 2013 will bring for the U.S. economy.
Original air date: April 24, 2012
Length: 21:20 min
What A 16th Century Guild Teaches Us About Competition 2 comments
Summary: Sheilagh Ogilvie, an economic historian at Cambridge University, outlines the importance of guilds in the 16th century and how their political and economic structures parallel modern workplaces and markets.
Original air date: March 27, 2012
Length: 30:15 min
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