Episodes

  • Boeing's biggest blunder? Financial engineering.

    Boeing's biggest blunder? Financial engineering.
    Dec 3 2024
    Boeing continues to struggle. Safety concerns, a door blowing off mid-flight, a labor strike, impending layoffs ... and that's just the past year.

    What's gone wrong at Boeing? For many observers, the mistake was shifting focus from engineering to financial engineering.

    Today on the show we explain what financial engineering is and why this cultural change at Boeing may have led to the company's current problems.

    Related Episodes:
    Help Wanted at Boeing
    Boeing's woes, Bilt jilts, and the Indicator's stock rally

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    11 mins
  • How Trump's tariffs plan might work

    How Trump's tariffs plan might work
    Dec 2 2024
    President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of economic promises on the campaign trail, but none as sweeping as his plan to enact tariffs. Trump believes taxing imports from other countries will help reduce the U.S. trade deficit and raise money for things like tax cuts. Today on the show, how might these tariffs work and will they work? Or is everything about to get more expensive?

    Find more of Kyla Scanlon's work on YouTube and TikTok.

    Related episodes:
    What are Trump's economic plans (Apple / Spotify)
    Why tariffs are SO back (Apple / Spotify)
    Trade wars and talent shortages (Apple / Spotify)
    A brief history of tariffs

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • What's in your wallet? Ask the new Treasury Secretary

    What's in your wallet? Ask the new Treasury Secretary
    Nov 27 2024
    Many were waiting longer than expected to hear Donald Trump name his nominee for Treasury Secretary, the person in charge of pursuing his economic agenda. Now, we have an answer: hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Today on the show, what are the actual implications of what a Treasury Secretary does on you and me? And how does the Treasury Department affect regular Americans?

    Related episodes:
    The IRS wants to do your taxes for free. Will it last? (Apple / Spotify)
    The U.S. economy's biggest superpower, explained (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins
  • Trump's plans for the housing market

    Trump's plans for the housing market
    Nov 26 2024
    Across the U.S., millions of people are feeling the burden of high housing costs. During his campaign, president-elect Donald Trump promised to do something about that. But what exactly is that something?

    Today on the show, NPR's business correspondent, Laurel Wamsley, explains Trump's ideas for the housing market.

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    10 mins
  • How big is the US housing shortage?

    How big is the US housing shortage?
    Nov 25 2024
    Housing affordability is a top concern for Americans and a hot political topic. Estimates for the number of needed homes stretch into the millions, but how is this actually counted? Today on the show, we explain the tricky business of quantifying the US housing shortage.

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    8 mins
  • The most expensive banana in the world and other indicators

    The most expensive banana in the world and other indicators
    Nov 22 2024
    We are back with a pricey Indicators of the Week. Today, we're digging into why it's so hard to get price information from funeral providers, how much a single banana could possibly cost, and just how much richer Elon Musk has become since Donald Trump's election win.

    Related episodes:
    Why is everyone talking about Musk's money? (Apple / Spotify)
    Artists vs. AI (Apple / Spotify)

    For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

    Music by     Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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    9 mins