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NPR · Business

The Indicator from Planet Money

A bite-sized show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money , The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening in today's economy. It's a quick hit of insight into money, work, and business. Monday through Friday, in 10 minutes or less. Sign up for our newsletter . Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes for Planet Money and sponsor-free listening for The Indicator.

Episodes

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Can you afford to evacuate ahead of a disaster?

09 Jul 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the significant and rising costs associated with hurricane evacuations. The episode features interviews with an accountant who meticulously tracked his family's evacuation expenses during Hurricane Francine, highlighting the various costs involved (food, gas, l...

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Will the tax cuts pay for themselves?

08 Jul 2025
8m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode investigates the economic claims surrounding the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a $3.4 trillion bill extending 2017 tax cuts. The episode features interviews with Arthur Laffer, a prominent economist who supports the bill, and Erica York, a tax policy expert who offers a ...

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Why can't we insure trees?

07 Jul 2025
9m
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This episode of The Indicator from Planet Money discusses the lack of insurance for trees in the US, focusing on the impact of a severe ice storm in Michigan on a maple syrup producer. The interview explores why there's no market for tree insurance despite demand, highlighting the high costs of valuation and the long ...

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One of the cheapest ways to save a life is going away (EXTENDED VERSION)

04 Jul 2025
20m
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This podcast episode features Darian Woods interviewing Jon Cohen, a journalist covering global health, about the impact of cuts to US HIV/AIDS funding, specifically focusing on PEPFAR (the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). Cohen shares his observations from a recent reporting trip to Lesotho and Eswatini...

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How ICE crackdowns are affecting the workforce

03 Jul 2025
9m
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This NPR Indicator podcast episode discusses the impact of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown on the US labor market. The episode features interviews with workers in agriculture, construction, and long-term care, highlighting how increased ICE enforcement actions are causing fear and absenteeism among im...

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Tech layoffs, recession pop and more listener questions answered

02 Jul 2025
8m
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This episode of The Indicator from Planet Money addresses listener questions. The first question explores whether President Trump's request for Walmart to absorb tariffs constitutes price control. The hosts discuss the definition of price controls and compare the president's actions to historical examples. The second ...

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We're nearing 'peak population.' These economists are worried.

01 Jul 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the implications of declining global fertility rates. Economists Dean Spears and Mike Geruso, authors of the forthcoming book "After the Spike," argue that a shrinking global population, projected to peak around 10 billion in 2080 and then decline to 2 billion ...

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Can Starlink stay ahead in satellite internet?

30 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the dominance of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. The hosts and a satellite communications analyst explore the economics behind Starlink's success, highlighting the high fixed costs of entering the satellite internet market and the significant e...

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Babies v climate change; AI v IP; bonds v world

27 Jun 2025
9m
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This Planet Money Indicator podcast episode features three hosts discussing three indicators of the week. The first segment analyzes a study suggesting that population growth has only a marginally negative impact on climate change in the long term (less than 0.1 degrees Celsius by 2200). The second segment covers a co...

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We're gonna need a bigger boat-building industry

26 Jun 2025
8m
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This NPR podcast episode from Planet Money's "The Indicator" discusses the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry and the implications for national security and the economy. The episode explores the historical context, including the Jones Act's impact on costs and the lack of investment in the industry following th...

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One of the cheapest ways to save a life is going away

25 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Indicator podcast episode discusses the impact of budget cuts to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program under the Trump administration. The interview features Jon Cohen, a senior correspondent for Science magazine, who traveled to Southern Africa to assess the on-the-ground effects of...

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Will Iran block the Strait of Hormuz?

24 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the geopolitical significance of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas transport. The episode explores Iran's potential to disrupt shipping through the strait, examining past instances of conflict affecting traffic an...

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You told us how tariffs are affecting you

23 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode explores the impact of economic uncertainty and tariffs on American consumer spending habits. The hosts discuss a listener survey revealing widespread anxiety about a potential recession and the effects of tariffs. Listener anecdotes illustrate varied responses, includi...

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SALT-n-pessimism

20 Jun 2025
8m
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This episode of The Indicator from Planet Money discusses three key economic indicators. First, the panelists analyze a Senate bill regulating stablecoins, highlighting the $27.6 trillion global market size and the bill's provisions for reserve requirements and regulatory oversight. Second, they examine the ongoing d...

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Why the 30-year bond matters

18 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the 30-year Treasury bond ("long bond"), its history, and its significance as a barometer of investor sentiment towards the U.S. economy. The hosts explain that while the recent sale of 30-year bonds was successful, defying initial concerns, the long-term outl...

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Mixing family business with US trade policy in Vietnam

17 Jun 2025
8m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the ethical concerns surrounding the Trump Organization's $1.5 billion golf course project in Vietnam. The episode highlights the potential conflict of interest given the simultaneous trade negotiations between the U.S. and Vietnam, and the attendance of the Vi...

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The secret to Nintendo's success

16 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses Nintendo's business strategy, tracing its history from a playing card company to a global video game giant. The episode analyzes Nintendo's unconventional success, highlighting its three-pronged approach to entering the US market in 1985 (supplier financing, qu...

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Trump's parade, FEMA phase out, and Warner Bros. Discovery divorces ... itself?

13 Jun 2025
8m
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This Planet Money podcast episode, "Indicators of the Week," features three hosts discussing three indicators of current events. The first segment analyzes the cost of President Trump's planned military parade, comparing it to other government spending. The second segment discusses President Trump's plan to phase out ...

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The hidden costs of healthcare churn

12 Jun 2025
8m
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This NPR Planet Money Indicator podcast episode discusses the high rate of health insurance plan changes ("churn") among Americans. The high churn rate is attributed to the fragmented and complex US healthcare system, with insurance obtained through various sources like employers, marketplaces, Medicaid, and Medicare....

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The secret tariff-free zone

11 Jun 2025
9m
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This NPR podcast episode, "The Beigey Awards," is a humorous awards show celebrating the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a report on economic conditions. The hosts, Robert Smith and Waylon Wong, award prizes for the most interesting anecdotes from the report, including one about the decline of pajamas at job fairs ("The...

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