Money makes the world go around, faster and faster every day. On NPR's Planet Money, you'll meet high rollers, brainy economists and regular folks -- all trying to make sense of our rapidly changing global economy.
Greece is scrambling to get its national debt under control. ...
Greece is scrambling to get its national debt under control. Investors are already nervous. So what would happen if Greece actually defaulted— if it simply stopped making payments on its bonds? Investors would go beyond nervous. They might even panic. Particularly because Greece isn't alone among European countries when it comes to being heavily indebted. Investors would start demanding higher interest rates on bonds sold by countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal. And then they, in turn, could default. At least, that's what Ken Rogoff, Harvard prof and former chief economist at the IMF, says in today's podcast. His description reminded us of what happened after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt; panic ensued, and a bunch of other big companies fell apart. So if push comes to shove, will Greece be like Bear Stearns — saved from default at the last minute — or like Lehman Brothers?
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Last week on This American Life, our own Alex Blumberg ...
Last week on This American Life, our own Alex Blumberg had a story about corporate personhood. The idea was actually pitched by Alex's dad, who was pretty upset about the recent Supreme Court ruling that essentially said: "Hey, giant companies are like people. So they get to spend money on political campaigns just like you and me." It was Alex's father's dream that motivated him to the bottom of this issue. He wanted Alex to call up Exxon Mobil and say: "Who do you think you are?" Alex's story went on the radio— but halfway through the crew over at TAL cut it off. They thought it was too boring. We here at PM felt otherwise. Apparently you did too. We got lots of emails and tweets from listeners asking for the rest of the story. So today, we bring you Alex's full story on corporations as people. We also check back in with his dad.
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We meet Yvrose Jean Baptiste, a small-time Haitian wholesaler. Yvrose ...
We meet Yvrose Jean Baptiste, a small-time Haitian wholesaler. Yvrose has a unique business model. She borrows money from a microcredit bank and every two weeks takes a bus to the Dominican Republic border, where she buys a bunch of produce and products to bring back to Port-au-Prince. She then lends out her goods out to various small shop owners and people who sell things on the street. She gives them two weeks to sell everything and then comes back to pick up the money. Yrose says it's been a successful model in the past, but the earthquake has been a big hit to her business. Most of her inventory has been destroyed and now she has to scramble to pay the loan back.
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We meet "Mango Man," Jean Maurice Buteau who heads JMB ...
We meet "Mango Man," Jean Maurice Buteau who heads JMB exports in Port-au-Prince. Jean Maurice buys mangoes from rural Haitian farmers and sells them to the US. Unfortunately, between the mango farm and his office near the port, almost half the mangoes get damaged. If Jean Maurice could just get his farmers to put their mangoes in plastic crates, he says he could double his revenue and the farmers' income. We take a look at why a simple idea like plastic crates, is in Haiti, not so simple at all.
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We look at the world through the eyes of Matt ...
We look at the world through the eyes of Matt LeBlanc, an efficiency expert (or lean expert), who runs around with a stopwatch and equations, trying to figure out how to eliminate waste in our economy. He finds it everywhere. LeBlanc says sometimes people love him and thank him. And sometimes not.
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Adam and Chana are on the ground in Haiti. And ...
Adam and Chana are on the ground in Haiti. And despite the general misery and constant funerals, Adam tells us people there are starting to talk about how to rebuild the country and the economy, maybe in a better way. The world helped rebuild Indonesia after the tsunami, and Rwanda after the genocide. But Haiti's troubles run deep, and have existed for decades.
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Economist editor,Tom Standage, says if you want to get a ...
Economist editor,Tom Standage, says if you want to get a good picture of world history, you should look at spices. In his book, An Edible History of Humanity, Standage writes about how tall tales of carnivorous birds and flying snakes let Arab middleman charge Europeans inflated prices for cinnamon and pepper for years. Standage says it wasn't until an Indian ship went adrift in the Red Sea that the Europeans realized there was an easier route to get all those spices they had been craving.
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We hear from Mary Kinsley, a lawyer in Phoenix who ...
We hear from Mary Kinsley, a lawyer in Phoenix who works at a legal help-line for people with real estate questions. She says her unit gets around 100 calls a day, almost all from people asking about foreclosure. Mary says that starting last year, the questions changed dramatically. In 2007 and 2008, callers couldn't pay their mortgages but wanted to Mary to help them find a way to keep their houses. Now most callers aren't trying to avoid foreclosure, instead they want Mary to help them bring it on as fast as possible. It's called strategic default, where the borrower owes so much more than the house is worth, that it makes more sense to just give the keys back to the bank.
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Fourteen states have adopted medical marijuana laws. We talk to ...
Fourteen states have adopted medical marijuana laws. We talk to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron about what happens when drugs move from the black market to the open market. Do they get 100 times cheaper? Or maybe, instead more expensive? Miron talks about the economics of prohibition, and reveals his drug of choice (which is legal) and one he would like to try (which is not).
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We bring you a story about a cable television producer ...
We bring you a story about a cable television producer from New Jersey, a podcasting libertarian economist, an international pop superstar and the two dead economists who brought them all together. Plus, some really great music.
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