How much national debt is too much?
Most economic textbooks will tell you that there can be real dangers in running up a big national debt. A major concern is how the debt you...
0:00--:--
Episodes
Latest first
The history of light (classic)
For thousands of years, getting light was a huge hassle. You had to make candles from scratch. This is not as romantic as it sounds. You...
0:00--:--
How the FBI's fake cell phone company put criminals into real jail cells
There is a constant arms race between law enforcement and criminals, especially when it comes to technology. For years, law enforcement has...
0:00--:--
So you've been scammed, now what?
We are living in a kind of golden age for online fraudsters. As the number of apps and services for storing and sending money has exploded...
0:00--:--
The junkyard economist
On today's episode, we ride through the streets of San Francisco with a long-time junkman, Jon Rolston. Jon has spent the last two decades...
0:00--:--
Anatomy of a layoff
By one estimate, 40 percent of American workers get laid off at least once in their careers. And when that happens, companies will often...
0:00--:--
The hack that almost broke the internet
Last month, the world narrowly avoided a cyberattack of stunning ambition. The targets were some of the most important computers on the...
0:00--:--
Why Gold? (Classic)
In the past few months, the price of gold has gone way up – even hitting a new high last month at just over $2,400 per troy ounce. Gold has...
0:00--:--
Zombie mortgages are coming back to life
Karen McDonough of Quincy, Mass., was enjoying her tea one morning in the dining room when she saw something odd outside her window: a...
0:00--:--
Inside video game economics (Two Indicators)
Why do video game workers offer labor at a discount? How can you design a video game for blind and sighted players? Does that design have...
0:00--:--
The birth of the modern consumer movement
Today on the show, the story of the modern consumer movement in the U.S. and the person who inspired it: Ralph Nader. How Ralph Nader's...
0:00--:--
Hire Power (Update)
(Note: This episode originally ran in 2021.)Millions of American workers in all sorts of industries have signed some form of noncompete...
0:00--:--
The case of the stolen masks
About thirty years ago, Yagya Kumar Pradhan woke up to the news that the temple he and his clan used had been broken into. The temple had...
0:00--:--
How unions are stopped before they start (Update)
(Note: This episode originally ran in 2023.)Union membership in the U.S. has been declining for decades. But, in 2022, support for unions...
0:00--:--
FTX and the Serengeti of bankruptcy
For the last year and a half, the story of FTX has focused largely on the crimes and punishment of Sam Bankman-Fried. But in the...
0:00--:--
Grocery prices, credit card debt, and your 401K (Two Indicators)
What's going on with consumers? This is one of the trickiest puzzles of this weird economic moment we're in. We've covered a version of...
0:00--:--
TikTok made me deduct it
TikTok, and other apps like it, are filled with financial advice. Some of it is reliable, some... less so. There are videos about running a...
0:00--:--
How much does this cow weigh? (Classic)
This episode originally ran in 2015.About one hundred years ago, a scientist and statistician named Francis Galston came upon an...
0:00--:--
Japan's Lost Decades
Last month, Japan's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years. That is a really big deal, because it means that one...
0:00--:--
The real estate industry on trial
In 2019, Mike Ketchmark got a call. Mike is a lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri, and his friend, Brandon Boulware, another lawyer, was...
0:00--:--