Category: 3-EconSometimeCommentary

On Wall Street, fortunes are often won and lost with the tiniest advantages. And for the past few years, one trading firm has stood out from the rest for both huge profits and careful secrecy — Jane Street Group.


But last year, one of Jane Street’s biggest and most lucrative trading strategies was unexpectedly revealed in a Manhattan courtroom. The news ricocheted around the world. It drew the attention of competitors and regulatory agencies, destabilized billions of dollars worth of trades, and called into question some of the most fundamental strategies in global finance. 

Some Planet Money episodes about finance:

• The rise and fall of Long Term Capital Management
• How George Soros forced the UK to devalue the pound

Further reading: 

• Jane Street Group, LLC v. Millennium Management LLC, Douglas Schadewald, and Daniel Spottiswood
• “Jane Street’s Indian Options Trade Was Too Good,” from Bloomberg
• SEBI's report: "Interim Order in the matter of Index manipulation by Jane Street Group"
• “Jane Street Defends India Trading Activity, Blasts Regulator,” from Bloomberg

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This episode was produced by Eric Mennel, with production help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Cooper Katz-McKim. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark


Music in this episode:

Bob Bradley, “Cyber Crime”

Jason Bowld; Colin Doran, “Falling Apart 2”

Runman, “Dark Shop”

Martin Haene [SUISA], “Heavy Trip”

Adam Riches [PRS], Murray David Stockdale [PRS], Sammy Gordonski [PRS], “Monster”

Alex Arcoleo;Josh Oliver, “Day Dreamer”

Alex Arcoleo, “Best Part”


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They have thousands of congregants and millions of dollars in income. Zachary Crockett passes the collection plate.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Julie Roys, founder of the Roys Report.
  • Scott Thumma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "The faithful see both crisis and opportunity as churches close across the country," by Scott Neuman (NPR, 2023).
  • "Million Dollar Homes Become Status Symbols of Televangelists and Pastors," by Barry Bowen (Trinity Foundation, 2022).
  • "Megachurch 2020," by Scott Thumma and Warren Bird (Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 2020).
  • Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America's Largest Churches, by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis (2007).
  • "Ministers' Compensation & Housing Allowance," (IRS).
  • MinistryWatch.

 

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Israel has been blocking the flow of physical money into Gaza since the start of the war. So whatever paper cash was in Gaza before the war, that’s all that’s been circulating. It’s now falling apart from overuse. 


Two best friends, one in Gaza and one in Belgium, are now trying to get money in.


But how do you get money into a bank account in Gaza? And how do you get that money out, in Gaza, when there are no functioning banks or ATMs? And almost no electricity. And spotty internet. And what is there to buy? How does money even work in Gaza right now? 


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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Marianne McCune, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo, Robert Rodriguez, and James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. 

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In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions.

The post China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers. appeared first on Freakonomics.

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A lot of jobs in the modern economy don’t pay a living wage, and some of those jobs may be wiped out by new technologies. So what’s to be done? We revisit an episode from 2016 for a potential solution.

The post Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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On this episode, Nathan Goodman is joined by Michael Clemens to discuss why immigration policy matters not just for migrants themselves but for broader economic growth. Drawing on his influential work, including “Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?” (JEP, 2011) and “The Place Premium: Bounding the Price Equivalent of Migration Barriers” (REStat, 2019), Clemens explains how even modest liberalization of migration can create enormous gains, why exchange is positive-sum, and how complementary skills across the workforce drive production. Together they assess the claim that immigration undermines culture and institutions and revisit historical panics ranging from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Dillingham Commission.

Dr. Michael Clemens is a professor in the Department of Economics at George Mason University and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He helped build the research program on international migration at the Center for Global Development.

Show Notes:

• Samuel Bazzi, et al., “The Confederate Diaspora” (NBER, 2025)
• Timur Kuran’s book, Freedoms Delayed: Political Legacies of Islamic Law in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2023)
• Chloe N. East, et al., “The Labor Market Effects of Immigration Enforcement” (Journal of Labor Economics, 2023)
• Mexican Migration project

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Virtual Sentiments, a podcast series from the Hayek Program, is streaming. Subscribe today and listen to season three, releasing now!

Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgram

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CC Music: Twisterium

(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2016.)

It’s no secret that CEOs get paid a ton – and a ton more than the average worker. More than a hundred times than what their average employee makes. 

But it wasn’t always this way. So, how did this gap get so vast? And why? 

On today’s episode … we go back to a specific moment when the way CEOs were paid got changed. It involves Bill Clinton's campaign promises, and Silicon Valley workers taking to the streets to protest an accounting rule. And of course, Dodd Frank. 

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This episode was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and Stacey Vanek Smith, and was originally produced by Nick Fountain. This update was reported and produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Alex Goldmark.

Music: "Love To Go" and "Second Line Stomp."


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Pure maple syrup can be five times as expensive as “pancake syrup,” but maple farmers — and breakfast connoisseurs — say it’s worth it. Zachary Crockett pours it on thick.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Emma Marvin, co-C.E.O. of Butternut Mountain Farm.
  • David Marvin, founder of Butternut Mountain Farm.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Crop Production," by National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA, 2025).
  • "Why Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Fake Maple Syrup," by Christopher Ingraham (The Washington Post, 2015).
  • "History of Maple," (UVM Libraries).
  • Butternut Mountain Farm.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced an unusual deal. Intel, the biggest microchip maker in America, had agreed to give the United States a 10 percent stake in its business. That means the U.S. government is now Intel's largest shareholder — and a major American company is now a partially state-owned enterprise. 

This deal has raised a lot of eyebrows. The U.S. government almost never gets tangled up with businesses like this. Some have accused the president of taking a step toward, well, socialism.

But the Intel deal didn’t come out of nowhere. It's actually the latest chapter in one of the most aggressive economic experiments the United States has ever attempted. An experiment that Trump is now taking in a surprising new direction. 

On today's show, we unpack the Intel deal. Where did it come from, and what does it say about President Trump’s unconventional approach to managing the economy. 

For more:
- The President's Golden Share in U.S. Steel 
- Bringing a tariff to a graphite fight 
- A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics

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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Jimmy Keeley with help from Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.  

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What does it take to “play 3D chess at 250 miles an hour”? And how far will $12.5 billion of “Big, Beautiful” funding go toward modernizing the F.A.A.? (Part two of a two-part series.)

The post An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio … appeared first on Freakonomics.

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