Category: 3-EconSometimeCommentary

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit.

The post Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

array(3) { [0]=> string(0) "" [1]=> string(0) "" [2]=> int(0) }

On this episode, Jessica Carges chats with Catherine Pakaluk on her latest book, Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth (2024). Pakaluk describes the economic consequences of dropping fertility rates, explores the reasons for why women choose to have children, explains how we can increase fertility rates, and more.

Catherine Pakaluk is the Director of Political Economy and an Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy.

If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Learn more about Academic & Student Programs

Follow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatus

CC Music: Twisterium

Note: This original episode ran in 2020.

Walter Schramm did everything right as an investor — at least according to the philosophy of Warren Buffett. So how come he lost a small fortune?

In this episode, we look into an obscure government program that slurps up forgotten money. We hunt for money we might have left vulnerable and we try to figure out how it got there in the first place so we can tell you where to find the money you've misplaced too.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Security guards make malls feel safer, but what can they do when there’s trouble? Zachary Crockett observes and reports.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Gus Parsons, mall cop in the San Diego area.
  • David Levenberg, owner of Center Security Services.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Mall of America's security team will start using facial recognition software as part of safety plan," by Derek James (CBS News, 2024).
  • "The Problems Inside North America’s Largest Security Firm—and Third-Biggest Employer," by Alana Semuels (Time, 2023).
  • "Malls Work on Their Security, but Keep It in the Background," by Ronda Kaysen (New York Times, 2013).
  • Center Security Services.

 

• EXTRAS:
  • "NYPD subway robot, Knightscope, gets sacked after two-month pilot program," by Vineet Josan (The Ticker, 2024).
  • "The State of the American Mall," by Sapna Maheshwari (New York Times, 2021).

 

Tupperware is the stealthy star of our modern homes. These plastic storage containers are ubiquitous in our fridges, pantries, and closets. But the original product was revolutionary. So was its breakthrough sales strategy: the Tupperware Party.

Led in part by a charismatic housewife turned business innovator, Tupperware pioneered more than the party. Brownie Wise, and the company she came to represent, are behind a core sales technique that we might now recognize as influencer marketing.

The company was so successful at its peak, it reached almost cult status. But it didn't last.

On our latest episode: Tupperware's success and the company's demise. And how its descendants — in products, and in sales strategies — lived on.

This episode is in partnership with Decoder Ring. For even more on the legacy of Tupperware, listen to their full episode.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save?

A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a Democrat.

Today on the show: Where they found waste the last time we really looked. (Hint: it wasn't jobs.) And why the pace of firings under Trump might start to slow down.

For more:
- Lessons for the Future of Government Reform
- Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today's federal government
- Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. We had fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Special thanks to Ben Zipperer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: Audio Network - "West Green Road," "Raise Up," and "Blue and Green."

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

How do TV producers decide how much money to give away? A little psychology and a lot of math. Zachary Crockett phones a friend.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Bowen Kerins, math teacher and former contestant on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.
  • Arthur Smith, CEO of A. Smith & Co. Productions and author of "Reach: Hard Lessons and Learned Truths from a Lifetime in Television."
  • Aaron Solomon, television producer.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "‘The Price Is Right’ Celebrates 10,000 Episodes With Extra Big Wins for Contestants That Top Off at $100,000!" by Rosemary Rossi (Variety, 2025).
  • "Why haven’t more game show prizes been adjusted for inflation?" by Janet Nguyen (Marketplace, 2023).
  • "Deal or No Deal? Decision Making under Risk in a Large-Payoff Game Show," by Thierry Post, Martijn J. van den Assem, Guido Baltussen, and Richard Thaler (American Economic Review, 2008).
  • "Why Game Shows Have Economists Glued to Their TVs," by Charles Florelle (Wall Street Journal, 2006).

 

• EXTRAS:
  • "Bowen Kerins on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (2000).

In some ways, starting a bank is a lot like starting any other business. Who will you hire? Where will you be located? What color will the couches be? But it's also way more complicated. There are tons of regulations on banks–and you can understand why. Lots of new businesses fail. But if a bank fails, it can have ripple effects for the entire economy.

Today on the show, a baby bank is born. We go along for the ride from idea to ribbon cutting as a community bank gets off the ground.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Katie Mingle. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Music: NPR Source Audio- "Numbers Game," "Smoke and Mirrors," and "Lets Start A Movement"

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Memecoins are having a moment. Everyone from Hawk Tuah to President Donald Trump to animal influencers like Moo Deng the pygmy hippo have been turned into cryptocurrency. But what are the costs of all the hype?

On today's show — a modern parable. How an orphaned baby rodent became a world famous animal influencer, became a political martyr, and was finally transmuted into a billion dollar cryptocurrency. It's a tale about how a chance encounter can lead to fame and fortune. But also how all that can spin wildly out of control in this brave, new – kind of terrifying – attention economy we're all living in.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Nic Neves. This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. And engineered by Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

On this special crossover episode, Ideas of India podcast host, Shruti Rajagopalan, interviews Christopher J. Coyne on the economics of conflict and peace, the history of the U.S. security state, the US intervention in Afghanistan, domestic consequences of militarism abroad, and much more!

For the full length transcript and for more episodes like this, check out the Ideas of India podcast page.

Shruti Rajagopalan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center and a Fellow at the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University School of Law. She leads the India political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at Mercatus and hosts the Ideas of India podcast.

Christopher J. Coyne is Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Director of the Initiative for the Study of a Stable Peace (ISSP).

If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Learn more about Academic & Student Programs

Follow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatus

CC Music: Twisterium