Category: News

It's Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at interesting numbers from the news.

On today's show, we have potential cuts ahead for Medicaid, Starbucks goes back to basics and gold card immigration.

Related episodes:
How Magic Johnson's Starbucks created new neighborhood businesses (Apple / Spotify)
What's missing in the immigration debate (Apple / Spotify)

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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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When it comes to defense, one thing looks certain: European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are going to have to pay more. Countries that are struggling economically will soon need to spend hundreds of billions of dollars. Can they do it?

Related episodes:
Can Europe fund its defense ambitions? (Apple / Spotify)
The weapons supply chain

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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President Donald Trump has said that Canada should be the 51st state... and Canadians? Well, they're furious about it. The nation's former finance minister is calling Trump the biggest threat Canada has faced since World War 2. So today on the show, we dig into what lessons Canada can teach the US, and how the two North American nations are already deeply intertwined.

Related episodes:
Add to cart: Greenland (Apple / Spotify)
Canada's key resource against Trump's potential trade war (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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The personal story of how an energetic lawyer got knocked off from her dream career and what she thinks that might mean for whether the government can attract talented people in the future.

Related Episodes:
A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)
Bailing out the FAIR plan, broligarchs beef, and CFPB RIP? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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We are back to answer YOUR listener questions. This time, we answer why bananas can be considered the 'unbothered fruit', what a flat income tax would actually look like, and how extended-hours stock trading works. If you have your own question about the economy, please email us at indicator@npr.org.

Related episodes:
My Favorite Tax Loophole (Apple / Spotify)
The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict (Apple / Spotify)
So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's?? (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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Surprisingly stable chicken meat prices, a lawsuit threat against the Gulf of Mexico's name change, and the Trump administration's false claims about Social Security beyond the grave are all under the microscope on this edition of Indicators of the Week.

Related episodes:
What the cluck is happening with egg prices?
What does the next era of Social Security look like?
The fight for a legendary shipwreck's treasure

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Federal funding from the National Institutes of Health has driven the biomedical research industry in cities across America including Birmingham, Alabama. It's helped support research into life-saving treatments for cancers, strokes and Parkinson's. But, the Trump Administration says the NIH is getting ripped off in how those grants are calculated. We take a look.

Related episodes:
The gutting of USAID (Apple / Spotify)
A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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The ties between U.S. foreign aid and American agriculture run deep — or at least used to. The U.S. International Agency for Development, or USAID, is the largest provider of humanitarian food aid in the world. Much of that aid comes from U.S. farmers, whose corn, wheat and rice is sold in bulk to the government for USAID's programs. What happens now if those programs end?

Link to Jordan Schermerhorn's research of USAID ties by state.

Related episodes:
The gutting of USAID (Apple / Spotify)
A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify)
Trump threatens the grim trigger (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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We visit a local egg farm and talk to an industry analyst to get to the bottom of why the prices of eggs are soaring so quickly and when they might come back to earth.

Related episodes:
Egg Prices: States Cry Foul
Indicators of the Week: tips, eggs and whisky
Go ask ALICE about grocery prices

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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It's time for The Indicator Quiz! We test you, dear listener, on your knowledge of topics that we've covered on The Indicator.

Today's quiz is an economic smorgasbord, ranging from the WWE to the silver tsunami.

Play along with us and see how you do!

Are you interested in being a contestant on our next Indicator Quiz? Email us your name and phone number at indicator@npr.org and put "Indicator Quiz" in the subject line.

Related episodes:
AI Tupac, sin taxes, and a soon-to-be college sophomore (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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

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