Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
The three are sharing 11 million Swedish kronor, over a million dollars, after being recognised for their work in the area of “innovation-driven economic growth”. But why does this area matter and what did the three economists actually do?
We turn the tables on our presenter Tim Harford, to explain all.
If you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, let us know: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Reporter: Tim Harford
Series producer: Tom Colls
Sound mix: Donald MacDonald
Editor: Richard Vadon
Image credit: Johan Jarnestad / The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The 2025 Nobel Prizes have now been announced, and Maria convinces Nate to learn about the winners. They discuss the selection process, the economic award for research on “creative destruction,” and what prizes they should be considered for.
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America’s farmers are getting walloped by the federal government shutdown.
The closing of government offices means they’ve lost access to data and loans that help keep them afloat —
Then there’s healthcare. More than a quarter of the nation’s farmers rely on the Affordable Care Act…along with the subsidies at the heart of the shutdown fight.
And add to that — the fact that farmers’ finances are taking a hit from bottom lines are also being slashed due to President Trump’s tariffs.
For generations – the federal government has worked to support American farmers.
But as they lose access to vital loans and information.. as the trade war cuts into their bottom line… And as many face skyrocketing healthcare costs…that support seems to have all but disappeared.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam, with audio engineering by Simon-Laslo Janssen.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
We discuss last night's NYC mayoral debate, in which Zohran Mamdani was bad, Andrew Cuomo was worse, and Curtis Sliwa was Curtis Sliwa. And we talk about the terrorist-run city of Birmingham, UK. Give a listen.
Every Israeli-Palestinian peace deal has failed. Could Trump’s be any different?
On Oct. 10, the Israeli cabinet approved a cease-fire deal brokered by the Trump administration, Turkey and Qatar. Since then, the living Israeli hostages have come home. Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel have been freed. Israeli forces have partially withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, and they’re allowing in more desperately needed aid. This is finally, hopefully, the end of this war.
But that was just the first part of the deal. The next phase is a lot more ambitious — and ambiguous. And while President Trump said the region would now “live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” history would suggest otherwise.
Robert Malley has worked on Middle East policy under President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and President Bill Clinton. Hussein Agha negotiated on the Palestinian side, working under both Yasir Arafat, the first president of the Palestinian Authority, and the P.A.’s current president, Mahmoud Abbas. Together they wrote a sweeping new history of attempts at peace, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.” They join me to examine what could go right — or wrong — as the rest of the deal takes shape.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris and Jack McCordick. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Chris Wood and Ashley Clivery.
When a group of Young Republicans' racist private messages—which included praise for Hitler and slavery and jokes about gas chambers—get leaked to POLITICO, JD Vance says "that's what kids do" and that we all need to move on. President Trump names new targets for prosecution, including Sen. Adam Schiff, Andrew Weissmann, and Jack Smith, even as Trump's DOJ indicts his old nemesis, John Bolton. Jon and Dan react to Vance and Trump's comments, discuss the Trump administration's plan to weaponize the IRS, and debate whether the administration is seriously considering starting a war with Venezuela. They then turn to the latest developments in the government shutdown, the growing debate over the DSCC's influence in 2026 senate primaries, including those in Maine and Michigan, and a pending ruling at the Supreme Court that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act. Then, Sen. Brian Schatz talks with Tommy about whether the end of the shutdown is in sight, the administration's designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization, and the upcoming No Kings protests.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
It’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.
On today’s episode: Frozen and canceled federal dollars, America’s intensifying tit-for-tat with China, and a sloppy trend infiltrating the music business. (With a pocket full of shells.)
Is the AI boom an AI bubble? Wall Street and Silicon Valley increasingly think so.
This week JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said "a lot of assets" appear to be "entering bubble territory."
Earlier this month Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said the AI market was an "industrial bubble" where stock prices were "disconnected from the fundamentals" of their businesses.
But big tech shows little sign of pausing its massive investments in artificial intelligence. So how is it that A-I could change the world ... and is also maybe in a bubble?
Stanford economist Jared Bernstein, a former White House chief economic adviser and co-author of a recent New York Times op-ed on the subject, explains.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
All you need to know about Laszlo Krasznahorka: the Hungarian winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize for Literature, a gloriously anarchic celebration of an Italian children’s classic, an Icelandic murder mystery set on the Spanish island of Tenerife,
poet and musician Matthew McDonald, and a race up a Slovenian mountain, pursued by Tadej Pogacar.
Donald Trump is telling Hamas to fulfill its end of the deal or he will tell Israel to go back in and go get the bodies of the hostages Hamas is still holding. He's continuing to use the threats of force to change the realities on the ground in ways that remain fresh and new. Meanwhile, American politicians are behaving badly on both sides of the aisle. Give a listen.
