Category: News

2024 was a wild year for the U.S. economy: The economy did well in terms of inflation and unemployment, but vibes ruled the roost. (Mostly didn't feel great!) Additionally, Bitcoin went to the moon and some wacky stuff was happening with unemployment and job opening rates, showing that we might have achieved an economic soft landing.

So ... which of these economic stories defined the year?

Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator duke it out in ... Family Feud!

Tell us who you think won today's episode by submitting your vote to Planet Money's Instagram or email us with "Family Feud" in the subject line.

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Related Episodes:
Is the financial media making us miserable about the economy?
What's behind Bitcoin's bullrun?
What the Beveridge curve tells us about jobs

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The "silver tsunami" of aging Americans is often seen as a potential way to alleviate the country's housing affordability woes. However, the data suggests that an influx of empty-nester homes coming on the market won't have much of an impact on the problem—because of a geographical mismatch.

Today on the show, we speak to an economist who's looked into the silver tsunami's impact on the housing market and thinks this theory might be more of a red herring.

This episode was fact checked by Sierra Juarez

Related episodes:
The graying of America
What would it take to fix retirement?
How big is the US housing shortage?
The highs and lows of US rents

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President-elect Donald Trump has called for a weaker dollar given it would be good for American exporters. But tariffs, a staple of his economic policy, would actually strengthen the dollar. Today on the show, we explain tariffs and currencies by following one bag manufacturer from New Jersey.

Related episodes:
How Trump's tariffs plan might work (Apple / Spotify)
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. (update) (Apple / Spotify)

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In the not-so-distant past, serving as someone's job reference meant answering a few questions over the phone. Nowadays, that process is often more involved, with prospective employers asking references for written responses or to fill out a form online. What's behind this shift? On today's show, we check in on reference checks, and ask whether they still matter.

Related episodes:
Ghost jobs (Apple / Spotify)

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President-elect Donald Trump's administration picks are shaping up to be a very affluent bunch. If all are confirmed, Trump's incoming administration would be the wealthiest in the nation's history with a combined net worth upwards of $300 billion.

Today on the show, we talk to a few experts about how massive amounts of wealth in high levels of government can impact policy.

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The Economist's Simon Rabinovitch argues the U.S. economy has a set of structural advantages that have allowed it to perform remarkably well in the last couple of years compared to other developed countries. But could President-elect Donald Trump's second term in office put that edge at risk? Adrian Ma spoke with Rabinovitch for a recent episode of The Indicator. This episode is an extended cut of their conversation, previously released for Planet Money+ supporters.

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It's the most wonderful time of year, er, week, because it's that time when we look at the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's Indicators of the Week: A messy grocery store breakup, a quantum leap in subatomic computing and an unexpected change to the Christmas tree market.

Happy holidays!

Related Episodes:
The Efficient Christmas: Why Economists Hate Gifts
We buy a lot of Christmas trees
Can an old law bring down grocery prices?

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In 2012, Karam Shaar had to leave his home country of Syria due to the civil war. But he still wanted to make a difference. Through his economic analysis, he uncovered concerning patterns about how the Assad regime and its cronies were siphoning money from humanitarian aid. Today on the show, the story of how one Syrian exile contributed to the resistance while on the other side of the world.

Related episodes:
The cost of a dollar in Ukraine (Apple / Spotify)

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The Federal Reserve's last Beige Book of 2024 is like Spotify Wrapped but for the economy. There's a little bit of everything inside — labor markets, inflation and even natural disasters. On today's show, we spotlight Western North Carolina's challenging recovery after Hurricane Helene, and check in with an Asheville malt manufacturer on the impact to local businesses.

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Back in 2016, the economy of Mozambique tipped into crisis. The culprit was a government corruption scandal linked to more than $1 billion that officials borrowed in secret.

This was a high-profile example of hidden debt, but it's far from the only example. In fact, this kind of secret borrowing is a large and common problem among countries.

Today on the show, a pair of economists share their new research on hidden debt and how it affects everyday people.

Related Episodes:
Why a debt tsunami is coming for the global economy
What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn't a bond?

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