Category: Series

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The Indicator from Planet Money - The U.S. once banned Chinese immigrants — and it paid an economic price

In 1880, the Chinese were the biggest group of immigrants in the western U.S. But Sinophobic sentiments crystallized into racist policies and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The rationale was that banning Chinese laborers would boost job opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Today, an economist explains how the Chinese exclusion laws affected the economies of western states and what it says about our current debate over immigration and jobs.

Read the working paper co-authored by Nancy Qian.

A digital scan of the photo album in the California Historical Society's collections is available here.

For more on this period of history, check out At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943 by Erika Lee.

Related episodes:
What's missing in the immigration debate (Apple / Spotify)

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Curious City - “Spooky and salacious:” Do we need to rethink prison tourism?

It’s spooky season, a time when we often visit haunted houses and think about the paranormal. And if you live in the Chicago area, you’ve probably seen billboards and ads for the Old Joliet Haunted Prison. But at one point, it was an actual prison. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, questions about the paranormal can serve as an entry into the historical context of a place. Last episode, we visited the Old Joliet Prison to look into a lister’s question about whether it’s haunted. And that got us thinking about the ethics of “prison tourism.” Is it OK to take a place where people suffered and died and turn it into a site of entertainment? Today, we get into this question and more with Hope Corrigan, who reported on it for The Marshall Project.
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The Indicator from Planet Money - What’s missing in the immigration debate

Immigration is a top concern among U.S. voters this election cycle. But Zeke Hernandez, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies immigration,thinks politicians and the media aren't giving the public the full story. Too often, he argues, they paint immigrants as objects of pity or fear, when the reality is much more complex — and positive. Today on the show, we look beyond the binary and explore the less talked about ways documented and undocumented immigrants shape the U.S. economy.

Zeke's book is called The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers.

Related listening:
Is the border crisis really a labor market crisis? (Apple / Spotify)
Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages? (Apple / Spotify)
Welcome to the USA! Now get to work (Apple / Spotify)

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Are older drivers more dangerous?

Could the cut in winter fuel payments cost thousands of lives? Is it really true that criminals sentenced to three years will be out of prison in two months? Are older drivers more dangerous than young ones? Do Southeastern Railway shift 50 million leaves from their lines?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporters: Bethan Ashmead Latham and Nathan Gower Producer: Natasha Fernandes Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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60 Songs That Explain the '90s - M.I.A—“Paper Planes”

Rob looks back at some major performances that came with pregnancy announcements, before focusing in on M.I.A and her 2008 hit “Paper Planes.” Along the way, Rob also touches upon the controversies that came with M.I.A’s fame. Later, writer and editor Puja Patel joins to discuss dancing on stage with M.I.A, the political and cultural conversation around the artist back in 2008, and much more.


Host: Rob Harvilla

Guest: Puja Patel

Producers: Jonathan Kermah and Justin Sayles

Additional Production Support: Olivia Crerie

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The Indicator from Planet Money - What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

Social Security has thus far been self-sustaining—payroll taxes go into this big fund, which then pays out monthly checks. But the problem we have now is the money coming into that fund is not keeping up with the money going out.

The election hasn't been great for people concerned about the government's finances. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Donald Trump's election proposals will speed up the rundown in the Social Security fund by a few years.

So, when Social Security runs out of money as it's projected to do ... could we just borrow more money? And if so, what would that mean for the already rising government's debt?

Today on the show, how worried should we be about Social Security and the federal debt? We explain a fresh indicator to assess whether or not America's getting too far in the red.

Related Episodes:
What does the next era of Social Security look like?
Iceberg ahead for Social Security

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

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