A group of obscure yet powerful players in the prescription drug industry are under the microscope. On Tuesday, at a Senate hearing in D.C., the head of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk blamed the health insurance industry and pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for allegedly making products like the weight loss drug Ozempic way more expensive in the U.S. than it is in other countries. A few days before that, the Federal Trade Commission sued three of the country's largest PBMs for allegedly using unfair tactics to artificially inflate the price of insulin.
So what exactly are PBMs and how do they work? In an episode that aired two years ago, we explain how the answer involves secret deals and double agents.
Related episodes:
Who can and cannot get weight loss drugs (Apple / Spotify)
New drugs. Cheaper drugs. Why not both? (Apple / Spotify)
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Cato Daily Podcast - The Search for Accountability for Warrantless Surveillance
Cato's Patrick Eddington details what he's learned about how intelligence agencies handle requests for information about their own internal accountability measures.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
60 Songs That Explain the '90s - Introducing 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s: The 2000s
We are so back! Join us on another musical journey through a new decade as Rob Harvilla digs through the biggest songs of the 2000s like only he can. The Strokes, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Arcade Fire, Missy Elliott, Kanye West, and many more are on table. New episodes every Wednesday!
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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Could the winter fuel cut cost more than it saves?
The government is encouraging pensioners to claim pension credit in order to remain eligible for winter fuel payments. Will people sign up - and might that end up costing the exchequer more than it saves?
The Office for National Statistics has downgraded the status of a new statistic aiming to measure how many people are transgender. What went wrong?
Cancer appears to be on the rise in people under 50. But are more people dying?
And try your hand at a puzzle you?re likely to get wrong.
Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Natasha Fernandes and Bethan Ashmead-Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: Sarah Hockley Editor: Richard Vadon
The Indicator from Planet Money - How to pass on a global media empire
Rupert Murdoch took an Australia paper in Adelaide and turned it into one of the most influential media empires in the world. The question of who will run it after he's gone though is the subject of speculation both in reality and on the HBO fictional series "Succession." Now, a small probate court in Nevada will weigh in on that very question.
Today, how did the drama come to be? And what will the decision mean for the future of Fox, one of the most influential networks, on the planet and our political discourse?
Related episodes:
Dollar v. world / Taylor Swift v. FTX / Fox v. Dominion (Apple / Spotify)
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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Today, how did the drama come to be? And what will the decision mean for the future of Fox, one of the most influential networks, on the planet and our political discourse?
Related episodes:
Dollar v. world / Taylor Swift v. FTX / Fox v. Dominion (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.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Cato Daily Podcast - Don’t Get Your Hopes Up for a New Iran Nuclear Deal
Discussions about renewing or adopting something like the JCPOA to slow Iran's advance toward nuclear weapons should be tempered by the evidence. Justin Logan believes it's a dead letter.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Indicator from Planet Money - Could you live without GPS? It’s OK, the economy can’t, either
A recent survey found that nearly half of all Americans say they could not live without GPS in their car. The American economy couldn't live without GPS, either! Clocks on Wall Street, commercial fishermen, and of course, your Lyft driver, all rely on satellite navigation services.
An outage in those services, however, would cripple the U.S. economy. A study found that an outage could cost at least $1 billion a day ... and we don't have a backup.
Today on the show, we explain who owns GPS and why we don't have a Plan B if it fails.
Related Episodes:
The Military Industry ... It's Complex
Why the FTC is cracking down on location data brokers
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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An outage in those services, however, would cripple the U.S. economy. A study found that an outage could cost at least $1 billion a day ... and we don't have a backup.
Today on the show, we explain who owns GPS and why we don't have a Plan B if it fails.
Related Episodes:
The Military Industry ... It's Complex
Why the FTC is cracking down on location data brokers
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.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Cato Daily Podcast - Trump Pitches Voters on a Price Control for Credit Card Interest
When the government sets the allowable interest rate on credit cards, that's a straightforward price control. Nick Anthony explains why Donald Trump's recent proposal to limit credit card interest would be disastrous.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Do 85% of the world?s population practice a religion?
We don?t usually do god on More or Less, but one listener got in touch to ask us to investigate a stat used by an Anglican priest on a BBC radio programme.
Speaking on the ?Thought for the Day? slot, Reverend Lucy Winkett said that around 85% of the world's population practice a religion.
Is this true? We speak to Conrad Hackett, from the Pew Research Center, and the person whose research is the source for the claim.
Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Natasha Fernandes Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: Nigel Appleton Editor: Richard Vadon
The Indicator from Planet Money - The Fed cut rates … now what? (featuring: Sasquatch)
It's ... Indicators of the Week! We roundup the economic indicators that caught our eyes and ears. This week, all our attention was on the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates by half a percentage point. (Egad!)
On today's episode, we've got dot plots, why the Fed rate cut may not bring immediate relief, and ... Sasquatch?!
Related Episodes:
Has the Fed lost the dot plot?
Are both rents AND interest rates too dang high?
When mortgage rates are too low to give up
Related Reading:
Mortgage Rates Puzzle Is a Worry for Housing and the Fed
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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On today's episode, we've got dot plots, why the Fed rate cut may not bring immediate relief, and ... Sasquatch?!
Related Episodes:
Has the Fed lost the dot plot?
Are both rents AND interest rates too dang high?
When mortgage rates are too low to give up
Related Reading:
Mortgage Rates Puzzle Is a Worry for Housing and the Fed
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.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy