Category: Series

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - How long does it take to turn around an oil tanker?

Do illegal migrants receive more in benefits than pensioners? Was Energy Secretary Ed Miliband right to celebrate a ?record breaking? renewable energy auction? Is one divided by zero infinity? Why don?t we spend more on evidence that government spending works? And how long does it actually take to turn around an oil tanker?

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Natasha Fernandes, Bethan Ashmead-Latham and Nathan Gower Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - I will PAY YOU to take my natural gas

A weird thing is happening in West Texas. Natural gas prices have gotten so low, energy producers are actually paying to give it away. Today, why it's happening and whether it's a big concern. Plus, who else won a Beigie award!

Related episodes:
Texas' new power grid problem (Apple / Spotify)
The debate at the heart of new electricity transmission (Apple / Spotify)
The rise of American natural gas (Apple / Spotify)

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The Indicator from Planet Money - How Medicare fraud became Miami’s vice

In 2019, Philip Esformes went on trial for one of the biggest Medicare fraud cases in history. His longtime family rabbi said Philip Esformes was an upstanding citizen ... when he lived in Chicago.

Malcolm Gladwell was fascinated by this case and the prospect of a city changing a man. He covers this in his forthcoming book Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering.

Today on the show: How Miami became known as the capital of Medicare fraud. We learn what went wrong in South Florida and what it says about how places may change our behavior.

Related Episodes:
Book drama, NVIDIA hype, and private equity Football
How Pitbull got his name on a college football stadium

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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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Who pays when trade wars heat up?

Donald Trump wants new tariffs on goods coming into the US, describing them as a tax on other countries. The Democrats are no stranger to trade tariffs themselves, with Joe Biden having added them to numerous goods coming into the US from China.

We talk to Erica York from the Tax Foundation about how tariffs work and who ends up paying for them.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Kate Lamble and Beth Ashmead Latham Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Sound mix: Steve Greenwood Editor: Richard Vadon

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Why aren’t more people taking on the trades?

There is expected to be a lot of demand for manufacturing jobs in the coming decade, but many of those positions will be left unfilled. So Darnell Epps set out to close that gap by connecting employers with workers and showing potential workers what's appealing about these jobs. Today, we dig into Darnell Epps journey through both law school and trade school.

Related episodes:
One of the hottest jobs in AI right now: 'types-question guy' (Apple / Spotify)
Why it's so hard to mass produce houses in factories (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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The Indicator from Planet Money - How Pitbull got his name on a college football stadium

Recently, singer/rapper/entrepreneur Pitbull agreed to pay $6 million to Florida International University for the naming rights to its football stadium ... an unusual move for both parties: a musician paying for their name on a stadium, and for a college to name their stadium after a musician.

How does this move benefit the college? How does this move benefit Mr. Worldwide?

In today's episode, what Pitbull and FIU's deal tell us about the fast-changing economics of college sports.

Related Episodes:
The monetization of college sports
The Olympian to influencer pipeline

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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