The Indicator from Planet Money - How economics can help you stick to your New Year’s resolution

Talk of New Year's resolutions is bubbling up as 2024 quickly approaches. Whether it's a fitness goal, wanting to learn a new skill or just trying to develop better habits, a new year is the perfect excuse to start. However, it can be difficult to maintain as time passes by.

Today on the show, we talk to a behavioral economist about one of the best ways to stick to your New Year's resolutions using the power of economics.

Mixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work by Uri Gneezy

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Coyote vs. Warner Bros. Discovery

The movie Coyote vs. Acme was set to release this summer featuring characters from the iconic Looney Tunes cartoons. The studio behind the film, Warner Bros. Pictures, had some other ideas. Instead of releasing the completed film, the studio canceled Coyote vs. Acme, with no intention of ever releasing it.

Today on the show, we explain the Hollywood economics behind why Warner Bros. Discovery might not want to release movies that its own studio spent years putting together.

Related Episodes:
​​Why platforms like HBO Max are removing streaming TV shows (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Would-be weed merchants hit a ‘grass ceiling’

For decades, states have prosecuted and imprisoned people for selling weed. Today, recreational marijuana is legal in almost half of U.S. states, and many want to give individuals who were impacted by marijuana enforcement a chance to sell it legally. But as the roughly $30 billion cannabis industry grows, are these so-called social equity programs living up to their promise?

Today on the show, why many would-be cannabis entrepreneurs find themselves hitting a 'grass ceiling'.

Related
So you want to sell marijuana across state lines (Apple Podcasts/Spotify)

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - China?s missing numbers

How many young people are unemployed? How much debt does the government owe? How many people have died from Covid? These are questions that many governments will keep regularly updated. But in China they have disappeared. We investigate the reasons behind China?s missing numbers.

Reporter: Celia Hatton Series Producer: Tom Colls Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon

(Picture: Chinese flag behind a graph with statistics Credit: Igor Kutyaev/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

The Indicator from Planet Money - The Indicator of the Year

By many measures, 2023 was a decent year for the U.S. economy, but that's not how people necessarily felt. So what economic story best defined the year? Soft landings? Hard feelings about the economy? An inhospitable housing market? Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator battle it out over which economic story best illustrates the year.

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

Related episodes:
Taking the temperature of the US consumer (Apple / Spotify)
A treacherous descent, what will the Fed do next? (Apple / Spotify)
When mortgage rates are too low to give up (Apple / Spotify)
Which economic indicator defined 2022?

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