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Planet Money

Planet Money

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 Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy. At Planet Money, we explore the forces that shape our lives and bring you along for the ride. Don't just understand the economy – understand the world.

Wanna go deeper? Subscribe to Planet Money+ and get sponsor-free episodes of Planet Money, The Indicator, and Planet Money Summer School. Plus access to bonus content. It's a new way to support the show you love. Learn more at plus.npr.org/planetmoney
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Episodes
  • The simple math of the big bill

    The simple math of the big bill
    Jul 4 2025
    If we think about the economic effects of President Donald Trumps big taxing and spending and domestic policy bill, we can roughly sum it up in one line. It goes something like this:

    We will make many big tax cuts permanent and pay for those tax cuts by cutting Medicaid and a few other things and also...by borrowing money.

    A lot of money.

    Even more than we've already been borrowing over the past twenty years. (And that was already a lot, too!)

    Today: simple arithmetic with profound ramifications. Tax cuts, spending cuts, and whether they balance out. (Spoiler: no.)

    We look under the hood to see how all this is calculated. And we ask: how will a bigger deficit play out for all of us, in our normal, regular lives?

    We've covered a bunch more having to do with the big taxing and spending bill and the federal debt recently on Planet Money and our short daily show The Indicator:

    - So, how's this No Tax On Tips thing gonna go?
    - A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem
    - The paperwork trap: A sneaky way to cut Medicaid in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'?
    - The debt limit, the origins of the X Date, and why it all matters
    - What's a revenge tax?
    - Is the federal debt REALLY that bad?

    Support Planet Money, get bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening and now Summer School episodes one week early by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    32 mins
  • A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem

    A thought experiment on how to fix the national debt problem
    Jul 2 2025
    There's an economic fantasy you sometimes hear in D.C. It often gets trotted out when politicians are trying to add billions or trillions to the national debt. They claim that all the new spending will be worth it in the end because we will supercharge economic growth.

    This fantasy recurs again and again, because economic growth is a potent force. Over the next few decades, tiny changes in how fast our economy grows could decide the fate of the federal government — whether we can bring the massive national debt under control or whether we spiral into a fiscal crisis.

    Today on the show, we talk to three economists who have been sifting through the latest evidence. They're trying to figure out what the government could actually do to make the economy grow faster. Could we even grow fast enough to outrun our national debt?

    For a list of citations, check out our episode page.

    This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

    Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

    Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    26 mins
  • When Trump met crypto

    When Trump met crypto
    Jun 27 2025
    In 2019, President Trump tweeted: "I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies." Today, the Trumps are all over crypto.

    There are memecoins for Trump and the first lady. They own a stablecoin, a bitcoin mining operation, and a crypto financial services company. And, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Trump's media group announced they're raising 2.5 billion dollars from investors to buy bitcoin.

    At that same conference, speakers included two White House advisors, two sons of the US president, the son of the U.S. Commerce Secretary, and a Trump appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a cryptocurrency built on independence from big government, this was a swerve.

    So, what happens when the President of the United States showers his love on the crypto community ... while also becoming a crypto entrepreneur himself? We follow along as Trump Inc.'s Ilya Marritz and Andrea Bernstein spend three days at the Las Vegas conference center where convicts are cheered, oversight and regulation are booed, and the separation of crypto and state no longer applies.

    Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

    Listen free at these links:     Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

    Help support     Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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    32 mins

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Its very interesting they talk about tax loopholes in a way that makes you want to listen to it.

Very Interesting

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This is one of my all time favorite podcasts! keep up the great work 😃

Best!

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Amazing podcast, the energy of the hosts is unmatched (is it just me or does Mary sound exactly like Cortana?)
Everyone should be tuning into every episode.

The tax loophole is still my favorite episode... so far!!

Incredibly informative analysis on... everything!

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planet money is so slay and it made me do the griddy. it gave me skibidi rizz 🤔😨😪😧

planet skibidi toilet slay

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This show is a classic, everybody performs so great and such good stories, I highly suggest.
Thank you for reading 

Nice

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Way too much advertising which makes it real annoying to listen. otherwise the content is good.

too much advertising

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