The dollar at the center of the world (C...

The U.S. government spends a ton of money, on everything from Medicare to roads to defense. In fact, it spends way more than it takes in. So…it borrows money, in the bond market. By selling U.S. Treasurys, basically IOUs with periodic interest payments. And for decades, people ha ... Show More

Pre-order the Planet Money book here for your free gift. Our sister show, The Indicator, is chronicling the evolving business of crime for its Vice Week series. Today, we bring to you two cases of crime in the age of AI. First, cybercriminals are using our own voices against us. ... Show More

It’s here! It’s free to download and playtest! It’s the Planet Money game! (Download here.)Download and playtest the game go here Sign up for the 11/1 virtual AMA event and get updates about the gameSubmit your feedback on the gameWatch the how-to video with Kenny and Elan for pl ... Show More

Since the end of World War 2 the US dollar has been world reserve currency, this means international transactions are overwhelmingly done in US dollars. This gives the US some key economic advantages. Naturally China wants to make its currency the world reserve currency, and as t ... Show More

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US took a number of extraordinary steps to cut Moscow out of the international financial system. The country immediately was hit with a slew of sanctions. It was cut off from the SWIFT payment system and it even had its dollar reserves seiz ... Show More

This year, the dollar is up by 15% against the yen, 10% against the pound and 5% against the yuan. In July, it briefly hit parity against the Euro, something that last happened two decades ago. What’s behind the greenback’s rise? In this week’s show, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwoo ... Show More

This year, the dollar is up by 15% against the yen, 10% against the pound and 5% against the yuan. In July, it briefly hit parity against the Euro, something that last happened two decades ago. What’s behind the greenback’s rise? In this week’s show, hosts Mike Bird, Alice Fulwoo ... Show More

For over 80 years the US dollar has been king when it comes to global trade, is that beginning to change?We look at how the US dollar came to dominate global trade, ask what happens when a country runs out of dollars and explore why countries like China, India and Russia are star ... Show More

  The problem is the U.S. Economy is the U.S. Dollar. Since the 1970’s our country has functioned based on a fiat currency with nothing but perception holding it up. Our faith in the dollar may be our undoing. This week we talk with Richard Duncan (The Dollar Crisis, The New Depr ... Show More

The currency in the United States is the dollar. You probably already knew that. It is also the name of the currency in over 20 other countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. What is a dollar exactly, and why is that the name of the currency in these cou ... Show More

The US dollar is the world’s most-used currency for global transactions. Now China aims to elevate its currency as an alternative. Over the past year, President Xi Jinping's government has struck deals linked to the yuan stretching from Russia and Saudi Arabia to Brazil and even ... Show More

There's been a lot of discussion about the possibility of "de-dollarization," or the idea that the world could move away from using the dollar as the de facto global reserve currency. Some of this desire makes sense. Not only has the Federal Reserve been hiking rates at the faste ... Show More