logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2020
2 m

Introducing Planet Money Summer School

NPR
About this episode
Introducing an economics education for your ears! We're calling it Planet Money Summer School. It's all the economics you meant to learn, but didn't get around to. Each Wednesday, we'll serve up a Planet Money story, or selection of excerpts, paired with insights from our economists-in-residence for the summer. Get an understanding of the basic concepts of economics going to the beach. You can pick up your economics knowledge while you bike, stroll the sand or just lay in the grass. Amuse your friends. Win arguments. Throw the words "diminishing marginal utility" into every discussion. Wednesdays in the PM feed this summer. (Fridays will be our usual coverage of the economy).
Up next
Aug 2022
Macroeconomics 8: Productivity & Getting Lit
Productivity is our economic measure for how far our work goes, as individuals and as a society over all. It plays an important role in determining our quality of life, the prices of our goods and services, and, to some extent, the amount of free time we have. Today, we explore h ... Show More
30m 47s
Aug 2022
Macroeconomics 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks
The Federal Reserve plays a very important role in the economy. When things start to look uncertain, the central bank is tasked with stepping in to restore people's confidence in the economy. But how do they do it? On today's episode we dive deep on monetary policy and the role o ... Show More
32m 22s
Aug 2022
Macroeconomics 6: Trade & The Better Life
International trade is the web of cross-border relationships that binds economies together. Because of trade we have access to cheaper, higher-quality goods, and we get to benefit from other countries' cultures. Economics tells us trade makes society, overall on average, better o ... Show More
33m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2022
Two Indicators: back to school
It's fall, so on this episode, we're taking you back to school. First, what sorority rush can teach us about a particular kind of market. Then, how two economists fixed the way macroeconomics was taught in high schools. It's econ, inside and outside the classroom. Subscribe to Pl ... Show More
17m 55s
Jul 2020
SUMMER SCHOOL 1: Choices & Dating
First lesson: Economics is not about money. It's a lens of great power and beauty. In this episode, we meet our teachers and learn the first four fundamental concepts of economic thinking, and watch them applied to things like dating and hailing a cab. | Subscribe to our weekly n ... Show More
31m 6s
Jul 2022
SUMMER SCHOOL 3: Booms, Busts & Us
Life has its ups and downs. Same for the economy. Today we ask, can the business cycle be tamed? Two stories of recession and techniques for moderating the ferocity of booms and busts. Plus, how bankruptcy is a secret weapon of the American economy. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ i ... Show More
32m 13s
Jul 2020
Planet Money Summer School
Introducing an economics education for your ears! We're calling it Planet Money Summer School. It's all the economics you meant to learn, but didn't get around to. Each Wednesday, we'll serve up a Planet Money story, or selection of excerpts, paired with insights from our economi ... Show More
2 m
Jul 2022
SUMMER SCHOOL 2: GDP & What Counts
What even is "the economy"? And how do you measure it? Our path out of the economic darkness and into the light has been guided in large part by one single statistic: GDP. This week: the origins, history, and problems with the economic indicator to rule them all. | At this Summer ... Show More
25m 5s
Jan 2024
202. CAPITAL: Principles of Economics Lecture 6
This week's episode is the full lecture 6 of the Principles of Economics online course, and its topic is capital! What is capital from the Austrian perspective, why is it such a pivotal a concept in economics, and what are the most common misunderstandings of it. Sign up to ... Show More
47m 10s
Aug 2023
Money Talks: Counting the cost of education
Is a college degree worth it? That question hangs over millions of would-be students, as they prepare to apply to university. It is one that many graduates might be mulling over as they have to start paying off their college debts once more. America’s pandemic-era moratorium on s ... Show More
40m 58s
Jul 2022
SUMMER SCHOOL 1: Recessions & Rap Battles
It's macro time! Today: Keynes vs. Hayek. Season 3 of summer school is here asking the biggest economic questions about what makes an entire economy grow or contract? Things like, is there a "right" level of unemployment? Who gains from trade? What rhymes with 'paradox of thrift' ... Show More
31m 7s
Jul 2021
SUMMER SCHOOL 1: The Stock Market & Penelope The Cow
The first class of Planet Money Summer School starts off with a field trip. With the help of a cow, two economists, and three cute animals, we learn what a stock is and how stocks are priced, and we begin to see the psychological forces that make prices move up and down on the st ... Show More
36m 37s
Jan 2023
The economics lessons in kids' books
All sorts of lessons (even about economics) can be learned from kids' books. On today's show, we visit an elementary school to try to teach third graders econ using some beloved childrens' classics. And, along the way, we learn a few things ourselves. Subscribe to Planet Money+ i ... Show More
28m 37s