logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2024
27m 51s

One meeellion dollars!

MARKETPLACE
About this episode

Remember in “Austin Powers” when Dr. Evil conspires to hold the world hostage for $1 million? Not much cash, right? Well, it was a lot back in the 1960s — the last time Dr. Evil was conscious. In this episode, Dr. Evil teaches us how to adjust for inflation. Plus: Grocery stores want to be community meeting places, AI-fueled ad spending rockets up, and small-business owners aren’t sure what the future holds.

Up next
Mar 2024
Will safety issues at Boeing seriously impact air travel?
Consumer trust in Boeing is wearing thin since an airplane door ripped off a 737 Max 9 in January, which has been followed by a string of other recent Boeing safety incidents. So how much does faltering trust actually impact the business of air travel? Plus, President Joe Biden w ... Show More
8m 36s
Mar 2024
China’s National People’s Congress comes to a close
From the BBC World Service: China’s annual policy meeting has drawn to a close at a time when the country has mountains of debt, high youth unemployment and a property sector in crisis. So what is the government’s plan to boost confidence and steady the economy? Also on today’s p ... Show More
7m 44s
Mar 2024
AI can’t handle the truth when it comes to the law
Almost one in five lawyers are using AI, according to an American Bar Association survey. But there are a growing number of legal horror stories involving tools like ChatGPT, because chatbots have a tendency to make stuff up — such as legal precedents from cases that never happen ... Show More
9m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic)
Prices go up. Occasionally, prices go down. But for 70 years, the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola didn't change. From 1886 until the late 1950s, a bottle of coke cost just a nickel.On today's show, we find out why. The answer includes a half a million vending machines, a 7.5 cent ... Show More
19m 15s
Jan 2022
Inflation and Yields and War, Oh My
A favorite Federal Reserve inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures index, measured 4.9% year over year for December. It hasn’t been that hot since September 1983. And the employment cost index was up an annualized 4% during the fourth quarter of 2021, an all-t ... Show More
42m 2s
Apr 2023
The zoo economy (classic)
Note: This episode originally aired in September, 2014.Zoos follow a fundamental principle: You can't sell or buy the animals. It's unethical and illegal to put a price tag on an elephant's head. But money is really useful — it lets you know who wants something and how much they ... Show More
16m 43s
May 2025
Is the reign of the dollar over?
For decades, dollars have been the world's common financial language. Central banks everywhere hold dollars as a way to safely store their wealth. Countries, businesses, and people use it to trade; around 90% of all foreign exchange transactions involve dollars. It's the world's ... Show More
26m 14s
May 2025
How economists (and TikTok) know if a recession is coming
Lately we've noticed that something we think about all the time here at Planet Money is having a viral moment: recession indicators!From the more practical (like sales for lipstick going up and men's underwear going down) to the absurd and nonsensical (like babysitter buns coming ... Show More
23m 33s
Feb 2025
20VC: The Insane Story of Glovo: Selling 30% of the Company for €100K | The McDonalds Deal That Saved Them | Running out of Money Three Times | Burning $1M Per Day | Being Acquired for $2.2BN with Oscar Pierre, Founder @ Glovo
<p dir="ltr">Oscar Pierre is the Founder and CEO @ Glovo, the food delivery site that will get you anything you want to your doorstep. This story is insane, the company was started by Oscar 11 years ago, in their pre-seed round they sold ⅓ of the company for €100K. The company wa ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 2024
$10M AI Music Scam Duped Everyone & Inflation Cools...Kinda
Episode 408: Neal and Toby examine the latest AI scam that duped the music industry of a whopping $10 million over 7 years. Then, the inflation rate hits the lowest since early 2021, which points all signs towards an incoming rate cut. Next, Campbell’s Soup drops the “soup” from ... Show More
30m 17s
Feb 2023
Meow Money Meow Problems
More than 20 years ago, something unusual happened in the small town of Dixfield, Maine. A lady named Barbara Thorpe had left almost all of her money—$200,000—to benefit the cats of her hometown. When Barbara died in 2002, those cats suddenly got very, very rich. And that is when ... Show More
27m 14s
Jun 2025
The U.S. is the world's bribery cop. Is that about to change?
The U.S. has been policing bribery all over the world for nearly half a century using a law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. But now, President Trump has said that this anti-corruption law is crippling American businesses. Since taking office, his administration has redu ... Show More
28m 7s
Apr 2024
The real estate industry on trial
In 2019, Mike Ketchmark got a call. Mike is a lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri, and his friend, Brandon Boulware, another lawyer, was calling about a case he wanted Mike to get involved with. Mike was an unusual choice - he's a personal injury lawyer, and this was going to be an a ... Show More
28m 41s