Planet Money Summer School
Episodes
Govt 8: Graduation LIVE!
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Get your own personalized summer school diploma here.Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute th...
Govt 7: Trade blocks and blockages (Trade Policy)
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here. Tariffs are the favorite tool of our current president, but there are lots of other ways that go...
Govt 6: When the markets need fixing (Market Design)
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In economics, a market is a place (even virtual) where buyers and sellers interact to exchange goods or services. Economists love markets. It's like ...
Govt 5: The many ways governments influence industry (Industrial Policy)
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here. Traditional economics says the market is guided by the forces of supply and demand. Customers decide...
Govt 4: Our National Rulemaker (Regulations)
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here. (Planet Money+ supporters get a 10 percent discount off their tickets. Listen to the July 8th bonus ...
Govt 3: You are what you pay for (Budgets)
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Although it seems like the government can spend an endless amount of money, it cannot actually do all the things it wants to do. So the big question ...
Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit d...
Govt 2: How taxes change behavior and the economy (Taxes)
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all know the government uses taxes to pay for things. But what about using taxes to control behavior? This week on Summer School, Professor Darrick...
Govt 1: Why Are Some Countries Rich and Some Countries Poor? (Institutions)
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Government. The Big G. We like to imagine the free market and the invisible hand as being independent from political influence. But Nobel laureate, ...
History 8: Big ideas and life lessons from Marx, Keynes and Smith and more
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Take the 2024 Planet Money Summer School Quiz here to earn your personalized diploma!Find all the episodes from this season of Summer School here. And...
History 7: The Great Depression, the New Deal and how it changed our economy
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. When we last left the Uni...
History 6: China, Taiwan and how nations grow rich
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for vid...
History 5: 250 years of trade history in three chapters
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for vid...
History 4: Banker vs president and the birth of the dollar
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for vid...
History 3: The first stock and perpetual life
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for vid...
History 2: The golden ages of labor and looms
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Who has the power? Workers or bosses? It changes through the ages, though it's usually the bosses. Today, we look at two key moments when the power of...
History 1: Money and the stone coin at the bottom of the sea
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Planet Money Summer School is back for eight weeks. Join as we travel back in time to find the origins of our economic way of life. Today we ask surpr...
MBA 8: Graduation and the Guppy Tank
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Congratulations to the Planet Money Summer School Class of 2023! Today, you become masters of business administration... spelled with lower-case lette...
MBA 7: Negotiating and the empathetic nibble
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you get the best deal? How do you know you're getting the best deal? Whether you're talking down the price of a car or talking up your salary, ...
MBA 6: Operations and 25,000 roses
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"It's difficult to control everything," says our guest professor for this week, Santiago Gallino. "What is not difficult is to plan for everything." T...
MBA 5: Tech and the innovator's dilemma
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For anyone running a business, technology is both threat and opportunity. Today, we run through techniques entrepreneurs can use to take advantage of ...
MBA 4: Marketing and the Ultimate Hose Nozzle
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this session of Planet Money Summer School, we are getting the word out about your brand. How do you convince consumers to buy your product, even i...
MBA 3: Accounting and the Last Supper
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Usually, the first class that an MBA student takes is accounting. That involves, yes, equations and counting widgets...but it's more than that. Inside...
MBA 2: Competition and the cheaper sneaker
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For episode 2 of Planet Money Summer School, we are talking strategy. You have your million dollar business idea, and maybe some money in your pocket ...
MBA 1: Planet Money goes to business school
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.Planet Money Summer School is back! It's the free economics class you can take from anywhere... f...
Macroeconomics 8: Productivity & Getting Lit
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ou...
Macroeconomics 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 re...
Macroeconomics 6: Trade & The Better Life
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
International trade is the web of cross-border relationships that binds economies together. Because of trade we have access to cheaper, higher-quality...
Macroeconomics 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You can learn a lot about a person from their job. The same can be said of an economy. The market for jobs can us a lot about how the economy is doing...
Macroeconomics 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Inflation can be one of the scariest forces in the economy. As prices rise and your dollar doesn't go as far, you feel poorer, and it's all out of you...
Macroeconomics 3: Booms, Busts & Us
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 moderatin...
Macroeconomics 2: GDP & What Counts
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 s...
Macroeconomics 1: Recessions & Rap Battles
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season 3 of summer school is here asking the biggest economic questions about what makes an entire economy grow or contract. Episode 1 begins with the...
Investing 6: Crypto & Commencement
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the last class of Planet Money Summer School Season 2, we cover one more important market — cryptocurrency. If you're thinking about investing in...
Investing 5: Bubbles, Bikes, & Biases
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Investing during a bubble can leave you bust. But how to tell the difference between a bubble before it bursts and an investing rocket ship taking off...
Investing 4: Bonds & Becky With the Good Yield
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A few years back, Cardiff asked for an unusual Christmas present: a junk bond... Parallel to the stock market, the bond market offers different levels...
Investing 3: Smooth Spending & The 401K
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Even if you don't own stocks, there are a lot of reasons to care about investing. We meet some of the folks left out of the stock market who deploy so...
Investing 2: Index Funds & The Bet
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2006, Warren Buffett bet a million dollars that the most brainless, boring investment around would do better than the researched, handpicked invest...
Investing 1: The Stock Market & Penelope The Cow
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
Intro Econ: Graduation!
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Summer School graduates take the stage to show us how we can all see our everyday world through the beautiful lens of economics. | Take the final exam...
Intro Econ 8: Risk & Disaster
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Inside one insurance policy is a world of incentives and bad behaviors. Take the final exam and get your diploma here.Learn more about sponsor message...
Intro Econ 7: Advertising & Race
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A Black ad executive figures out how to reach diverse audiences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Poli...
Intro Econ 6: Taxes & Donald Duck
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The surprisingly entertaining history of the income tax. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastch...
Intro Econ 5: Trade & Santa
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The economics of free trade and what happens when governments get involved. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.Learn more about sponsor message...
Intro Econ 4: Scarcity & Pistachios
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Class 4 brings us an economic conundrum: how do you efficiently share a scarce resource? | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.Learn more about sp...
Intro Econ 3: Profit & Cocaine
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In our third class, we take all that we've learned about decisions and markets and bring it to a former drug kingpin. | Subscribe to our weekly newsle...
Intro Econ 2: Markets & Pickles
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In our second class, we meet our old friends supply and demand and do graphs using only the power of the human voice. Then, we show you how markets ca...
Intro Econ 1: Choices & Dating
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 fund...
Introducing Planet Money Summer School
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 g...