NPR: Planet Money

A national movement to ban plastic bags is gaining steam, but these restrictions may actually hurt the environment more than help it.

The U.S. is one of the world's largest economies, but it lags when it comes to happiness: the World Happiness Report ranks America number 19.

We follow the founder of f*ckjerry and comedian Jim Mendrinos into the world of comedy. Where a whole series of informal sanctions are deployed to protect jokes from theft.

Happy Jobs Friday! The economy is still adding jobs, unemployment remains low, and wage growth is fine. It's all good...right?

A recent paper examines the motivations behind Xi Jinping's corruption crackdown and arrives at a surprising answer.

Joe Bankman, professor at Stanford, figured out a way to make filing your taxes easy and painless. Then the tax lobby found out about it.

Global demand for hazelnuts is growing, thanks to the popularity of products like Nutella. So it should be a great time to be in the hazelnut business... but there's one big problem.

Allison Schrager is an economist and journalist who visited a number of brothels to examine how we understand and deal with risk.

We answer a timeless parenting question with hard numbers and a bizarro story about a sad, office-dwelling fairy.

Companies are increasingly using algorithms to set their prices, but is that giving them too much power over consumers?

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index is one of the indicators retailers, policy-makers and manufacturers use to gauge the health of the economy. But what is the index, exactly?

On the one hand, you could say the economy's looking rocky; on the other hand you could argue it's in good health. We lay out both sides.

Some colleges are offering students a new way to pay. It's not a scholarship. It's not a loan. It's called an income share agreement. It's like the students are selling stock in themselves.

Today, answers to your questions on dry cleaner pricing, and the comparative investment virtues of the housing and stock markets.

The story behind two sneaky forces that drive us to buy more products, more often: Planned obsolescence and psychological obsolescence.

Gabriela Saade is a 27-year-old economist in Caracas, Venezuela. Yesterday, she walked us through Venezuela's staggering numbers. Today, we walk a mile in her shoes.

The crisis in Venezuela continues to deepen, with nationwide blackouts hitting the country again this week. Today, we talk to a Caracas-based economist about what's happening in her country.

Recent studies suggest we're not witnessing the dawn of a new gig economy. What accounts for the resilience of traditional employment?

Spotify recently launched in India, but that path was long and complicated. We take the experience of Spotify and use it as a lens to look at why breaking into India is so difficult.

There's an entire, powerful industry pushing behind the scenes for better police behavior--not with protests or picket signs, but spreadsheets and actuaries.

The latest edition of "Overrated, Underrated" with economist Tyler Cowen.

All shares of stock are not created equal. Stock can come in different classes now: Class A, Class B. Some of this stock comes with superpowers... and some of it comes with almost no power at all.

Today's show is about the fickle market for art. What makes a dead shark cost $12 million, and a photo of steel wool that looks like a tornado cost only $1,265?

Venezuelans are starving because there isn't enough food. But the country has so much fertile land, water, and sunshine — shouldn't it be a farmer's paradise?

Your average cup of coffee is getting more expensive — but the price for coffee beans is going down. How can that be?

The renowned economist and former Obama adviser Alan Krueger died this past weekend. We look at his enormous legacy.

Should you take out a student loan? Jill Schlesinger, author of "The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money," does the math.

The scandal that dominated the news this week involved parents paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their kids into the right college. But what is a college degree really worth?

When an American company named ABRO learns their goods are being counterfeited in China, they pursue lawsuits, extraditions, sting operations and more to make it stop.

A lot of money is pouring into the global diamond industry, but demand for diamonds has been less than lustrous of late. But, at the same time, money has been pouring into the industry. Why?

Economics looks at how we make decisions in a world of scarce resources. What happens when the scarce resource is our attention?

The internet was supposed to get rid of middlemen--but instead there are more than ever. Today on the show, we look into how one sneaky strategy, dropship arbitrage, is taking over Amazon and Ebay.

Dollar stores thrived during the economic downturn--opening thousands of locations across the country. They were recession-proof...but are they recovery-proof?

It's Match Week, when med students apply for residencies. An economist argues this residency system is a key reason why U.S. doctors are paid around twice much as doctors in other rich nations.

If vodka is by definition colorless, odorless and tasteless, then why are some vodkas so much more expensive than others?

Leaving the EU is unprecedented, but leaving a large trading bloc is not.

Cartels in Mexico aren't just trafficking in drugs anymore; they're also stealing fuel. The Mexican Government is taking action to cut them off. But it's costing a lot of money, and lives.

The most common jobs for men and the most common jobs for women tend to be different — and this separation has big effects for everyone.

Technology is bringing us closer together, but it's also making the world a more unequal place.

The Starbury shoe was affordable and endorsed by NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury. The big challenge was convincing the world that a cheap sneaker wasn't a crappy sneaker.

Most states in the U.S. have a sales tax on menstrual products. Some states have repealed this so-called Tampon Tax, on the grounds that it's unfair to women. But the repeals come at a cost.

Trade negotiators from China and the U.S. seem to be closing in on a deal. But it's not clear what the terms will be.

Oregon just passed a rent control law. Economists have seen this movie before—and they are not eager to see the sequel.

Five things that a lot of people get wrong about the world's second largest economy - and what robots and zombies have to do with it.

How the Federal Reserve won its independence, and then held on during an attack—a physical attack—by the President of the United States.

"Neoliberalism" has become a loaded term.

Tomorrow is the day the U.S. hits its debt limit. What happens if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling?

New Orleans has become a battleground for Airbnb. Preservationists want to save the city. Landlords want to open it up. Can either win without destroying the other?

Americans have more consumer debt, and they're also in better financial health. How can that be?

Both video games and television have radically improved in the past two decades. Have they also changed the way Americans spend their time?