Episodes
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This episode was originally published on November 14, 2022
This week, Ford announced it was pausing work on a new $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan. President of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, viewed this as a "thinly veiled threat" to cut jobs. But this is a factory that's had controversy surrounding it even before this decision. And it all centers around a company called Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited, or CATL.
Today, a classic Indicator on the history behind one of the most divisive factory plans in America and the man leading the charge behind the world's transition to electric vehicles.
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How often do you hang out with people in a different socioeconomic bracket than you? And where do you meet and congregate? Economist Maxim Massenkoff, and his co-author Nathan Wilmers, looked at cell phone location data to figure out where people with vastly different incomes commune together. Today on the show, Maxim discusses his research, and Darian and Alexi head to a restaurant to try and witness some of this class mixing in action.
Related Episode: The Secret to Upward Mobility: Friends
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Canadians are in a bit of a pickle when it comes to getting timely news updates through Facebook. The Canadian government passed a law requiring Meta and Google pay media outlets when news content is posted on social media platforms. Meta's reaction, to block all news from its Canadian users, left many citizens and its government frustrated. Today on the show, what are tech companies' public service obligations in an era of declining news outlets?
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Today on the show, we cover this week's top indicators in new work permits for Venezuelan migrants, behind-the-scenes climate meetings and a million-dollar dinosaur skeleton sale.
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Wildfires are becoming more frequent and serious due to human-caused climate change. This is prompting a new industry focused on residential wildfire preparedness. Today, we consider the new technology addressing wildfire risk and the cost of protecting yourself.
Related Episodes:
Gambling, literally, on climate change (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
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The Federal Reserve said today it wasn't raising interest rates, but left the door open to keep hiking later. But there's more to this decision than meets the eye. Today on the show, we use Disney's Ratatouille to explain the Fed's recipe for monetary policy — and take off the chef's hat to reveal the two interest rates that really matter when the Fed is hiking rates.
Related Episodes:
AP Macro gets a makeover (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
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The Beigies roll around once again to recognize the regional Federal Reserve Bank with the best Beige Book entry. This edition's winner put a spotlight on a company increasing their efforts to recruit young people for an important piece of the manufacturing puzzle.
Related Episodes:
The Beigie Awards: China Edition (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
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The coca leaf has been an important part of Andean culture for thousands of years. But when one indigenous woman decided to use the plant in a drink she calls Coca Pola, she awoke a sleeping giant. Today on the show, a small business goes head to head with Coca-Cola over a trademark dispute.
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For this week's Indicators of the Week, Darian is joined by NPR colleagues Jeff Guo and Sydney Lupkin. We get into the latest numbers on child poverty in the U.S. and what it tells us about effective policy intervention. Sydney brings an update on the new covid booster and who's paying for it. And Jeff talks about Taylor Swift...again. He promises it has to do with economics.
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Inflation remains stubbornly high as the Federal Open Markets Committee weighs whether they will raise interest rates again. However, new research suggests that elevated interest rates weren't the primary driver for the decline in inflation. Today, we take a look at the debate surrounding disinflation and what comes next for the Federal Reserve.
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Yesterday we brought you a debate over whether the government should subsidize industries in the name of economic growth and societal benefits. Today on the show, we zero in on the climate industrial policy of the Biden administration, which is funneling billions into experimental projects that promise to remove, capture and store carbon. It's an effort by the U.S. to meet its ambitious climate goals, but it's not without its skeptics.
Related Episodes:
Industrial policy, the debate! (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
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There is a lot of taxpayer money going into propping up industry in the U.S. From semiconductor chip fabrication in Arizona to green hydrogen plants in California. Is this smart policy? Today on the Indicator, our guests debate!
We're joined by Réka Juhász, economist at the University of British Columbia and Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
After the debate, tell us what you thought! Did anything you heard change your mind or make you think differently about industrial policy? Send us a note at [email protected].
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Lately, retailers have been complaining to their investors about thieves coming to their stores and stealing stuff and blaming them for falling profits. It's the biggest part of a well-known industry problem called "shrink," but is this trend as pervasive as stores are making it out to be? Today on the show, retail theft and what stores are doing about it.
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Today on Indicators of the Week: government iPhone restrictions in China that walloped Apple's market value. Plus plans emerge over how the US government plans to negotiate drug prices. Also, a mass exodus of employees from a top dating app that sheds some light on where the whole working from home debate is.
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When refugees arrive in the U.S. the clock starts ticking. They usually have up to 90 days to get a job and become 'self-sufficient'.
Researcher Blair Sackett says that that's simply not enough time for refugees to acclimate to a totally new country and culture and find work. She argues that current policy essentially resettles refugees into poverty.
Today on the show we explore that 90-day policy and potential solutions to help refugees find their financial footing.
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More than 7 million Americans are living with dementia. To take care of this population, family members must often make the difficult choice of giving up work or paying for a costly facility. Today on the show, the rising cost of memory care in an aging population.
Related Episodes:
Who's gonna take care of grandma?
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The Beigies are back, with a twist!
In China, data on the economy is sometimes difficult to come by, so we thought we'd take a leaf out of the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book instead. Today, we bring you some colorful anecdotes about China's economy, on inbound tourism and revenge spending, neither of which is fueling an economic comeback.
Related Episodes:
Boats, bikes and the Beigies (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
Young, 'spoiled and miserable' in China
Two Indicators shaking China's economy
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The jobs report is in! And both the rate of employment AND unemployment went up in August. How does that happen? Plus, how disabled people are doing in the labor market.
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The Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It sees hundreds of billions worth of stuff pass through it every year. But a historic drought is making it a little harder for big cargo ships to get through the fifty-one mile long channel. Today on the show, we look at how this backup presents yet another test for global supply chains.
Related Episode:
Two Indicators: supply chain and solutions (Apple Podcasts / Spotify)
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Every day, A Ze, a young woman in Beijing, would wake up early, do her makeup, and walk to her old work bus stop... and keep going. She'd left her job but couldn't let her parents know.
China's urban youth unemployment rate hit 21% in June, a number way up from pre-pandemic times. But at the same time, factories are crying out for workers.
Today, we talk about China's slowdown in growth, and how it's hit white-collar job openings the hardest, and how China's educated young people are sometimes opting out of work entirely.
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
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