The Indicator from Planet Money A little show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening today. It's a quick hit of insight into work, business, the economy, and everything else. Listen weekday afternoons.

Try Planet Money+! a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. You'll also get access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without interruptions. sign up at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

The Indicator from Planet Money

From NPR

A little show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening today. It's a quick hit of insight into work, business, the economy, and everything else. Listen weekday afternoons.

Try Planet Money+! a new way to support the show you love, get a sponsor-free feed of the podcast, *and* get access to bonus content. You'll also get access to The Indicator and Planet Money Summer School, both without interruptions. sign up at plus.npr.org/planetmoney

Most Recent Episodes

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Why Midwest crop farmers are having a logistics problem

It's the most important day of the year for the country ... The Beigie Awards! The Beigie Awards are back to recognize the regional Federal Reserve Bank with the best Beige Book entry. This time, we shine a spotlight on one entry that speaks to a logistics problem affecting farms in the midwest.

Why Midwest crop farmers are having a logistics problem

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597784/1261708020" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Garland Elliott checks on trees in his orchard in West Virginia, which he's closing at the end of the year. Apple growers across the U.S. are having difficulty finding a market for their apples. (Alan Jinich for NPR.) Alan Jinich/For NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Alan Jinich/For NPR

Why the US government is buying more apples than ever before

For the second year in a row, the U.S. government is buying the largest quantity of apples in its history because there are not enough consumers and processors who want to buy them. Today on the show, an abundance of apples and why some apple growers are getting out of the game altogether.

Why the US government is buying more apples than ever before

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597740/1261607160" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Getty Images

Cool, cool, cooling jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% and 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy during October. It's a lower-than-expected jobs number, from a period that saw two significant hurricanes in the southeast and a strike from workers at Boeing. Today on the show, we explain the complexities of calculating the monthly job numbers, and why the Bureau of Labor Statistics can be trusted.

Cool, cool, cooling jobs

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597682/1261485326" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Portrait of American Wong Kim Ark, 1904. He was denied re-entry to the United States in 1895 due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Interim Archives hide caption

toggle caption
Interim Archives

The U.S. once banned Chinese immigrants — and it paid an economic price

In 1880, the Chinese were the biggest group of immigrants in the western U.S. But Sinophobic sentiments crystallized into racist policies and eventually the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The rationale was that banning Chinese laborers would boost job opportunities for U.S.-born workers. Today, an economist explains how the Chinese exclusion laws affected the economies of western states and what it says about our current debate over immigration and jobs.

The U.S. once banned Chinese immigrants — and it paid an economic price

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597550/1261418227" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
PAT SULLIVAN/AP

What's missing in the immigration debate

Immigration is a top concern among U.S. voters this election cycle. But Zeke Hernandez, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies immigration,thinks politicians and the media aren't giving the public the full story. Too often, he argues, they paint immigrants as objects of pity or fear, when the reality is much more complex — and positive. Today on the show, we look beyond the binary and explore the less talked about ways documented and undocumented immigrants shape the U.S. economy.

What's missing in the immigration debate

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597499/1261364431" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

Social Security has thus far been self-sustaining—payroll taxes go into this big fund, which then pays out monthly checks. But the problem we have now is the money coming into that fund is not keeping up with the money going out.

What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597322/1261302496" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Getty Images

What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn't a bond?

The Maldives is a small island nation struggling with a heavy debt load. Its borrowing includes $500 million worth of something called sukuk. These are bond-like investments that don't pay interest, to be in line with Islamic law. Today on the show, we explain how sukuk works, how it fits into the larger world of Islamic finance and what might happen if the Maldives can't pay back its debt.

What looks like a bond and acts like a bond but isn't a bond?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597308/1261217879" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kaitlin Brito for NPR

An economist answers your questions on love

We ask economists for their expertise all the time on The Indicator, so why not their tips on love? On our final installment of Love Week, we ask economist Tim Harford to answer listeners' relationship quandaries, from paying for a first date to alternatives to saying, 'I love you.'

An economist answers your questions on love

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597247/1261088816" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kaitlin Brito for NPR

Trying to fix the dating app backlash

Unanswered messages. Endless swiping. An opaque algorithm. The backlash to online dating feels like it's reached a fever pitch recently. For today's Love Week episode, why people are unhappy with online dating and what Hinge's CEO is trying to do about it. Also, a Nobel Prize economist delivers a little tough love.

Trying to fix the dating app backlash

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597183/1261035362" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kaitlin Brito for NPR

How American heiresses became Dollar Princesses

In the late 19th century, British aristocrats had a big problem. They were short on cash to fund their lifestyles and maintain their vast country estates. In our third installment of Love Week, we look at the economic forces that drove some British men of the time to marry American heiresses, dubbed "Dollar Princesses," forming a union of money, status and, sometimes, love.

How American heiresses became Dollar Princesses

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1211597140/1260964965" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
or search npr.org