One Key Thing No One Knows About Obamacare
Tuesday is a big day for Obamacare. The online marketplaces where people can shop for health insurance are supposed to open for business.No one really knows who is going to sign up — not the Obama...
View ArticleWhat A U.S. Default Would Mean For Pensions, China And Social Security
What would happen if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling and the U.S. defaults on its debt later this month? The broad economic implications are unpredictable, but a default could cause huge...
View ArticleI Lent $999.78 To The Federal Government*
Earlier this week, I bought a Treasury bill.Everybody calls Treasury bills T-bills, and they work like this: The government promises to pay holders of T-bills a specific amount on a specific day in the...
View ArticleWhat Happens When You Just Give Money To Poor People?
For more of our reporting on this story, please see our work in The New York Times Magazine and on This American Life.A couple of months ago, we reported on a charity called GiveDirectl
View ArticleWhat's A Bubble?
Robert Shiller was surprised when he got the call telling him he'd won the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics — surprised that he'd won (of course), but also surprised that he was sharing the award with...
View ArticleA Bitcoin Insider On Crime, Congress And Satoshi Nakamoto
For more on what Bitcoin is and how it works, see our story "What Is Bitcoin?"Gavin Andresen is chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation. I first talked with him about Bitcoin, the virtual currency,...
View ArticleWe Found This 20-Year-Old T-Shirt In Kenya. The Internet Found The Original...
We recently published a story about how used clothes that get donated in the U.S. often wind up for sale in markets in Africa.
View ArticleA Bet, Five Metals And The Future Of The Planet
This famous bet — between a biologist and an economist — was over population growth. It started three decades ago, but it helped set the tone for environmental debates that are still happening...
View ArticleThe Birth Of The Minimum Wage In America
In 1895, legislators in New York state decided to improve working conditions in what at the time could be a deadly profession: baking bread."Bakeries are actually extremely dangerous places to work,"...
View ArticleDoes Raising The Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?
President Obama has called for increasing the minimum wage, saying it will help some of the poorest Americans. Opponents argue that a higher minimum wage will lead employers to cut jobs.Figuring out...
View ArticleNew Web Addresses Provide Alternatives To Crowded Domains
Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: On a Friday it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: And I'm Linda Wertheimer. Think of the Internet as a group of...
View ArticleHow One State Convinced Its 'Young Invincibles' To Get Health Insurance
Buying insurance doesn't always feel like it makes economic sense, especially for young healthy people. So why are they still willing to pay? Copyright 2014 NPR.
View ArticleIn 4,000 Years, One Thing Hasn't Changed: It Takes Time To Buy Light
Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: And now, 4,000 years of economic growth in seven minutes. This story comes, of course, from our Planet Money team. David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein bring us the...
View ArticleOn The Internet, A Penny Is Nothing To Sneeze At
Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Our Planet Money team this week is taking a look at the lowly penny. People discard pennies in bowls by cash registers. They walk by them on the street without a...
View ArticleWhy A Pack Of Peanut Butter M&M's Weighs A Tiny Bit Less Than A Regular Pack
The other day I went down to the little shop in the lobby of our building for a snack. I couldn't decide whether I wanted regular M&M's or Peanut Butter M&M's so I bought them both. On the way...
View ArticleVolatility Index Indicates Wall Street Is Bored
An economic indicator commonly called the VIX, volatility index, is also known as the fear index. Whatever you call it, the index is hitting lows not seen since before the financial crisis.
View ArticleWe Found This 20-Year-Old T-Shirt In Kenya. The Internet Found The Original...
We recently published a story about how used clothes that get donated in the U.S. often wind up for sale in markets in Africa.
View ArticleA Bet, Five Metals And The Future Of The Planet
This famous bet — between a biologist and an economist — was over population growth. It started three decades ago, but it helped set the tone for environmental debates that are still happening...
View ArticleThe Birth Of The Minimum Wage In America
In 1895, legislators in New York state decided to improve working conditions in what at the time could be a deadly profession: baking bread."Bakeries are actually extremely dangerous places to work,"...
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