Just about everyone in Argentina is an expert in inflation and whether they like it or not, economic flexibility. Can we learn from them?
Over the years, we at Planet Money have checked in on Argentina as it tried to recover from economic collapse in 2001 and 2002, and as inflation shot up and the country defaulted on its debts. This week on our Summer School World Tour, we fly to Buenos Aires, mapping the moves of their economy through the eyes of people who live there – from tango classes and shoe shopping to a Coldplay concert that sparked a special exchange rate.
We’ll consider the different attempts from the government to staunch inflation and why they’ve led to so many unintended consequences. But the heart of this week’s trip is the resilience of everyday economic actors, regular people. When the value of your currency is so in flux, average people become monetary contortionists just to navigate work, shopping, saving and to keep small businesses afloat. This adaptability becomes a special kind of skill and wisdom. So, we’re harvesting that everyday economic insight for tips on how we can all face uncertainty a little better. And, to appreciate the high costs of volatility.
Featured Episodes:
Featured Terms:
- Volatility
- Inflation expectations
- Capital controls
- Austerity
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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and Schuyler Swenson and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Jimmy Keeley.
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We head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks! Ira Glass takes us behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the young staff – coached by a funny, fun-loving boss just a little older than they are – truly seem to love their jobs.
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(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass walks through a Kansas City Missouri amusement park called Worlds of Fun with Cole Lindbergh, who had a season pass to the park as a little kid, starting working there summers at 14, and then just stayed. Now he’s a full-time, year-round employee, running the games department. It’s possible he does this job better than anyone in the country. (9 minutes)
(00:09:26) Act One: Ira continues with Cole Lindbergh and the teenagers who work for him in the games department at Worlds of Fun. We watch them compete against each other to see who can do the most business. (23 minutes)
(00:32:26) Act Two: We asked for your stories about amusement parks. Three hundred of you
called in, with stories of fear, floating carnies and, um, vomit. (9
minutes)
(00:42:15) Act Three: Jonathan Goldstein returns to Wildwood, New Jersey, where he spent one not-fateful summer when he was sixteen. (13 minutes)
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When workers past retirement age can’t afford to retire — that’s one thing. When they can, and just don’t want to — that’s trickier.
It used to be legal to force people to retire when they hit a certain age. The trend used to be earlier and earlier retirement. Now it’s later and later retirement. And younger workers say it’s impacting their career advancement and their ability to save for their own retirement.
At the same time, older workers are living longer, Social Security and Medicare funding are less secure than ever … and many people want to keep working.
Age in the workplace is a tricky thing to talk about. But today on the show, we’re talking about it. On the latest Planet Money, a law professor who says retirement should be mandatory at age 70. And an economist who says, actually … people should delay retirement even longer.
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This episode was reported by Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Eric Misitzis Mennel, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Jimmy Keeley. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Music: NPR Source Audio: “Don’t Cross The Line,” “Aventure Burlesque,” and “Hollywood.”
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Dr. Abba Zubair discusses how stem cell research aboard the International Space Station is advancing regenerative medicine and what scientists learned from a recently published study. Episode 432
Medicine keeps advancing. Trust is falling behind. This hour, TED speakers explore why the future of healthcare depends not only on innovation, but also on listening, humility and honesty.
Guests include viral immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire and writer James Robinson.
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Imagine a nation where, for the residents, land is for the claiming. You walk down the street, pick out a nice looking plot of land, and just plop down a marker. No rent, no taxes, no deed – just free land. That’s the communal system of property rights that governed a small Caribbean island for over a century.
This week on our Summer School World Tour we make port on the small economies of island nations, a great place to explore how different experiments play out. Every small change – the good and the bad – has big consequences.
First, the fascinating test case on the island of Barbuda, where the people there have found a way to run things without the usual, formal land rights.
Then, we consider the vulnerabilities of small nations as we dig into a mysterious sand heist in Jamaica. A stolen beach – yes, you read that right – and something called “sand forensics” reveal the importance of this seemingly infinite resource and the challenges of protecting public spaces when there’s money to be made.
Along the way we found ourselves asking: Does property have to be private? What happens when it’s not? How can you protect scarce resources when they’re part of the vast, public spaces everyone shares?
Featured Episodes:
Featured Terms:
- Tragedy of the commons
- Property rights
- Path dependence
- Ownership in common
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This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Leyla Doss and engineered by Annlie Huang.
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People dealing with new, glaring, massive changes happening right where they live.
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- Prologue: Rick Cole, a city councilmember in Pasadena, CA, talks to Ira about how he responded to a surprise nighttime military exercise in his neighborhood this June – complete with helicopters, gunfire, and flash bangs. (5 minutes)
- Act One: A doctor trained as a midwife tells the eye-popping story of how she and others came together to save a baby during a birth that suddenly went wrong, in a part of rural Maine where the local labor and delivery unit had closed less than a month before. (26 minutes)
- Act Two: Producer Valerie Kipnis never felt like an insider in the jokes and stories her family told about growing up in the Soviet Union until she saw this year’s Oscar-winning documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin. The film follows the changes unfolding in one school as Russia rolled out a nationwide propaganda push after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Valerie interviewed the young teacher at the center of the documentary and learned things that never made it into the film. (21 minutes)
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Squishy, slimy, fidgety toys are having a moment. But it’s more than just an anxiety-soothing, social-media fueled trend – these toys are reshaping how toys get made.
Today on the show, we have the story of the once-humble squishy dumpling and what it teaches us about how to make a viral hit and how to manufacture it, without getting left holding the bag. Hear it all firsthand from the creator of this trendy toy.
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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Music: NPR Source Audio – “Melty Heart,” “Summer Escape,” and “Twilight Sparkle”
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NASA’s CHAPEA II crew shares what it was like to operate through a simulated two-week communications blackout with Earth, and NASA analog scientist Sarah Whiting explains what researchers are learning for future Mars missions. Episode 431
Writer Anne Lamott has gained a cult following through shockingly honest prose on love, death, faith, writing and more. This hour, her wisdom from a career spanning 21 books and some 40 years.
This episode originally aired April 2024.
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