For decades, Saudi Arabia's economy has been defined by its abundant oil reserves. Its ability to influence global oil supply propelled Saudi Arabia to one of the richest countries in the world. The Saudi royal family became important players on the world stage. However, waning dominance in the oil market is forcing the Saudi government to think differently about its reliance on the commodity.
Today on the show, we explain Saudi Arabia's fantastical vision for its future and how the government is using its present influence in the oil market to fund it.
WeWork, DraftKings, Lucid Motors. These are a few companies that have taken an untraditional route to go public through something called SPACs or special purpose acquisition companies. The obscure investment vehicle took off during the pandemic, but has since fallen back to earth. Today, we consider the rise and fall of SPACs and how recent rule changes will affect these deals.
There are tons of markets that don't exist because people just don't want to allow a market – for whatever reason, people feel icky about putting a price on something. For example: Surrogacy is a legal industry in parts of the United States, but not in much of the rest of the world. Assisted end-of-life is a legal medical transaction in some states, but is illegal in others.
When we have those knee-jerk reactions and our gut repels us from considering something apparently icky, economics asks us to look a little more closely.
Today on the show, we have three recommendations of things that may feel kinda wrong but economics suggests may actually be the better way. First: Could the matching process of organ donation be more efficient if people could buy and sell organs? Then: Should women seek revenge more often in the workplace? And finally, what if insider trading is actually useful?
This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
The U.S. launched the Paycheck Protection Program in April 2020 to save jobs and businesses from the worst effects of the pandemic. Today on the show, a post-mortem on the controversial program and whether it fulfilled its objective. Also, we hear from one company that voluntarily paid back its PPP loan — with interest — even though it could have qualified for forgiveness.
Although we have dodged the bullet for now, the threat of a recession is always a concern for policy makers. The question is: will we be prepared next time? In this episode, we consider an alternative approach to stabilizing the economy during a recession through automatic monthly cash payments. The hope: faster relief, a reduced racial wealth gap and predictable income. Can it work?
A blockbuster new study finds that America's elite private colleges are systematically giving huge advantages to rich kids over their equally bright, yet less privileged peers.
Over the last century, we've seen a huge improvement in the accuracy of weather forecasts. A new study suggests these better forecasts have tremendous value for our lives and our economy.
Over the last few decades, states and counties across America have liberalized the use of fireworks. It's just one reason why sales of fireworks have exploded.
Like an increasing number of national parks in the United States, Mount Vesuvius has begun rationing access with a quota system. The system has had some problems.
