appears in the following:

Planet Money's 'The Indicator': How Musk bought Twitter with other people's money

Friday, December 02, 2022

Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, but almost a third of it was in bank loans. He used a leveraged buyout strategy, which means Twitter, not Musk, is on the hook to pay back the loans.

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Cryptocurrency trading platform FTX's collapse spotlights doubt about the industry

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

A look at how the collapse of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges is casting doubt on the decentralized finance model that so many early adopters of crypto embraced.

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Could an equation do a better job at setting a target interest rate than the Fed?

Friday, November 11, 2022

The Federal Reserve meets regularly and sets a target interest rate to keep inflation low and jobs high. But what if an equation could do all the work — and even do a better job?

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The financial industry may use credit card data to identify suspicious gun purchases

Friday, October 21, 2022

Every time you swipe a credit card, you produce data. Now, a new tool could help the financial industry use that data to identify suspicious gun purchases. But will they want to use it?

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When stocks are down, bonds hold steady or go up. So why are bonds down?

Friday, October 14, 2022

The U.S. stock market is down this year. When that happens, bonds typically go up. But right now, both stocks and bonds are down.

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Economists consider the tradeoffs of fighting inflation and killing economic growth

Friday, September 30, 2022

The Federal Reserve has been extremely aggressive in its attempt to bring inflation down by quickly raising interest rates. Some economists continue to wonder whether it's too much too fast.

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Around the world, people are feeling the push and pull of inflation

Friday, September 16, 2022

Argentines are partying hard in Buenos Aires' bustling bars, despite inflation. Across the pond, German companies are switching gears in response to high gas prices, as Russia shuts off its supply.

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The impact of California's environmental regulations ripples across the U.S.

Friday, September 09, 2022

California is home to some of the country's strictest environmental regulations. Those standards can sometimes spread to other states and beyond. It's known as the "California Effect."

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Books We Love: Recommended reading for nonfiction

Sunday, August 28, 2022

NPR's Books We Love includes dozens of recommendations for new books. Today, we hear about "The Last Slave Ship," "The Power Law," and "The Letters of Oscar Hammerstein."

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How Spotify did an IPO on its own terms

Friday, August 26, 2022

Here's an open secret: IPOs, Initial Public Offerings, aren't actually public. Insider investors buy all the shares the night before. Spotify tried to change that.

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People in Britain may have to cut down on their afternoon tea

Friday, July 22, 2022

Food prices in the United Kingdom are going through the roof, and wages are stagnating. Can the next prime minister who will take over for the departing Boris Johnson handle the heat?

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Behind the scenes: How the monthly jobs report is put together

Thursday, July 07, 2022

The monthly jobs report will be released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To help put this critical economic indicator together, hundreds of people work the phones.

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The Fed's mistakes that led to this inflation mess

Friday, June 24, 2022

Inflation has reached levels not seen since 1981. Could the Federal Reserve have acted sooner? One former Fed official points to some human errors he says led to the inflation mess we're in today.

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College enrollment is down, but applications are rolling in at 'elite' schools

Friday, June 10, 2022

Ah, college — the classes, the parties, the debt. Is it still worth it? While most schools have seen enrollment declines during the pandemic, there's been a jump in applications at "elite" schools.

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Russia has blocked 20 million tons of grain from being exported from Ukraine

Friday, June 03, 2022

20 million tons of grain are trapped in Ukraine because of a Russian blockade of its ports. Getting the grain out by rail or truck is proving to be a huge logistical challenge.

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It may be time to look at the I-bond, a savings bond that protects you from inflation

Thursday, May 05, 2022

With inflation over 8.5%, it's perhaps time for a long-ignored investment option to shine: the I-bond. It's a U.S. Treasury savings bond, and its interest payments are linked to inflation.

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China's tech crackdown has disrupted its financial markets

Friday, April 22, 2022

China has enforced strict regulations on its tech platforms over the past year. But this crackdown has sparked such instability in financial markets that the government may be having second thoughts.

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What happens when insurance companies decline to cover losses due to a pandemic?

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Throughout the pandemic, music venues have had to close across the country. Many owners believed their business insurance would help. But, it turns out, their policies weren't designed for COVID-19.

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Environmental laws can be an obstacle in building green energy infrastructure

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Green energy, like wind or solar power, is one solution to fighting climate change. But sometimes it's environmental laws that get in the way of building the infrastructure to produce it.

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The number of people working in nursing homes is down. So who takes care of elders?

Friday, March 11, 2022

There's a crisis in elder care: not enough nurses and nurse aids to provide for the needs of older folks. Some economists believe immigration can help.

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