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Planet Money Summer School: Macroeconomics Season 3 of summer school is here asking the biggest economic questions about what makes an entire economy grow or contract. Things like, is there a "right" level of unemployment? Who gains from trade? What rhymes with 'paradox of thrift'? Also, inflation, we'll get to inflation.
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Planet Money Summer School: Macroeconomics

Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

A student discovers macroeconomics in the darkness of the Great Depression. James Yang for NPR hide caption

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James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

It's macro time! Today: Keynes vs. Hayek.

Planet Money Summer School 1: Recessions & Rap Battles

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Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts

What even is "the economy"? And how do you measure it? Our path out of the economic darkness and into the light has been guided in large part by one single statistic: GDP. This week: the origins, history, and problems with the economic indicator to rule them all. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 2: GDP & What Counts

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Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us

Life has its ups and downs. Same for the economy. Today we ask, can the business cycle be tamed? Two stories of recession and techniques for moderating the ferocity of booms and busts. Plus, how bankruptcy is a secret weapon of the American economy. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 3: Booms, Busts & Us

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Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies

Inflation can be one of the scariest forces in the economy. As prices rise and your dollar doesn't go as far, you feel poorer, and it's all out of your control. To better understand inflation, we turn to the story of Brazil, where, in the 90s, hyperinflation threatened to derail the whole economy until the country turned to a group of unlikely heroes: four drinking buddies. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 4: Inflation & Drinking Buddies

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Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market

You can learn a lot about a person from their job. The same can be said of an economy. The market for jobs can us a lot about how the economy is doing, but more importantly, it is where we look to see who the economy is working for, and who is left behind. In today's lesson we'll visit two workplaces each facing a different labor puzzle. At one end, there's the question of when to replace a worker with a robot, and what it is like to be that worker waiting for the robots to come. We'll also visit a farm where raising wages aren't enough to attract the workers needed to do the work. How wages are set, and who gets the raises on this session of Summer School. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 5: Car Parts, Celery & The Labor Market

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Planet Money Summer School 6: Trade & The Better Life
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 6: Trade & The Better Life

International trade is the web of cross-border relationships that binds economies together. Because of trade we have access to cheaper, higher-quality goods, and we get to benefit from other countries' cultures. Economics tells us trade makes society, overall on average, better off, but that doesn't mean everyone wins. Today, the good and bad of trade through the eyes of workers in developing economies who make the things sold around the world. We follow them as they navigate the ever-shifting international trade environment. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 6: Trade & The Better Life

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Planet Money Summer School 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks

The Federal Reserve plays a very important role in the economy. When things start to look uncertain, the central bank is tasked with stepping in to restore people's confidence in the economy. But how do they do it? On today's episode we dive deep on monetary policy and the role of the fed. |At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 7: The Fed & Volcker's Socks

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Planet Money Summer School 8: Productivity & Getting Lit
James Yang for NPR

Planet Money

Planet Money Summer School 8: Productivity & Getting Lit

Productivity is our economic measure for how far our work goes, as individuals and as a society over all. It plays an important role in determining our quality of life, the prices of our goods and services, and, to some extent, the amount of free time we have. Today, we explore how thousands of years of productivity advancements transformed something now so standard that we take it for granted: light. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

Planet Money Summer School 8: Productivity & Getting Lit

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