The Indicator from Planet Money

The United States national debt is running at more than $40 trillion dollars. It’s a potential crisis in the making, but President Donald Trump suggested it can all be solved just by inflating the debt away. Today, we dig into the nitty gritty on how and when inflating the national debt could work.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
–Is the federal debt REALLY that bad?
–Over 2,000 episodes in our archive on the NPR App

Connect with The Indicator from Planet Money
–The Indicator newsletter — a weekly roundup of news, ideas and staff picks.
–Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
–Find the Planet Money book
–Find the Planet Money game, Sell Me A Sasquatch, and other merch at the NPR Shop!

Support public media by subscribing to NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Oracle, the multinational tech giant has taken on a lot of loans to build up its AI capacity. But Oracle’s investors are not happy with this piling debt load. We explain why Oracle is such a pivotal player — and potentially weak link — in the AI-fueled economy.

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
–How the bond market is handling AI risk?
–Over 2,000 episodes in our archive on the NPR App

Connect with The Indicator from Planet Money
–The Indicator newsletter — a weekly roundup of news, ideas and staff picks.
–Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
–Find the Planet Money book
–Find the Planet Money game, Sell Me A Sasquatch, and other merch at the NPR Shop!

Support public media by subscribing to NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Is AI coming for our jobs? Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei believes AI could wipe out many white-collar jobs in the next few years. While Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argues AI will reshape existing roles and create even more jobs than we have now. So which future are we really facing: a job-pocalypse or a jobs transformation?

For answers, join The Indicator's Adrian Ma for "Ask An Economist.” This is a virtual event and live Q&A featuring two economists who've studied this issue: Daron Acemoglu, a Nobel Prize-winning professor at MIT, and Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at Stanford and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. We’ll also invite you to ask questions and share your thoughts!

It's Wednesday, October 28th, at 3:00pm ET, noon PT. This is a Zoom event exclusively for NPR+ and other qualifying supporters. For registration and event details, you can listen to this audio message or check out npr.org/askaneconomist. 

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

This week’s indicators: Why is inflation so super (derogatory)? How did Bumble go from dating app doldrums to a stock market sweetheart?; And oh, bother! Could Winnie the Pooh be moving home to England from New York City?

Fact checking by Leyla Doss.

Your Next Listen 
–Retiree benefits bump, credit repayment slump, and a dating app in the dumps
–Over 2,000 episodes in our archive on the NPR App

Connect with The Indicator from Planet Money
–The Indicator newsletter — a weekly roundup of news, ideas and staff picks.
–Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
–Find the Planet Money book
–Find the Planet Money game, Sell Me A Sasquatch, and other merch at the NPR Shop!

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

The 2026 midterm elections are fast approaching, and it’s gearing up to be the most expensive election in American history. So how did we get here, where every election feels more expensive than the last? 

Today on the show, we’re exploring what’s causing the flood of money into our politics. 

Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.

Your Next Listen 
–Bad economics, smart politics
–Over 2,000 episodes in our archive on the NPR App

Connect with The Indicator from Planet Money
–The Indicator newsletter — a weekly roundup of news, ideas and staff picks.
–Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
–Find the Planet Money book
–Find the Planet Money game, Sell Me A Sasquatch, and other merch at the NPR Shop!

Support public media by subscribing to NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy