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A bite-sized show about big ideas. From the people who make Planet Money, The Indicator helps you make sense of what's happening in today's economy. It's a quick hit of insight into money, work, and business. Monday through Friday, in 10 minutes or less.

The Indicator from Planet Money

2025 was a wild year for the U.S. economy. Tariffs transformed the global economy, consumer sentiment hit near-historic lows, and the stock market hit scary, spooky, blood-curdling new heights! So … which of these economic stories defined the year? 

Our hosts from Planet Money and The Indicator duke it out during our annual … Family Feud!

Tell us who you think has THE indicator of the year by emailing us at indicator@npr.org. Put “Family Feud” in the subject line. 

Related episodes:

The Indicators of this year and next 

This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble 

What would it mean to actually refund the tariffs?

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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Tariffs. Consumer sentiment. Cape Ratio. Pick The Indicator of The Year!

Absent a holiday miracle, premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of this year. This will greatly increase the cost of health insurance for many who rely on the marketplace for their coverage. Today on the show, we are visited by the ghosts of Obamacare past, present and future to learn what’s next for this landmark healthcare legislation.

Related episodes: 
Is Obamacare doomed without extended subsidies?
The hidden costs of healthcare churn
How doctors helped tank universal healthcare

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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The ghosts of Obamacare past, present and future

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made a lot of changes to the federal student loan system. One of those changes put a new cap on the amount of loans students in graduate school can take on. Today on the show, we explain the theory behind this change and how it could impact the broader labor market going forward.

Related episodes: 
The Market For Student Loans
Here's why Black students are defaulting
Student loans are back, U.S. travel is whack, and AI — please, step back

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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Will new loan limits lower the cost of grad school?

Cities like Austin and Atlanta used to top lists of places people moved to looking for relatively affordable places to live. Until, one day, they weren’t that affordable. On today’s show, how a low cost of living is threatened by growth, and how one sunbelt city in Alabama is planning ahead. 

Related episodes: 
Why Americans don’t want to move for jobs anymore 
How to build abundantly 
How big is the US housing shortage? 
The highs and lows of US rents 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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Can American cities grow AND stay affordable?

It’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: Nvidia chips OK’d for China, a sticky frozen Russian asset situation, and a lot of you seem to be stealing from self-checkout. 

Related episodes: The tower of NVIDIA How to get Russia to pay Ukraine Why the U.S. cut China off from advanced chips

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez and Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Nvidia chips for China, frozen Russian funds, and a lot of self-checkout stealing

You may be familiar with the AI-fueled stock market boom. Well, former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath warns it could mirror the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. But worse. She calculates a similar crash could erase $35 trillion in global wealth. Today on the show, what would that mean for the US and global economies? 

Related episodes: 
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble 
Open AI’s deals are looking a little frothy

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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How to make $35 trillion ... disappear

If you want to make Bitcoin, you need powerful computers and a lot of energy. Well, it turns out the same infrastructure needed for Bitcoin mining is pretty valuable in the era of AI. Today on the show, why some miners are starting to throw in the towel on crypto in favor of supporting AI infrastructure. 

Related episodes: 
Whose financing Meta’s massive AI Data Center?
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Bitcoin miners are betting on AI over crypto

Federal Reserve is meeting to make its interest rate decision after the government shutdown delayed key economic data. Today on the show, we talk to the former Vice Chair of the Fed, Lael Brainard, about what she would do with interest rates in this critical yet foggy economic moment.

Related episodes: 
A little doomsday feeling is weighing on the economy
Can ... we still trust the monthly jobs report?

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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How a former Fed vice chair would approach rate cuts

In November, the U.S. stopped production of the humble penny after 232 years in circulation. On today’s show, a former U.S. Mint director shares the fiscal math that doomed the penny, and an artist pay tribute to this American icon. 

View more of Robert Wechsler’s artwork here. 

Related episodes: 
What’s the deal with the platinum coin? 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Corey Bridges. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Take a penny, leave a penny, get rid of the penny

It’s … Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: A big goshDRAM memory problem, a holiday spending mystery, and apartment rental prices … decline?! 

Related episodes: 
The highs and lows of US rents 
Taking the temperature of the US consumer 
We Buy A Lot Of Christmas Trees

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Corey Bridges and Julia Ritchey. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Chips up, rent down, and are people really skimping on holiday gifts?

Businesses are scrambling for ways to minimize the impact of the Trump administration’s global tariff policy. Today on the show, we go over some of the tricks and legal loopholes that companies are employing to get around these sudden import taxes.

Related episodes: 
The legal case for — and against — Trump's tariffs 
The secret tariff-free zone 
You told us how tariffs are affecting you 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Three ways companies are getting around tariffs

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