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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

In a rural pocket of northeastern Louisiana, Meta is building a $30 billion data center called Hyperion. But it’s not being completely financed with Meta’s own money. Today on the show, the opaque system of AI data center financing and why it’s fueling fears of a bubble. 

Related episodes: 
OpenAI’s deals are looking a little frothy 
No AI data centers in my backyard! 
What $10B in data centers actually gets 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. 

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Who's financing Meta's massive AI data center?

President Trump has said he’d try to get more Argentine beef into the U.S. So who would actually do the buying? That’s a general theme with a lot of these trade deals — big numbers but vague details. When China says it’ll buy more soybeans, is it the government or companies that does the buying? When South Korea promises to invest in American shipyards, who’s actually doing that? Today on the show, we dig into two questions from listeners and hear directly from an Argentine butcher. 

Related episodes: 
Why beef prices are so high
How the South is trying to win the EV race 

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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Who’s buying all the beef?

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

On today’s episode: the effects of pay transparency, Meta’s big win, and freaky flies and beef. 

Related episodes: 

Are we entering a new dawn for antitrust enforcement? 

Why beef prices are so high 

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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Pay transparency. The WhatsApp and Instagram decision. Our beef with screwworms.

When people lose their homes to wildfire, hurricanes or flooding, they're eager to rebuild. But scammers are also ready to take advantage. On today’s show, the lucrative business of contractor fraud and advice on how to avoid them. 

Related episodes:
An indicator lost: Big disaster costs 
When insurers can’t get insurance 
Selling safety in the fight against wildfires 

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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How to avoid scammers after a natural disaster

Foreign automakers already have huge assembly plants in the U.S., but lots of parts and materials come from overseas. 

To avoid costly tariffs, they gotta buy American. But … How does one meet those suppliers? How do you build a new relationship with them?

The answer: Speed dating. 

Related episodes:

 The old trade war that brought foreign carmakers to the U.S.

Tariffs: What are they good for?

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 Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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Looking for love in the auto supply chain

The U.S. labor market is stagnant right now, with little hiring and lots of people holding onto their jobs for dear life. In Denmark, there’s a different kind of labor system where it’s easy for employers to hire and fire, but at the same time people have a strong safety net in-between jobs. Today on the show, we learn how “flexicurity” works through the story of a Danish woman who left her job, and we ask how the model could work in the U.S. 

Related episodes:

Why do we live in unusually innovative times?
How Marxism went from philosophy to cudgel
Ozempic's biggest side effect: Turning Denmark into a 'pharmastate'? 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 Tyler Jones. Translation from Jasmine Lolila. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

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How to make switching jobs not terrifying

Ever put in the winning bid for something on an auction site only to realize you significantly overpaid? Yeah, there’s a phrase for that. On today’s show: the winner’s curse.

Richard Thaler’s new book with Alex O. Imas is The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now.

Read Planet Money’s newsletter on the winner’s curse. 

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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Why you overpaid at that online auction

It’s … Indicators of the Week! We look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news and bring them to you.

On today’s episode: The cost of living is outstripping wage growth for most of us, the math behind the Trump administration’s proposed 50-year mortgages, and how we’re just giving Uber and Lyft free money. 

Related episodes: 

Trump's plans for the housing market 

The Money Illusion: Have Americans really gotten a raise? 

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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50-year mortgages, falling real wages, and doing your rideshare due diligence

The U.S. is committed to bailing out Argentina to the tune of $20 billion using a little known mechanism called the Exchange Stabilization Fund. On today’s show, what is this fund, why was it created and does Argentina have any hope of paying it back? 

Related episodes: 
Dollarizing Argentina 

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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Where the US got $20B to bail out Argentina

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon rule on President Trump’s favorite tariff law. It could render them moot, but that doesn’t mean the end of tariffs. On today’s show, we explain the president’s back-up options for imposing tariffs.

Related episodes: 
Are Trump’s tariffs legal? 
Worst. Tariffs. Ever. 
Three ways companies are getting around 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 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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Trump's backup options for tariffs

France has one of the most generous pension systems in the world. But several governments there have collapsed over questions about how the government will fund it. All over the world, aging populations are forcing governments to rethink their assumptions. 

Today on the show, what France’s political fiascos teach all of us about the economics of an aging population, and what a retirement expert’s ideal retirement system might look like.

Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025

Related episodes: 

What would it take to fix retirement? 

What does the next era of Social Security look like? 

When Retirement Advice Goes Viral 

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 the French pensions débâcle is a warning to us all

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