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The Economy Explained

Episode 399: Can You Patent A Steak?

Eugene Gagliardi, inventor of Steak-Umm Joshua Marston hide caption

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Joshua Marston

Trade

Episode 399: Can You Patent A Steak?

August 31, 2012 • Hanging out with meat inventors, cutting up chickens, and thinking about patents and innovation.

Episode 399: Can You Patent A Steak?

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Inside America's Most Indebted City

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Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

Radio

Inside America's Most Indebted City

August 31, 2012 • The bizarre tale includes a do-gooder who skipped town, an epically mismanaged incinerator, and possible criminal behavior.

Inside America's Most Indebted City

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Video: It's Not Just A Guy Cutting Chicken. It's A Patent.

NPR

Trade

Video: It's Not Just A Guy Cutting Chicken. It's A Patent.

August 30, 2012 • A meat inventor demonstrates U.S. patent 5,346,711. Invented in a converted garage, now available at a Popeye's near you.

What The Apollo Astronauts Did For Life Insurance

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via collectspace.com

Radio

What The Apollo Astronauts Did For Life Insurance

by Chana Joffe-Walt

August 30, 2012 • Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, he had to solve a more prosaic problem.

What The Apollo Astronauts Did For Life Insurance

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Household Debt : Falling. Slowly.

New York Fed

Housing

Household Debt : Falling. Slowly.

by Jacob Goldstein

August 29, 2012 • Mortgage debt is falling, but still high. Student debt is rising.

What Americans Actually Do All Day Long, In 2 Graphics

Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Planet Money

What Americans Actually Do All Day Long, In 2 Graphics

by Lam Thuy Vo

August 29, 2012 • Working, sleeping, cooking, watching TV. Here's what the average American does on a typical day, down to the second.

Episode 398: Obama, Ryan And Two Dead Economists

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Charles Harrity/AP

Government

Episode 398: Obama, Ryan And Two Dead Economists

August 28, 2012 • On today's show, we talk to Nicholas Wapshott, author of Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics.

Episode 398: Obama, Ryan And Two Dead Economists

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Planet Money

Hayek Would Oppose Tax Cuts Right Now

August 28, 2012 • The economist, often cited as a model by Republicans, also favored universal health care.

Currency

NYT Excerpt: Is The Euro Toast?

August 28, 2012 • Despite its many noble goals, the euro has been, in many ways, disastrous.

A Father Of High-Speed Trading Thinks We Should Slow Down

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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Radio

A Father Of High-Speed Trading Thinks We Should Slow Down

by David Kestenbaum

August 27, 2012 • The race for ever-faster trades has "absolutely no social value," says a billionaire who helped bring computers to financial markets.

A Father Of High-Speed Trading Thinks We Should Slow Down

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Immigration: Who The U.S. Lets In, And Why

Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Jobs

Immigration: Who The U.S. Lets In, And Why

by Lam Thuy Vo

August 27, 2012 • The U.S. mostly lets in family members of people who are already in this country. Other developed countries focus much more on letting in workers.

Episode 397: Why The Hero Of Harrisburg Couldn't Save The City

Former Harrisburg receiver, David Unkovic, in the wilderness. Zoe Chace/NPR hide caption

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Zoe Chace/NPR

Government

Episode 397: Why The Hero Of Harrisburg Couldn't Save The City

August 24, 2012 • The city of Harrisburg, Pa is $1.5 billion in debt. The man who once was in charge of the saving the city explains how it went so wrong and why it's so hard to fix it.

Episode 397: Why The Hero Of Harrisburg Couldn't Save The City

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In The Kitchen With The Inventor Of Steak-Umm

Eugene Gagliardi Joshua Marston hide caption

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Joshua Marston

Trade

In The Kitchen With The Inventor Of Steak-Umm

by Jacob Goldstein

August 24, 2012 • Eugene Gagliardi also invented KFC's popcorn chicken. And he's got some ideas about drumsticks.

In The Kitchen With The Inventor Of Steak-Umm

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American Houses Are Still Much, Much Bigger Than They Used To Be

Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Housing

American Houses Are Still Much, Much Bigger Than They Used To Be

by Lam Thuy Vo

August 23, 2012 • Newly built houses aren't quite as big as those built at the end of the boom. But they're still big.

Why Do Taxpayers Subsidize Farmers' Insurance?

Grandpa Traub — corn former and millionaire. Chana Joffe-Walt/NPR hide caption

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Chana Joffe-Walt/NPR

Radio

Why Do Taxpayers Subsidize Farmers' Insurance?

by Chana Joffe-Walt

August 23, 2012 • Taxpayers spend $7 billion a year to subsidize crop insurance. Economists don't like it. Neither do some farmers.

Why Do Taxpayers Subsidize Farmers' Insurance?

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