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For many, creating a budget is a dreaded task. But you can do it. These tools will help — and maybe even make it fun.

A report from Glassdoor reveals which industries have the starkest gender pay gaps.

Based on your feedback, we've created new ways to listen to Life Kit. If you never want to miss an episode, subscribe to Life Kit: All Guides. We also divided our guides by subject — health, money and parenting - and more to come in the future — so you can subscribe to only the topics you want to learn about.

Superman could easily take over the world. But there are some good economic reasons why he doesn't.

On eBay right now: A baby T-Rex. The price? $2.95 million.

The first few months of 2019 looked troubling. But now we seem to be on the upswing.

The share of people ages 25 to 54 in the labor force has fallen in the past couple of decades. What happened? Listen to an excerpt from our live event with the Financial Times Alphachat.

New York will soon charge drivers to enter the most crowded parts of the city. Congestion pricing: Does it work? Who's doing it? And is it coming to a city near you?

Taxes have been around forever. But the income tax? In the U.S., it's relatively recent.

There's a gap in career earnings between introverts and extroverts.

The story behind the first six keyboard letters are driven by economics.

The cost of a measles outbreak - to individuals, families, communities, and the country - is high.

Free trade may solve problems for businesses transacting across borders, but it can make life painful for their workers.

Trade makes for peaceful relationships between nations, but gains for consumers and workers aren't spread evenly.

Prices for most agricultural products change with supply and demand. Not maple syrup.

A new round of U.S. tariffs could hit European wine, cheese, aircraft, and escargots.

The U.S. is one of the world's largest economies, but it lags when it comes to happiness: the World Happiness Report ranks America number 19.

Happy Jobs Friday! The economy is still adding jobs, unemployment remains low, and wage growth is fine. It's all good...right?

A recent paper examines the motivations behind Xi Jinping's corruption crackdown and arrives at a surprising answer.

Global demand for hazelnuts is growing, thanks to the popularity of products like Nutella. So it should be a great time to be in the hazelnut business... but there's one big problem.

Allison Schrager is an economist and journalist who visited a number of brothels to examine how we understand and deal with risk.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index is one of the indicators retailers, policy-makers and manufacturers use to gauge the health of the economy. But what is the index, exactly?

On the one hand, you could say the economy's looking rocky; on the other hand you could argue it's in good health. We lay out both sides.

Today, answers to your questions on dry cleaner pricing, and the comparative investment virtues of the housing and stock markets.

Gabriela Saade is a 27-year-old economist in Caracas, Venezuela. Yesterday, she walked us through Venezuela's staggering numbers. Today, we walk a mile in her shoes.

The crisis in Venezuela continues to deepen, with nationwide blackouts hitting the country again this week. Today, we talk to a Caracas-based economist about what's happening in her country.

Spotify recently launched in India, but that path was long and complicated. We take the experience of Spotify and use it as a lens to look at why breaking into India is so difficult.

The latest edition of "Overrated, Underrated" with economist Tyler Cowen.

All shares of stock are not created equal. Stock can come in different classes now: Class A, Class B. Some of this stock comes with superpowers... and some of it comes with almost no power at all.

Venezuelans are starving because there isn't enough food. But the country has so much fertile land, water, and sunshine — shouldn't it be a farmer's paradise?

Your average cup of coffee is getting more expensive — but the price for coffee beans is going down. How can that be?

Should you take out a student loan? Jill Schlesinger, author of "The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money," does the math.

The scandal that dominated the news this week involved parents paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their kids into the right college. But what is a college degree really worth?

A lot of money is pouring into the global diamond industry, but demand for diamonds has been less than lustrous of late. But, at the same time, money has been pouring into the industry. Why? We have on our hands – a four carat mystery.

Economics looks at how we make decisions in a world of scarce resources. What happens when the scarce resource is our attention?

Dollar stores thrived during the economic downturn--opening thousands of locations across the country. They were recession-proof...but are they recovery-proof?

Leaving the EU is unprecedented, but leaving a large trading bloc is not.

The most common jobs for men and the most common jobs for women tend to be different — and this separation has big effects for everyone.

Technology is bringing us closer together, but it's also making the world a more unequal place.

Most states in the U.S. have a sales tax on menstrual products. Some states have repealed this so-called Tampon Tax, on the grounds that it's unfair to women. But the repeals come at a cost.

Trade negotiators from China and the U.S. seem to be closing in on a deal. But it's not clear what the terms will be.

Five things that a lot of people get wrong about the world's second largest economy - and what robots and zombies have to do with it.

"Neoliberalism" has become a loaded term.

Take advantage of Life Kit's other useful guides to help you get it together. Also, please take our survey! It's at npr.org/lifekitsurvey. It'll help make the show even better.

Tomorrow is the day the U.S. hits its debt limit. What happens if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling?

Americans have more consumer debt, and they're also in better financial health. How can that be?

Both video games and television have radically improved in the past two decades. Have they also changed the way Americans spend their time?

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced payday regulations would be delayed. We look at the business of payday loans, and what it's like to get into a debt cycle with payday lenders.

Sadie Alexander was the first African-American to earn a PhD in economics. We think her contributions deserve another look.

Personal finance specialist, author and former trader Jill Schlesinger explains market timing--that is, trying to figure out when to buy and sell stock--and why it's a fool's errand.

Tipping is ingrained in America's retail culture. And there's not much we can do to stop that.

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman told us last year that Super Bowl weekend is one of the most accurate indicators of the health of the housing market for the year ahead. Well, the Patriots won - what happened with housing?

President Trump asked Congress for funds to build an extension of the wall on the border with Mexico. Congress refused, so Trump declared a national emergency. But what does that mean?

Today we answer listener questions about age discrimination; how work hours are counted; and whether the economy is running out of people to take jobs.

The 1937 union agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers union ushered in a period of strength for organized labor. Today, labor is nowhere near as powerful as it used to be. What happened?

An Instagram celebrity and a video game company are battling over who gets to own a dance move once it goes viral.

Economist Lisa Cook examined how race riots, lynchings, and segregation at the turn of the 20th century reduced the number of patents filed by African-Americans.

Small towns in rural areas across America are seeing a regeneration to advance technology, jobs and economic prospects.

The dedicated officers of the epidemic intelligence service are foot soldiers in a relentless battle against infectious disease.

India's government has proposed a plan to pay some of the country's poorest farmers a guaranteed income. What would this mean for the country's economy?

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says inflation isn't a problem right now, and that the short term interest rate, at 2.5 percent, is right where it should be.

Parts of America are in the grip of a cold snap. Others are being drenched by rain. How do we measure the cost of extreme weather conditions? We called a scientist to find out. It turns out storms are getting more and more expensive.

Jobs: Is the economy creating enough of them? Are they paying more than they used to? Do people have the jobs they want? All this and more.

How the once fairly-stable business of public utilities is changing.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the economic impact of the longest shutdown in history.

How the invention of the government bond saved a bunch of mid-level politicians from certain death and became one of the most important pieces of financial technology the world has ever seen.

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland is supposedly an unabashed celebration of globalization. Not this year.

The shutdown is over... for now. Today on the Indicator, we talk to one of the 800,000 formerly-furloughed federal employees about his experience of the shutdown.

An economics experiment that streamlines the application and financial aid process for low-income students.

How the trade war with China is playing out on one peanut farm in Georgia.

The number of hunters in the U.S. is falling, which is bad news for wildlife conservation.

We armed The Indicator's producers with your questions, and they unleashed them on a roomful of economists at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association.

John Clifton "Jack" Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Today we look back at his life and career.

Interest rates are higher, global growth is slowing, and the government is at an impasse. But there are also reasons for near-term optimism about the U.S. economy.

When it came to the female labor force participation rate, America used to lead the world. But we've fallen behind. Today on the show: what happened?

Which economic indicators do we pay too much attention to? Not enough? It's Overrated/Underrated: Economic Indicator edition

If you use credit cards in an intentional way, you can free up some valuable perks. We geek out on strategies to make credit cards work for you.

Don't get caught in a cycle of unnecessary overdraft fees, credit card interest and high-cost loans. A few simple tools can help you hold onto those hard-earned dollars.

Don't let your money disappear into a whirlpool of bank fees, takeout orders, and lattes! In this guide, we show you how to level-up your personal finance skills — from making a spending plan, to tips and strategies for using credit cards to help and not hurt you. We'll learn how to free up more money so you can spend it on, and save it for, the things you value most.

The U.S. partial government shutdown is on track to be the longest in history. Whatever its political consequences, the economic costs to the private sector will increase the longer it lasts.

Today on The Indicator: an update on the trade spat between China and the U.S.

Some signals on the economic dashboard are warning we could be heading for a downturn within a couple of years. Are we ready to fight off a recession?

2018 was one of the most volatile stock market years on record. And the market continues volatile today. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The Fed chair and his two predecessors speak at a big conference about Friday's stellar jobs report, and why, despite what the Phillips Curve might predict, they're not too worried about inflation

The miniseries Stockholm tells the story of a group of friends, one of whom is a frontrunner for the Nobel Prize in economics. But there's a problem: he's dead.

Shows developed by Aaron Sorkin included a lot of economics. We look at free trade in The West Wing, and Glass-Steagall in The Newsroom.

In Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, the lead character is an economist in the CIA, tracking down terrorists by following their money.

Explaining the game theory in the plot of the movie Crazy Rich Asians.

The #MeToo movement transformed the experience of women in the workplace. The strong job market helped some women feel secure enough to come forward... but for others, it still doesn't feel safe to speak up.

The opioid problem has reached into all parts of American life, including the workplace. But the workplace could be key in addressing the problem.

2018 was a rough year for the housing market. We take a look at what happened.

Applications for H-1B work visas fell 16 percent in 2018 from 2017. Does that mean the U.S. could lose its edge in attracting global talent?

Our pals Josh Barro of New York Magazine and Jennifer Doleac from Texas A&M tell us what they're keeping an eye on in 2019.

What are the best indicators for 2019? Some of our best friends tell us what they'll be watching.

Depression severity, Australia's housing market and the minimum wage. You asked: here are some answers.

Cryptocurrency had a rough 2018. The big cryptos lost about 80% of their value. So what happened? Is crypto poised for a comeback or are we talking tulips?

We commemorate some of the darkest and funniest business and economic blackspots of the year.

President Donald Trump has made building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico one of his signature issues. Today, the Indicator looks at the economics of a border wall.

You probably have a dream about something that costs money. You promise yourself you'll save for it — but then, temptation calls. These episodes will help you be more intentional and smart about how you spend your money, so that you have more of it left for your dreams.

There are so many mattress stores in the America, and they always seem to be empty. So how can they afford the real estate? And how do they stay in business?

The U.S. economy looks in fine shape — for now — but even a lot of Americans with jobs still struggle financially. Here are three Indicators to monitor economic insecurity in the U.S.

How one bike-sharing company used behavioral economics to solve one of its most vexing problems.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to exit the European Union has hit a wall. What happens now?

In honor of jobs day, we look at the jobs that used to be high-paying, that are now low-paying. What happened to these jobs? And what can it tell us about the U.S. economy?

For years after the Great Recession, the Federal Reserve kept short term interest rates near zero percent. It began raising rates in 2015 — but did it jump the gun.

What the yellow vest protests in Paris tell us about economic reform in France and the parallels with politics in the U.S.

When the yield curve inverts, people worry that it's a sign we're headed for recession. But its predictive reliability also depends on the way it inverts.

China and the U.S. have been locked in a trade war for most of 2018, but peace may be on the horizon.... at least a partial peace.

NASA has been taking a more hands-off approach to extra-planetary exploration. What will that mean for the economics of space?

From moon missions and space shuttles to public-private partnerships.

Sanctions have become an increasingly common foreign policy tool for the U.S. How effective are they?

Colleges and universities are finding creative ways to make money.

Marilyn Cohen talks bonds, rating agencies and the yield curve, in overrated, underrated.

The stock market has been on a wild ride lately. Today, the Indicator looks at what's going on and whether we should worry for the economy.

We talk turkey with the American Farm Bureau about changes in the price of Thanksgiving Dinner.

The minimum wage is a contentious issue. Some claim it's a job killer. But what does the research show?

Wondering whether we're poised to tip into a recession? The jobs market may point the way.

Are we heading into a recession? The Conference Board's Leading Indicator has ten ways to tell.

Australia hasn't had a recession in 27 years. Good policy? Or just good luck?

The decline in the oil price since the end of October has been stunning in its depth and speed, and follows more than a year of climbing. What changed?

Women pay more than men for many consumer products. Today on the show: Why some economists still think that's a good thing.

The next global economic downturn could be even harder to reverse than the last one.

The 401(k) retirement plan turned 40 this week! Today on the show, we chronicle the rise of the 401(k), the fall of the pension, and talk to the man who started it all.

How one bank gave a whole new meaning to the term "mobile banking"

You may not know it, but companies are silently scoring you... and using that score to figure out how to treat you.

We answer questions from our listeners and issue a couple of mea culpas.

Taxes get a bad reputation, but they were central to the formation of representative government, says financial historian William N. Goetzmann.

Wage growth has (finally) been accelerating, but what else are companies doing to bid for workers?

One of our youngest listeners asked us why Ecuador changed its currency to U.S. dollars, so we found out!

Horror movies are good business. Scary good. They are more likely to be profitable than any other kind of movie. Today on the show, we look at why.

Weekly, biweekly, or every month — which payday makes the most sense?

Municipalities are increasingly going to the bond market to pay their court settlement costs.

We assume that winning the lottery will make us happier. In some ways it does, in others — not so much.

The deficit normally shrinks when the economy is strengthening, but not now.

In just six years, robots could achieve parity with humans in the workplace, with machines working the same number of hours as people.

Warehouse jobs are growing even faster than the rest of the booming labor market. Are they good jobs?

Short sellers get a bad rap. Sometimes with good reason. But overall, they're an inevitable and useful part of a healthy financial system.

A storied American retailer has filed for bankruptcy.

Amazon and Netflix are trying to take on India. But, so far a Hollywood ending, south-Asian style, has eluded them.

Just because marijuana is now legal in Canada doesn't mean the market for it is easily quantifiable.

The Supplemental Poverty Report provides a more accurate and nuanced picture of poverty in America.

Tyler Cowen rates Nobel prizes, blogs, and the importance of weirdness in conversation

Turns out nothing says 'I'm sorry' like cold, hard cash

China is piloting a so-called social credit system, which allots every citizen a certain number of points. If you do the "right thing" you can extra points. If you do the wrong thing, you can lose points and life can get very difficult.

In China, if you don't pay back your loans, you could end up on a blacklist. When you're on it, you can't get a credit card or a plane ticket. Today on the show, we talk with someone on the blacklist.

China has a problem: it's economy grew fast and that led to a trust problem. If someone doesn't pay back a loan, there's no real enforcement. But the solution might cause problems of its own.

The reverse stock split is the Iron Lotus of the financial world. It looks complicated and absurd, and it often doesn't end well.

Today on the Indicator: stolen jobs-day trends ... from our clever jobs-day friends!

The US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement keeps in place the basic NAFTA framework, with a few twists.

General Electric used to be a household name — a pillar of the U.S. economy. Now, it's fighting to survive.

How financial bubbles reflect the particular psychology of the times in which they inflate.

Washington, D.C. is being sued for a billion dollars... for gentrification.

Corn prices are falling, but the price of Fritos in the White House press corps break room is up by 20%. What's going on? Team Indicator is on the case!

Companies are buying back stock from shareholders more than ever. Not everyone thinks that's a good thing.

The U.S. trade war with China escalated this week. The Trump administration might be underestimating how many options the Chinese government has for responding to American tariffs.

The psychological scars wrought by the 2008 financial crisis are taking a long time to heal. We're a lot more cautious, which has serious implications for the economy.

This week in history: Saudi Arabian oil and the creation of Aramco.

Rents in America are leveling off. At last!

Why boom and bust is part and parcel of the emerging economic experience.

We hear a lot about the effects of the financial crisis on the economy and markets, but what about the lasting effects it had on our psyches?

The availability of work — the availability of jobs for people who want a job and even for people who didn't know they want a job — continues expanding.

Clowns and clowning have been suffering from a chronic branding crisis for decades. Can they fix it?

In the midst of a deepening economic crisis, a reporter's dilemma.

Demand for Japanese-grown rice is falling. But prices are still going up.

Why free tuition may make for better politics than economics.

People lie when they're looking for a mate online. Today on the Indicator: the lies we tell online, and how often we tell them.

For more than three decades, it was illegal in Alabama to have your baby delivered by a midwife. But last year the state finally legalized midwifery and now it could lead to serious cost savings.

Martha Gimbel of the Hiring Lab at Indeed answers listener questions about the job market.

Computing and the internet should make us more productive. Or should they?! It's an Indicator mystery.

Cardiff gets the lowdown on NAFTA from Soumaya Keynes of The Economist

The next round of trade barriers with China could include a 25 percent levy on Chinese antiquities. One dealer went to Washington to tell Congress why that tariff could hurt our allies and ourselves.

In 1907, America's financial system ran into trouble. Trust in financial institutions evaporated, and contagion swept through the economy. Then John Pierpont Morgan stepped in.

Most people think the best time to start a business is when you're young, but is it?

Why do men still make 20 percent more than women in the U.S.?

Creative destruction is a fact of economic life that few products can resist. Graphing calculators are a notable exception.

The Venezuelan economy has collapsed. Years of economic mismanagement and a deepening political crisis have led to a recession. Yet there's one indicator that can capture this economic catastrophe.

"The Art of War" by Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, is one of corporate America's favorite books. But John McWhorter, a linguistics professor at Columbia, isn't convinced about its utility.

GDP has been a great indicator, but it may no longer be enough.

Today's summer economics read is "What Would the Great Economists Do?" by Linda Yueh, who is a great economist herself.

Today's summer book recommendation offers a different approach to the modern workplace.

In honor of the last stretch of summer, The Indicator has selected some economic beach reads! Books that will teach you something about economics and also pair well with a pina colada.

Wall Street Journal Chief Economics Commentator Greg Ip explains President Donald Trump's emerging economic strategy.

Today on The Indicator: Cardiff and Stacey go deep into the world of the blockchain... to buy a cartoon cat.

How a single cartoon cat can cost $140K.

People who've been to prison find it hard to get work once they're free. One solution to the problem may be a simple certificate.

Tim Harford is the author of 'Fifty Inventions that Shaped the Modern Economy." We play overrated/underrated, and asked him about inventions, as well as messy desks.

Today on the Indicator: why companies decide to be publicly-traded or privately-owned. It's all about control. And money.

A conversation with Campbell Harvey, whose 1986 thesis first explained how the yield curve could predict the direction of the economy.

What's the best way to price water in a drought, to ensure people get what they need without breaking the bank?

Today on the Indicator: How a small Belgian company wields enormous influence in global finance and diplomacy.

The U.S. has been renegotiating trade deals and putting tariffs on different goods. Meanwhile, other countries are re-negotiating their trade agreements and some deals are leaving U.S. producers out.

Five indicators in five minutes — Let's gooooooooo!

Income inequality in the U.S. has been climbing for a while. Has it also been accompanied by a widening cultural gap between rich and poor?

What happens when a new tariff gets put in place? To really see the action, you have to go to Newark, New Jersey.

The pace of wage growth is one of the best indicators of economic health. But it can be measured with different methods. Each method tells a slightly different story about how the economy is doing.

Russia has had a huge presence in the news lately. But its economy... not so huge. It's smaller than the economy of Texas. Today on the show, we look at what's been holding it back.

The GDP got all sorts of attention today. The U.S. economy grew at a stellar rate of 4.1% in the second quarter. But what does that mean? And will it continue?

Warren Buffett, Mark Twain, and John Maynard Keynes all made enormous investment mistakes at some point in their lives. On today's show, those stories — and the lessons we can all take from them.

The Diamond-Water Paradox poses the question: If we need water to survive and we don't need diamonds, why are diamonds expensive and water cheap?

President Trump broke with tradition by lamenting that rising rates are keeping the dollar strong and the trade deficit wide. But rising rates and a stronger dollar are the results of his own agenda.

The European Commission just slapped Google with a $5 billion fine for abusing its Android monopoly. How did it create the alleged monopoly? By making Android free.

How something that's all around us came to be worth millions of dollars.

Three worrying indicators to keep an eye on — less complicated than the yield curve, but something you can talk about at the water cooler.

It may be too late to avoid a trade war between the U.S. and China, but there might be a simple way to stop the trade wars of the future.

Women invest far less of their paychecks than men do. Sallie Krawcheck spent her career on Wall Street and she says this is a problem we need to solve.

Japan's population is shrinking. It's harder and harder to find qualified people to fill a lot of jobs. Including ninjas.

We respond to your letters, tweets and messages: We talk Iran, yield curve and how to pronounce Hyundai.

Starbucks, Ikea, Vancouver, Scotland: They've all banned plastic straws. The movement is meant to help reduce plastic waste in the ocean. But will it work, or will it backfire?

Banks and other financial institutions have their own banking accounts at the Federal Reserve. Morgan Ricks argues that regular folks should have access to Fed accounts, too.

President Trump recently announced strict economic sanctions in Iran. Today on the show, we talked to a young Iranian man about what it's like to live in the Iranian economy right now.

Every time the yield curve has inverted since 1970, the economy has fallen into recession. It's getting close to inverting now, but it may no longer be the recession predictor it once was.

It's jobs Friday! For a comprehensive mid-year update on the labor market, we ask labor economist Betsey Stevenson ten questions in ten minutes.

A quirk in French labor law makes it especially difficult for a company to lay off its employees. It's a system designed to protect workers, but it also has consequences for the rest of the economy.

Flags: symbol of a country, patriotic rallying cry, and a telling economic indicator. Today on the show, a factory in China that makes American flags, and what it tells us about the modern economy.

The unemployment rate is already below the Federal Reserve's estimate for maximum employment. But former Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin says it may still have further to fall.

Every year, the nation's biggest banks are subjected to stress tests, hypothetical disaster scenarios designed to test their balance sheets. But the stress tests could soon be getting less stressful.

The price of oil continued climbing throughout this year, catching forecasters and consumers by surprise. What happened, and what might make it move in the second half of the year?

June marks the birthday of two of the most famous economists of all time: Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. Whose ideas are most relevant today? Stacey and Cardiff duke it out.

We play overrated/underrated with Sallie Krawcheck, Wall Street C-suite veteran and founder of Ellevest. She talks investing, women on Wall Street, and where to find the best BBQ.

Team Indicator takes on the World Cup. We drink, we cheer, we watch the game and, of course, we bring our economic indicators.

If you pay MoviePass 10 dollars a month, you can go to the movies every day. Great for customers, but hard on a company's bottom line. Today on the show, what's the plan, MoviePass?

The teen summer job is a vaunted tradition...one that is fading. Today's teenagers just aren't working as much as their forebears. And that could have serious implications for America's labor market.

The Death Master File is a list kept by the government. It keeps track of everyone who has died. But what happens when you end up on the list while you're still alive?

Venezuela's economy has collapsed, and the normal economic indicators have gotten so bad they're almost unfathomable. So one economist created an indicator to capture the awful human cost.

The U.S. and China are on track for a trade war. Economists generally say that's a bad idea... but if the U.S. wants to get tough on China, what are some alternatives?

Despite the proliferation of apps like Lyft, TaskRabbit, and Uber, a new government report found no growth in people primarily doing this kind of work. Here's how the "gig economy" is and isn't changing.

The New York Stock Exchange — that bastion of American capitalism — owes its existence to two dozen men, a buttonwood tree, and a coffee shop. Today on The Indicator: the history of Wall Street.

One way to think of President Trump's trade policy is as a sort of soap opera. Today, we catch you up on the latest dramatic twists and also answer a big, looming question: are we in a trade war?

The Congressional Budget Office has a long history of disputes with the White House, including the current administration. But Alice Rivlin — the first-ever director of the CBO — says this time is different.

The marshmallow test is one of the most famous social experiments of all time, but we may be thinking about it all wrong.

Why is one of the busiest blocks in Manhattan littered with empty storefronts? And what does that say about the changing landscape of American retail?

So how much should you have saved for retirement? We wanted to know, so we asked the guy who invented the 401k.

Social Security has traditionally paid for itself, with money leftover. Until this year. Social Security has a funding problem and it's getting bad quickly.

The U.S. economy has been humming along in the last few years, but that momentum can mask the financial fragility of millions of people who are just one emergency away from financial disaster.

Vaccines are expensive and time-consuming to develop and there's no guarantee the investment will ever pay off. This means promising vaccines often sit in laboratory freezers during major epidemics.

The monthly jobs report. Economists watch it, financial markets move on it, but it may not be as accurate as you'd think.

A new study tries to put a dollar amount on free internet services... by looking at how much money it would take for people to give them up.

After six years of preparation, an ambitious new experiment will study the effects of income on the development of infant brains.

Last week, Congress and President Trump passed a bill rolling back regulation put in place by the 2010 Dodd Frank banking reform bill. We look at what changed and what it means.

The earnings call is a peculiar Wall Street ritual, one that's almost designed to be boring. So when something interesting does happen it's news. Today, the lessons of those earnings calls gone rogue.

Recent news has cast a spotlight on a little-known regulatory agency quietly working behind the scenes of our economy. What is FinCEN and why is it so important?

The mortgage interest deduction is popular, but it has numerous distorting effects on the economy – and economists also say that it does exactly the opposite of what people think.

Finance is notorious for being a boys club. Marilyn Cohen has worked in the bond market for 30 years. She talks about what it takes to succeed in her field and why there aren't more women.

Congrats, Class of 2018! Rather than listen to another meandering cliche-riddled commencement speech, let Stacey and Cardiff guide you through young-adult life with advice backed up by research.

Timekeeping software is becoming the standard across the U.S. And it turns out, it can be used to steal workers' wages, a few minutes at a time.

Congress may soon expand work requirements for people who receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But do these work requirements match the reality of work itself?

Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, legal sports betting may be coming to a city near you.

Interest rates are on the rise for the first time in years. What that means for the housing market is far from obvious.

What one embattled smartphone-maker can tell us about China's plan to transform its economy

Assigning a grade to a bottle of wine might seem counterintuitive, or even a little absurd, but wine scores have can have a big impact the people who sell wine — and the people who drink it.

Colleges are seeing fewer and fewer students apply every year. To try and stay solvent and attract students, they're trying all kinds of things, from lazy rivers to M&A.

It's the 100th Indicator! To celebrate, we look to the future... and to alternate futures. The Indicator takes a break from economics to tackle infinity.

The corporate tax cut passed in December was supposed to compel businesses to boost investment. Is it working, or are companies just passing the savings on to their owners?

The LIBOR interest rate was at the center of a huge international scandal back in 2012. Regulators believed it had to replaced. But is that even possible?

It's jobs day! But the unemployment number might not be the most important thing to watch.

Housing markets are hot. But are they bubblicious?

Most people think the best time to start a business is when you're young.

Healthcare is expensive. Transparency in pricing might make it cheaper.

The Federal Reserve has hit its inflation target. Now comes the hard part - staying at two percent.

The homeless population in Los Angeles County has been skyrocketing. A team from USC tried to figure out why.

Almost everyone in California agrees that there's not enough housing in the state. But no one wants building in their backyard.

Water isn't the only shortage California farmers are worried about. There's a labor drought, too.

A spat over tariffs is giving California ports pause.

Los Angeles - it's not what you think.

Concerns about the yield on the 10-year Treasury note going above three percent are overblown.

President Trump's objection to Amazon's deal with the Postal Service is based on dodgy data.

China steals a lot of intellectual property from the U.S. The smartest thing for the U.S. to do in return might be ... nothing.

The way many Americans manage their taxes could be bad for their health.

Most people think you can't get rid of student loans in bankruptcy. Turns out most people are wrong.

The percentage of congressional representatives with a background in computers: THREE

Our show goes old school in this episode and brings you three under-appreciated economic indicators about things that affect us all.

The CBO projects the federal budget deficit could top 800 billion dollars this year... and reach a cool trillion by 2020. So ... what?

Data, the humanities, and the suburbs: Tyler returns for another round of Overrated vs. Underrated

Women still make less than men in the U.S. Exactly how much less is not necessarily a straightforward question.

Chinese tariffs could threaten more than 1.8 million American jobs.

Five interesting facts about our world that you probably didn't know.

Cross-genre musical collaboration used be a small niche in the popular music scene. Today it's verging on domination.

In 1907, America's financial system ran into trouble. Trust in financial institutions evaporated, and contagion swept through the economy. Then John Pierpont Morgan stepped in.

The tariffs China just imposed on 128 American-made items will cost the U.S. about 3 billion dollars a year. That's not much to the nation, but it's a big deal if you make one of the products on the list.

A long-term trend of Americans withdrawing from the workforce due to disability has gone into reverse.

The census is more than a headcount. It determines how federal dollars are spent and how districts are represented in Congress.

Americans spend more on healthcare than people in other high-income countries, and it's not because we use more of it.

From Google Maps to Yelp to Instagram, the internet gives us access to all sorts of services without having to pay a cent. But are they really free?

One of the best gauges of the state of the oil business is a pretty simple one: just count the drilling rigs.

Independent bookstores are experiencing a surprising renaissance.

Trump says we have a trade deficit with Canada. He's right... and he's also wrong.

The debate over tariffs is nothing new. In fact, it's as old as the country itself. A look at how the debate began.

Having disrupted the music business, Spotify is trying the same trick with the stock market.

The man who wrote the book on the collapse of Bear Stearns talks about what happened a decade ago and where we are today.

Bill McBride has been remarkably prescient about the big swings in the U.S. economy. And he's starting to get uneasy.

The justification used by the Trump administration for its steel and aluminum tariffs is riskier for the global trading system than the tariffs themselves.

Team Indicator takes your questions, concerns, and James Bond-related car trivia.

Creative destruction is a fact of economic life that few products can resist. Graphing calculators are a notable exception

Why has the share of women in the labor force been stagnant for almost two decades?

In the red corner: the uncontested retail champion of the world: WalMart. In the blue corner, the behemoth of online sales: Amazon.

What happens when a classical economist finds out the world is much more complicated than he thought?

Cobalt used to be a sideshow on the periodic table. Now it's the main event.

The average American car is now more expensive than it's ever been. And guess what? Sales of new cars are falling.

There's a sweet spot for every oil well in America.

Over the past two decades, prices on average have increased. But certain things have gotten cheaper while others have gotten more expensive, and which is which can tell us a lot.

To understand the Trump administration's approach to trade tariffs, look no further than the humble rubber band.

We have a new Federal Reserve chair. His name is Jerome Powell. Here's what we can expect.

Why productivity could be the most important data point in the economy...and how did KFC manage to run out of chicken?

Today more than two thirds of the guns in America are owned by just 20 percent of gun owners. That's not always good for gunmakers.

Imagine being able to work fewer hours during a difficult time in your life, without having to quit your job or interrupt your career. In Germany, for many workers, that's now a reality.

Our guest, Tyler Cowen, has smart insights into a ridiculously wide range of subjects. Our conversation is a lightning round that touches everything from Afrofuturist flicks to the mouth-numbing qualities of the Sichuan peppercorn.

Russia spent 73 million Rubles a month to influence an American election. But what did they get for their money?