Planet Money

We have secondary markets for almost everything. If you no longer want that old record or CD, you can sell it to a thrift store, used record store, or on Craigslist or eBay. But what about songs from your iTunes library you no longer want? Today on the show, the story of a company that tried to set up an online marketplace where people can buy and sell old mp3s, and what happened to them. It involves a law from 1976, a phonorecord, and a judge that quotes Star Trek. For more on the legal arguments around selling used digital media: Is It Legal To Sell Your Old MP3s? Update: Is It Legal To Sell Your Old MP3s? Judge Says No.* Lawyer Rick Sander blog. Bill Rosenblatt's blog, "Copyright and Technology."

When Hurricane Sandy struck, it devastated businesses all over New York City. One area hit particularly hard was Coney Island, an iconic New York beach at the tip of South Brooklyn. At the time, we reported on the damage to a family-owned amusement park, Deno's Wonderwheel Amusement Park, home to the Wonder Wheel, bumper cars, and the Spook-A-Rama. We reported that the place was basically doomed. But it turns out, our report was a kind of premature obituary for the business. We return to the amusement park, about 5 months after the storm, and find things shockingly normal. Businesses like Deno's are back and some of them are thriving. On today's show, an economic case study. What brought Coney Island back so quickly?

Note: This podcast was originally published in 2011. With North Korea in the news again this week, we're re-running it today. North Korea relies on charity to feed its starving people. But the country's elites like their luxuries — imported wine, fine china, dancing shoes. To buy those things, they need foreign currency. (North Korean currency is worthless outside of North Korea.) To get foreign currency, they need to sell things to the outside world. But North Korea's industrial base is a disaster, and the country doesn't grow enough food to feed itself. On today's Planet Money, we look at the ways North Korea's leaders have managed to keep foreign currency flowing into the country. Their strategies include manufacturing drugs, counterfeiting U.S. dollars, and selling gigantic statues to foreign leaders. For more at www.npr.org/money.

A few years back, the Kenyan government wanted to encourage exports. So the government said to local businesses: For every $100 of stuff you sell to someone outside Kenya, we'll give you Kenyan shillings worth another $20. A con artist saw an opportunity. He launched a company that exported nonexistent gold for nonexistent dollars, and collected a real government bonus. Then, when he was about to get caught, he started his own bank. That's when the scam really took off. On today's show: How one guy pulled off one of the largest financial scams in Kenyan history, avoided prison, re-branded himself as a man of God, and ran for a seat in parliament.

We're an economics show. We cover the economy. But it's come to our attention that, until now, we've missed one of the biggest stories in our economy: The startling rise in the number of people on federal disability programs. It's the story of 14 million people who don't show up in most of the numbers we look at to understand the economy. These 14 million Americans don't have jobs, but they don't show up in any of the unemployment measures that we use. They receive federal assistance, but are often overlooked in discussions of the social safety net. On today's show: What disability in America says about the state of the American workforce, and about what it means to be poor in America nearly 20 years after we ended welfare as we knew it. For much, much more on disability, see our giant online story and listen to This American Life this weekend (we're doing the whole hour on disability). And we'll have more disability stories next week on All Things Considered. Correction: An earlier version of this episode incorrectly named the Minnesota congressman who at first voted against the legislation that expanded the definition of disability. His name is Tim Penny and not Tim Perry.

We're an economics show. We cover the economy. But it's come to our attention that, until now, we've missed one of the biggest stories in our economy: The startling rise in the number of people on federal disability programs.It's the story of 14 million people who don't show up in most of the numbers we look at to understand the economy. These 14 million Americans don't have jobs, but they don't show up in any of the unemployment measures that we use. They receive federal assistance, but are often overlooked in discussions of the social safety net.On today's show: What disability in America says about the state of the American workforce, and about what it means to be poor in America nearly 20 years after we ended welfare as we knew it.For much, much more on disability, see our giant online story and listen to This American Life this weekend (we're doing the whole hour on disability). And we'll have more disability stories next week on All Things Considered.Music: Alison Moyet's "Invisible" Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App.

We'll be honest: We thought we were through with the crisis in Europe, at least for a while. The continent seemed to be muddling though just fine. So we shut down our hotline to the European Central Bank and boxed up our copies of the Masstrict treaty. But this weekend, we woke up to find we were wrong. Late night foreign minister meetings, lines at the ATMs, protests in the street — it's all back. The crisis has emerged again in an unlikely place. On today's show: Why did the world freak out over the Cyprus bailout? For more about this episode, visit the Planet Money blog.

Sometimes your success depends on how your competitors behave. People judge you not just by your product, but by the product that your rival down the street makes. This is a problem for Lou Caracciolo. He's trying to make high-quality wine, from grapes he grows in New Jersey. But Jersey wine already has a reputation — and fancy isn't it. On today's show: Can New Jersey become the next Napa? For more, see Adam Davidson's latest NYT Magazine column, Bottle Bing. Music: Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify. Download the Planet Money iPhone App.

Despite all the celebration, the Dow Jones industrial average has not hit record highs recently. If you adjust for inflation, the highs just aren't as high as they seem. And even if we do hit a real, inflation-adjusted high in the next few weeks, it won't mean much. The Dow is a seriously flawed stock index, and it's certainly not a good way to measure what's going on in the overall economy. On today's show, we rain on the Dow's parade and explain why a lot of very smart people, hate this index so much. For more on the Dow: The Dow Isn't Really At A Record High (And It Wouldn't Matter If It Were) Dow's 'Record Highs' Misleading Without Including Inflation

On today's show: Three stories about the tricky path from the present to the future. Sales Are Like Drugs. What Happens When A Store Wants Customers To Quit? J.C. Penney's new CEO came in with a bold strategy: No more sales or coupons. It didn't work. Should The U.S. Import More Doctors? "We should think of doctors the same way we think of shirts," an economist says. "If we can get doctors at a lower cost from elsewhere in the world then we could save enormous amounts of money." If A Driverless Car Crashes, Who's Liable? Technology isn't the only hurdle for computer-driven cars. Music: Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle", Pet Shop Boys "Shopping", Paramore's "Now", and The Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow," Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet MoneyiPhone App.

Higher land prices have forced Amish off the farms and into business. There are thousands of Amish run firms out there making everything from plumbing supplies to furniture. But running an Amish business poses unique challenges. Many Amish don't connect to the electrical grid. They don't drive cars. They prize modesty, meaning traditional advertising slogans like "best," "fastest," and "greatest" are out. An Amish company has to be creative about these things. And, the Amish have tricks they can teach the rest of the business world. For one, they have perfected the art of marketing to a niche audience. On today's show, we travel to the The Buckeye Tool Expo in Dalton, Ohio to see how the Amish balance their business interests with their personal beliefs.

The Catholic Church is not a corporation. It's a religion, a cultural force, and a global power. Still, one of the things the new Pope will have to deal with is a classic business mess — a multi-billion dollar conglomerate that has stumbled and is losing money and relevance. On today's show, experts (including a priest with a Harvard MBA) tell us what the church needs to do to turn things around. Music: Faithful Father's Pipe Organ Hymns, & Run DMC's "Down With The King." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App.

If you have good health insurance, you've probably never even seen a full hospital bill. Count yourself lucky. For a giant article in this week's Time, Steve Brill went line by line through a handful of bills from hospitals around the country. On today's show, he tells us about the crazy thicket of high prices and hard-to-decipher codes that he discovered, and we talk about what it means for the price of health care in America.

Two big companies have hatched a plan that could allegedly take money out of the pockets of ordinary Americans. And it's not just any money: it's our beer money. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the biggest brewer in the world, wants to buy Grupo Modelo, the maker of Corona. The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to block the acquisition. On today's show: The story behind the case, and what it says about monopolies, competition and government regulation. Music: Rihanna's "Cheers (Drink to That)" Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr. Download the Planet Money iPhone App.

Will readers pay for digital content? The uberblogger Andrew Sullivan recently struck out on his own. Now he's trying keep his blog afloat by asking readers for money — and hoping that they'll contribute enough to pay for the the blog's five-person staff. On today's show, he tells us how he's doing. Also: We hear from Maura Johnston, a music writer who got fired from The Village Voice and is trying to sell a digital magazine.