Planet Money

Iceland — the whole country — has about as many people as Lexington, Kentucky. It also has its own currency, the Krona. So during the boom, Iceland's banks got rich by going abroad — by borrowing and lending in euros to customers around Europe. When the crisis hit, that led to a big problem: Iceland ran out of foreign money.

On today's show: The Planet Money team heads for Iceland with the help of Baldur Hedinsson, our Icelandic intern. We get there just before the big election, when the people will vote to decide whether to pick up the tab for mistakes bankers made before the financial crisis.

Lots of fancy economists write about the economics of illegal drugs. Here's a paper from a Harvard guy. Here's another co-authored by a couple Chicago guys. One thing missing from those papers: Actual drug dealers. So for today's podcast, we run some economic theory by Freeway Rick Ross (pictured), who was one of the biggest crack dealers in LA in the '80s and '90s.

Have we got a deal for you! An entire show about coupons, Groupons, and the economic history of cheapskates. Act now, and we'll give you 40 minutes worth of economic wisdom in just 25 minutes.

Every politician promises to create jobs. On today's Planet Money, we ask: What does that mean?

As you may have heard, it's Fannie and Freddie week on Planet Money. On Tuesday's show, we described the rise and fall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, we try to figure out what comes next. This raises a central question: Should taxpayers be on the hook when people take out mortgages and don't pay them back?

It's Fannie and Freddie week on Planet Money! They're two of the strangest companies in U.S. history — and their bailouts cost taxpayers more than the bailouts of AIG, GM, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs combined. On today's Podcast, we tell the story of the rise and fall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Should NPR receive federal funding? On today's Planet Money, we try to look at the question through the cold, hard lens of economics. We go back to an idea we covered in a podcast last year: public goods. Here's how an expert defined a public good on that show: "...something that we all need that will make our lives better, but the market will not and cannot provide..." Sounds simple enough so far. But as we wade into the details, things start to get murky.

The crisis in Japan is a horrible human tragedy. Is it also an economic disaster? There are big, short-term economic problems. On today's show, a man who works at a major Japanese truck and bus manufacturer describes widespread factory closures and disruptions in the supply of parts. But in the long-term, for all of the suffering, Japan's economy is likely to bounce back from the disaster.

On today's Planet Money, we read the thing you've never read: your credit card agreement. And we pose the question: Does it really have to be so long and complicated? We talk to a lawyer who says yes, it really does have to be so long and complicated. We talk to a consultant whose job is to make it simpler. And we ask 4th graders to read a credit-card agreement and tell us what they think.

(RERUN) We look at the world through the eyes of Matt LeBlanc, an efficiency expert (or lean expert), who runs around with a stopwatch and equations, trying to figure out how to eliminate waste in our economy. He finds it everywhere. LeBlanc says sometimes people love him and thank him. And sometimes not.

In their latest five-year plan, China's leaders set a remarkable goal: Slower economic growth. It's a recognition of problems like environmental damage and rising inequality that have come with rapid growth.

Does more money bring more happiness? Economists have been arguing over the question for decades (and everybody else has been arguing over it forever). Economist Justin Wolfers of the Wharton School, has spent hours poring over happiness surveys from 155 countries across the globe, and he says the data is clear: more money means more happiness. On today's Planet Money, Wolfers talks about his research and explains its implications for public policy.

When Reading, Pennsylvania fell on hard times a few years back, city officials sold off a lake. They raised property taxes and refinanced their debt. But it wasn't enough: The city couldn't get its budget deficit under control. So, halfway through his second term, the mayor decided he couldn't deal with the problem. He threw in the towel and basically asked the state of Pennsylvania to declare Reading a financial disaster area. On today's Planet Money, we visit Reading to find out what happened next.

In Spain, if you don't pay your mortgage, the bank can come after you for everything — your car, your wages, whatever. In many parts of the U.S., it's not like that. If you don't pay your mortgage, the bank can take the house back, but that's it. On today's podcast, we ask: Which system is better?