Ooooooo I'm making the Department of Homeland Security mad with my new research y'all Check out @planetmoney.bsky.social's coverage of my research on the labor market effects of ICE in Trump 2.0 and DHS' response here: www.npr.org/sections/pla...

For decades, economists gave short shrift to the idea of monopsony — a power employers can have to suppress wages. Now a wave of research suggests it’s everywhere, and a new book by @arindube.bsky.social argues it’s key to understanding today’s inequality. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Did you need Planet Money using Weyland-Yutani from the Alien franchise to explain monopsonies? I didn't realize it, but I TOTALLY did. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

This is the content I am here for. Alien science fiction and protecting against evil mega corporations. In case you were wondering, Musk is Burke. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

"Sure, Alien is about an alien. But, on a deeper level, it's the story about the horrors of a cartoonishly evil company with unchecked power. The Weyland-Yutani Corporation is an extreme form of what's known in economics as a monopsony."

This is a fun Planet Money newsletter introduction to The Wage Standard.

Behind the acid blood and jump scares of the Alien franchise is an even more insidious horror: a single employer with unchecked power. How Weyland-Yutani helps explain monopsony — and the rise of inequality on Earth. Featuring @arindube.bsky.social www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Out now: The Planet Money Book. Everywhere you get your books. Also, we're going on tour - get your tix at the link in our bio. 🖼️ : Jackie Lay

“From 2015 to 2024, Austin added 120,000 units to its housing stock—an increase of 30%, more than three times the overall rate of growth in the United States (9%).”

Great to chat today with Greg Rosalsky @elliswonk.bsky.social from NPR's Planet Money about The Wage Standard! www.thewagestandard.com

Really thoughtful and nuanced work from NPR’s Planet Money!

“Many of the places that used to build a lot are starting to look more like the NIMBY strongholds on the coasts.” www.npr.org/sections/pla... By @planetmoney.bsky.social’s @elliswonk.bsky.social

Even the grandson of the Reese's candy guy thinks their candy sucks now lol.

our @planetmoney.bsky.social report from attending a Replication Game -- one economist's proposal for how to help fix science's replication crisis. It was so fun, and so complicated: www.npr.org/2026/02/27/n...

For decades, rising home prices have been an engine for middle-class wealth. Now a growing movement wants to slow — or even reverse — that trend. Are the politics around new housing development inherently stacked against them? www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Supply-side interventions were working to reduce the amount of cocaine being produced for export to the United States. Then the Colombian civil war ended, things started looking up, and the cocaine trade rebounded. Unintended consequences abound in this @elliswonk.bsky.social story for @npr.org

how powerful IS the Fed, actually? www.npr.org/sections/pla... @elliswonk.bsky.social @planetmoney.bsky.social

In the 90s, Congress created a program to improve public housing and economically desegregate poor neighborhoods. The hope was that this would improve opportunities for the people who lived there. But no one knew whether it worked … until now.

This article has a lot of really interesting information about the history of mortgages; I didn't realize the way we handle them in the US is this distinctive and the look at how they affect the housing market was very enlightening.

This article is seriously worth your time reading. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Germany thrived during the first China Shock. But the next one could prove catastrophic. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Hitler's bunker is now just a parking lot. But it's a 'dark tourism' attraction anyway. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

PM's @elliswonk.bsky.social rounds up recent econ papers: -economic history of firewood in America -political spending after school shootings -NIMBYism spreads to the Sunbelt? -economic effects of Native American casinos -longer kindergarten days boost mothers' work hours www.npr.org/sections/pla...

🔑 Is reviving manufacturing the key to local economic development? Today’s installment of @planetmoney.bsky.social addresses this question, ft. commentary from David Card and Enrico Moretti #econsky #policysky

Leaders from both political parties have been working to bring back manufacturing. But American manufacturers say they are struggling to fill the manufacturing jobs we already have. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

It's not just tariffs. The White House is rethinking the central role of the dollar in the global economy.

Why and how Trump's tariffs may be leverage in service of reshaping the global economic order....and whether being the reserve currency is a privilege or a burden: www.npr.org/sections/pla... @elliswonk.bsky.social

"We have not seen in our lifetimes an effort to blow up the international economic order as we know it. So now we're in a world where anything that we used to take for granted — and that certainly includes the international role of the dollar — is suddenly in doubt." www.npr.org/sections/pla...

we've heard so much abt how tariffs are bad. but surely tariffs have been useful EVER, or they wouldn't exist, right? RIGHT? today on @planetmoney.bsky.social, we hear the ways in which tariffs CAN be useful, and how they fit into the Trump administration's worldview www.npr.org/2025/04/02/1...

today's @planetmoney.bsky.social newsletter by @elliswonk.bsky.social is on rising levels of distrust in American institutions, especially with respect to food safety:

The rise and potential fall of independent agencies.

Since taking office, the Trump administration and DOGE have been seeking to unilaterally override the spending plans set by Congress. Can they do that under the U.S. Constitution?

The "China Shock" is revisited, and it raises questions about why economists failed to see the costs of free trade.

The primer on Jevons paradox that you didn't know you needed.

The primer on Jevons paradox that you didn't know you needed. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

An economist's harrowing escape from fire, and her big ideas to rescue California from its insurance doom spiral.

'Houses continue to be valuable investments in these fire-prone communities. Not only that. The economists find that, between 2001 and 2015, the properties that burned down and got rebuilt were actually significantly more valuable within five years of the catastrophe.'

IN: academic papers about skateboarding OUT: capitalism (?) read more from @elliswonk.bsky.social : www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Check out this great writeup in @planetmoney.bsky.social by @elliswonk.bsky.social about our working paper and the types of cognitive biases that might be affecting medical care surrounding various holidays--or really any day www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Proud of this latest piece. It’s part 2. Give em both a read would ya?

The Chinese Exclusion Act is widely considered to be the first significant crackdown on #immigration in American history, writes @elliswonk.bsky.social www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Chinese immigrants sacrificed their lives to create America's first transcontinental railroad. But its completion may have ironically contributed to a populist backlash that led to the first major immigration clampdown in American history. www.npr.org/sections/pla...