The Indicator from Planet Money

Why are flight tickets so expensive right now? Increased oil prices seems like it’d be the obvious answer. That’s mostly right. Airlines used to do some financial magic to help keep airfare down as oil prices increased, a strategy called “fuel hedging.” But they stopped. And now fliers are on the hook for a lot of the difference. 

On today’s show, the lost art of fuel hedging. How it worked, plus why airlines stopped doing it.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
A lot of gas trapped, oil reserves tapped, and Live Nation gets a (tiny) cap
Will Trump’s shipping insurance plan work?

Listener Questions: Airline tickets, grocery pricing and the Fed
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How has Russia’s economy not completely collapsed after four years of war, sanctions and billions in debt? One economist says it is the war that has been propping up Russia's economy, not the other way around. He calls it smertonomika or death economics.

On today’s show, six reasons why Russia’s economy is still chugging along despite burning money by the billions waging war on Ukraine.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
How your favorite fish sticks might be funding Russia's war
Who’s propping up Russian oil?

The economic war against Russia, a year later
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Live from London, it’s Saturday Night? Saturday Night Live made its UK debut over the weekend after a well-hyped promotional campaign. Will this all-American sketch show translate to British audiences? We examine SNL’s multi-million dollar gamble. 

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes: 
Why Paramount went looney tunes for Warner Bros.  

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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It’s Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!). It’s our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. 

On today’s episode: The Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers, Poland becomes a top-twenty economy, and the booming business of … ant smuggling? 

Related episodes: 
A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock 
You Could Always Go To Poland 
The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Iran is using an affordable strategy to even the playing field in the war with the U.S. It’s using drones that cost in the thousands of dollars to combat American missiles that cost several million. Military analysts have already signaled concern about the U.S. producing enough munitions, and this isn’t helping. Today on the show, why the U.S. spends so much on munitions and what it’s learning from Iran. 

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. 

Related episodes:
Are we overpaying for military equipment?
Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war? 
A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock 
Are we overpaying for military equipment?

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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