The Planet Money team has brought back its free economics course for listeners, launching a new season that travels around the world in search of ideas that could improve how economies work. For more than 15 years, Planet Money has packed its microphones and followed stories across continents to explain how the economy operates in daily life. This year’s episodes continue that tradition, pairing past reporting with new conversations with economists who can unpack the big ideas behind them. Episodes drop every Wednesday through Labor Day in the Planet Money podcast feed.
In Episode 1, the team examines how Australia used a market to allocate scarce water resources to their “best” uses, while also noting that the same market invited speculative profit from water. The program then introduces a New Zealand economist who is also a jazz musician and who helped popularize one of the most influential ideas in modern central banking: inflation targeting. In future installments, listeners will hear about how Norway copes with the paradox of plenty and still monetizes its surplus resources, and about China’s experience of running an economy with an engineer’s mindset and the risks of overbuilding.
As always, Planet Money aims to collect ideas worth borrowing (or avoiding) from around the world. By late August the team hopes to present enough good ideas to fuel conversations with listeners and perhaps even spur discussions with elected representatives. The producers also invite audience participation, asking for ideas and submissions from readers and listeners who want to contribute to the Summer School dialogue.
The program also features anecdotes from contributors; for instance, Timothy, a Taiwan resident, was struck by how simple tax filing can be when a government provides a downloadable program to complete taxes, reportedly taking about 30 minutes. The piece highlights that such streamlined approaches could threaten traditional tax-prep industries while potentially expanding financial inclusion and reducing complexity for households.
In another vignette, Kate writes about informal savings groups known as ROSCAs (Rotating Savings and Credit Associations), noting they exist across West Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. They serve millions who rely on these groups instead of formal banks, a phenomenon that illuminates trust, social capital, and the broader economics of inclusion.
As the series unfolds, listeners can expect episodes that mix historical economic reporting with fresh analysis and practical takeaways that help explain how money moves, how policy ideas take root, and how people around the world cope with economic constraints. The team promises a slow burn toward a set of ideas that could be useful for citizens and their representatives to consider in the months ahead.
