World Tour 5: Sand heists and property rights in the Caribbean

World Tour 5: Sand heists and property rights in the Caribbean

Imagine a nation where, for the residents, land is for the claiming. You walk down the street, pick out a nice looking plot of land, and just plop down a marker. No rent, no taxes, no deed – just free land. That’s the communal system of property rights that governed a small Caribbean island for over a century. This week on our Summer School World Tour we make port on the small economies of island nations, a great place to explore how different experiments play out. Every small change – the good and the bad – has big consequences. First, the fascinating test case on the island of Barbuda, where the people there have found a way to run things without the usual, formal land rights. Then, we consider the vulnerabilities of small nations as we dig into a mysterious sand heist in Jamaica. A stolen beach – yes, you read that right – and something called “sand forensics” reveal the importance of this seemingly infinite resource and the challenges of protecting public spaces when there’s money to be made. Along the way we found ourselves asking: Does property have to be private? What happens when it’s not? How can you protect scarce resources when they’re part of the vast, public spaces everyone shares? Featured Episodes: * The Island No One Owns (2020) [https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801645818/episode-969-the-island-no-one-owns] * Peak Sand (2018) [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/13/628894815/episode-853-peak-sand] Featured Terms: * Tragedy of the commons * Property rights * Path dependence * Ownership in common Support: * NPR+ (sponsor-free listening & bonus episodes)  [https://n.pr/3HlREPz] * And please click “follow” in your podcast app so you don’t miss an episode.  Read:  * Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD] (Audiobook here [https://open.spotify.com/show/509P7k1QPcwgzOSCqVCDCZ])  * Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter [https://n.pr/3zrFvUB] * Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator] Follow:  * Instagram [https://n.pr/3FqLuws] * TikTok [https://n.pr/3sGZdrq] * YouTube [https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C] * Facebook [https://n.pr/3h92GwS] This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Leyla Doss and engineered by Annlie Huang. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

World Tour 4: How to beat the resource curse in Norway

Let’s call it the luxury of restraint. This is what enabled Norway to avoid the fate of so many other countries when they discovered oil and it changed the mix of their economy overnight. Norway! It’s expensive, wealthy, and abundant in resources. We’re going to compare two of them in particular today: deep reservoirs of oil and icy waters full of salmon. While one resource was heavily in demand, the country had an oversupply of the other. In this episode, we learn how Norway built its wealth by carefully avoiding the pitfalls of discovering oil that have plagued countries in the past and how it creatively created demand for its raw fish abroad. How do you dodge the dreaded resource curse? What clever ways can you benefit from oversupply? And lastly, how do you get rich and stay that way? Featured Episodes: * Norway Has Advice For Libya (2011) [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/08/26/139972557/the-friday-podcast-norways-got-advice-for-libya] * The Salmon Taboo (2015) [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/09/16/440951873/episode-651-the-salmon-taboo] Featured Terms: * Resource curse / Dutch disease / paradox of plenty * Coordination problem * Free-rider problem Support: * NPR+ [https://n.pr/3HlREPz] Read:  * Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD] (Audiobook here [https://open.spotify.com/show/509P7k1QPcwgzOSCqVCDCZ])  * Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter [https://n.pr/3zrFvUB] * Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator] Follow:  * Instagram [https://n.pr/3FqLuws] * TikTok [https://n.pr/3sGZdrq] * YouTube [https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C] * Facebook [https://n.pr/3h92GwS] This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre and edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Cena Loffredo with help from Annlie Huang and Robert Rodriguez. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

World Tour 3: Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria

Let’s head to a small town in Kenya that’s become globally famous for helping economists answer some of the biggest questions facing humanity. In Kenya and Nigeria, economics isn’t just theory, it’s real life. We’ll look at some radical experiments that turned out to be enormously successful. What are the building blocks of health, education and prosperity for all? How does a nation grow rich? What is the most effective way to spend a dollar to fight poverty? We find answers in a town that became the laboratory for new concepts in economic research that netted some researchers the most prestigious prize in economics. Featured Episodes: * How randomized trials and the town of Busia, Kenya changed economics (2023) [https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1181448838/busia-kenya-nobel-prize-randomized-control-trials] * Nigeria, You Win! (2016) [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/05/20/478883658/episode-702-nigeria-you-win] Featured Terms: * Randomized controlled trial * Human capital * Missing middle Support: * Planet Money+ [https://n.pr/3HlREPz] Read:  * Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD] (Audiobook here [https://open.spotify.com/show/509P7k1QPcwgzOSCqVCDCZ])  * Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter [https://n.pr/3zrFvUB] * Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator] Follow:  * Instagram [https://n.pr/3FqLuws] * TikTok [https://n.pr/3sGZdrq] * YouTube [https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C] * Facebook [https://n.pr/3h92GwS] The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. This episode was fact-checked by Leyla Doss, with engineering by Annlie Huang. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

World Tour 2: Building things and breaking things in China

China’s turbocharged growth may have made it rich, but now it has to deal with rich country problems.  High-speed trains that connect every town. Gleaming new bridges and skyscrapers. An apartment (or two) for every family. No country on Earth has seen the kind of economic growth that China has over the last 50 years. China has become the factory to the world, a grand experiment in central government planning mixed with personal ambition.  It was all enabled by what our guide for today calls, an engineering state, a central planning mindset where leaders believe they can engineer their way out of economic problems. And problems are mounting.  Today on the show, the perils of prosperity and the despair of success as China deals with overbuilding.  We’ll travel back to China’s free-wheeling boom-era of the early 2000s and hang out with a property developer who amassed his wealth at the center of the action – private jet rides, thousand-dollar fish soup, casual bribes. Then, as the economy slows, we ask what can we learn from the despair of success. Does rising youth unemployment signal a less prosperous future? With young people struggling to find white-collar jobs, some of them are opting out of work altogether.  Featured Episodes: * China’s real estate crisis, explained (2023)  [https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1197954635/chinas-real-estate-crisis-explained] * Young, “spoiled and miserable” in China (2023)  [https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1196890793/young-spoiled-and-miserable-in-china] Featured Terms:  * Socialism with Chinese Characteristics * Engineering State * Malinvestment Support: * Planet Money+ [https://n.pr/3HlREPz] Read:  * Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD] (Audiobook here [https://open.spotify.com/show/509P7k1QPcwgzOSCqVCDCZ])  * Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter [https://n.pr/3zrFvUB] * Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator] * Dan Wang’s book: Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future [https://danwang.co/breakneck/] Follow:  * Instagram [https://n.pr/3FqLuws] * TikTok [https://n.pr/3sGZdrq] * YouTube [https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C] * Facebook [https://n.pr/3h92GwS] This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Maggie Luthar. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark. Music: NPR Source Audio - "Setting up," "Almost Anywhere," "Malibu Sunsets," "Dust or Smoke," "This New Year Sham." See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

World Tour 1: Finding the world’s best economic ideas

Come along as we travel the world in search of the best economic ideas to bring home! From the beaches of Barbuda to the fjords of Norway, there's money (and money problems) everywhere. For this summer travel season, Planet Money Summer School will take you on a world tour for your ears. Pack that sense of wonder and nose for adventure, this is our semester abroad. We’re going to explore exotic locales and discover cultural norms, but we’re also going to buckle down and learn the biggest economic lessons around the world from our guides. We start as far away as you can get from Planet Money headquarters, New Zealand and Australia. We’ll visit a sheep farm to observe an innovative but controversial market for the most important substance on earth, and we’ll ask when do speculators help and when do they hurt the rest of us? Then, we’ll get to know the economist – and jazz musician – who changed how the entire world fights inflation when he released a secret number to tame the dreaded wild beast. How did that work? Spoiler: it was the great leap forward in economic mind tricks. Featured Episodes: * Liquid Markets (2021) [https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1032979418/liquid-markets] * The Secret Target (2018) [https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/11/30/672366380/episode-879-the-secret-target] Featured Terms: * Multiple equilibria * Inflation targeting * Speculators (impact on liquidity) Support: * Planet Money+ [https://n.pr/3HlREPz] Read:  * Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdD] (Audiobook here [https://open.spotify.com/show/509P7k1QPcwgzOSCqVCDCZ])  * Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter [https://n.pr/3zrFvUB] * Our weekly Indicator link round-up newsletter [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/indicator] Follow:  * Instagram [https://n.pr/3FqLuws] * TikTok [https://n.pr/3sGZdrq] * YouTube [https://lnk.to/iCVDaW3C] * Facebook [https://n.pr/3h92GwS] This episode of Planet Money Summer School is hosted by Robert Smith. It was produced by Sophia Paliza-Carre, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Annlie Huang with help from Robert Rodriguez. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]