Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi is a host and reporter for Planet Money, telling stories that creatively explore and explain the workings of the global economy. He's a sucker for a good supply chain mystery — from toilet paper to foster puppies to specialty pastas. He's drawn to tales of unintended consequences, like the time a well-intentioned chemistry professor unwittingly helped unleash a global market for synthetic drugs, or what happened when the U.S. Patent Office started granting patents on human genes. And he's always on the lookout for economic principles at work in unexpected places, like the tactics comedians use to protect their intellectual property (a.k.a. jokes).
The U.S. debt is close to the highest it's ever been as a share of the Gross Domestic Product. Should we be concerned? The Indicator spoke to a debt dove and a debt hawk for their thoughts.
An outbreak of avian flu in dairy cow herds has resurfaced long-simmering tensions between the federal government and raw milk advocates, who downplay concerns that health officials have raised.