OIRA — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs — is an obscure, but powerful federal office around the corner from the White House. President Trump has decided that it should get even more powerful.

For the last 45 years, OIRA has overseen most federal agencies by reviewing proposed regulations to make sure they agree with the President's policies and don't conflict with the work of other agencies. But one set of federal agencies has always been exempt from this review process — independent federal agencies like the SEC, FTC, FCC, and Federal Reserve. Until now.

According to a new executive order, those independent agencies are about to get a lot less independent. We take a look at what this change could mean for financial markets...and the future of American democracy.

This episode was produced by James Sneed and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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How do you run a business when a trade war is brewing? As President Trump's tariffs kick in - or are paused or are restarted - businesses around the world are trying to navigate the uncertainty.

And, while trade is this big global thing, it is made up of individual farmers and business owners and truckers and manufacturers. Millions of people all over the world are being forced to reevaluate relationships that they've been building for years.

Canadians have had a head start - Trump announced his plan to tariff Canadian goods on day one in office. So in today's episode: how one Canadian small business is trying to manage the chaos.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis and edited by Sally Helm. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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At the heart of President Trump's tariffs is this idea that we should not be buying more from other countries than they are buying from us. Basically, he wants to get rid of the trade deficit.

And in the wake of the tariff announcement we got a LOT of questions from listeners about what that means. Do trade deficits matter? Is it bad to have a trade deficit? Are we getting ripped off?

Today on the show – we tackle those questions.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Marianne McCune and Kenny Malone. It was fact checked by Sarah McClure and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Ever wondered why you can buy fresh Peruvian blueberries in the dead of winter? The answer, surprisingly, is tied to cocaine. Today on the show, we look at how the War on Drugs led to an American trade policy and a foreign aid initiative that won us blueberries all year round.

And for more on trade and tariffs check out Planet Money's homepage. We've got articles looking at how much the new tariffs will raise prices and shows on everything from diamonds to potatoes to why you bought your couch.

This episode was produced by Sylvie Douglis with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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What are tariffs good for?

For years, mainstream economists have basically said: tariffs are not good. They are an import tax paid by consumers, they've said, and they discourage free trade, and we want more! Because free trade has broadly led to more global economic growth.

But global trade hasn't been all positive for Americans, and in the worldview of President Trump's administration, tariffs can be used to right some of those wrongs. And the U.S. has economic leverage. So if the U.S. wants to level the playing field, it should use that leverage, and use tariffs to accomplish its policy goals.

Today on the show: the case for tariffs. We talk to a lonely economist who's been sounding the alarm for years that more and free-er trade isn't always better. And we speak to economists in President Trump's orbit who make the case for how tariffs can be a potent economic and political tool.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Meg Cramer. It was fact-checked by Sarah McClure and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Earth can sustain life for another 100 million years, but can we? This episode, we partner with Radiolab to take stock of the essential raw materials that enable us to live as we do here on Earth — everything from sand to copper to oil — and tally up how much we have left. Are we living with reckless abandon? And if so, is there even a way to stop? A simultaneously terrifying and delightful conversation about bird poop, daredevil drivers, and some staggering back-of-the-envelope math.

Radiolab's original episode was produced and edited by Pat Walters and Soren Wheeler. Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton. The Planet Money edition of this episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Alex Goldmark and Jess Jiang. Special thanks to Jennifer Brandel.

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The deal seemed too good to be true. There's a website that's been selling top quality diamonds at bizarrely low prices. Prices we couldn't find at any retail outlet. Prices so low, we could buy a diamond on a public radio budget. So we did. What we got in the mail was a tiny ziploc bag containing a scintillating mystery.

On today's show: the Planet Money Diamond (or whatever this sparkly rock turns out to be). We get it analyzed by the experts at the Gemological Institute of America. We investigate where it came from. And, we dive into the economics of glittery stones. Was this a new kind of internet scam? Some supply chain anomaly? Or is something just really weird going on in the world of diamonds?

This episode was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Keith Romer with help from Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Emma Peaslee, and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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There's one statistic that rules them all when it comes to keeping track of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP). It's the sum of all final transactions, so all the goods or services bought and sold, in an economy. GDP tells us how hot the economy is running, or how cool — like if we might be heading into a recession. And it's an important tool to compare countries, policies, and politicians. It's used by the U.S. government to allocate money and by businesses to make decisions about the future.

For close to a century the building blocks of GDP have been the same. Now Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has proposed a big change: taking government spending out of GDP.

On today's show, can the U.S. change how it measures GDP? We talk with a former head of the BEA — about what he thinks they're likely to do now, and about the pressure he faced while trying to compile GDP for nearly two decades. Turns out, people have always been trying to bend it to make whatever grand project they're working on look better.

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Note: This original episode ran in 2020.

Walter Schramm did everything right as an investor — at least according to the philosophy of Warren Buffett. So how come he lost a small fortune?

In this episode, we look into an obscure government program that slurps up forgotten money. We hunt for money we might have left vulnerable and we try to figure out how it got there in the first place so we can tell you where to find the money you've misplaced too.

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Tupperware is the stealthy star of our modern homes. These plastic storage containers are ubiquitous in our fridges, pantries, and closets. But the original product was revolutionary. So was its breakthrough sales strategy: the Tupperware Party.

Led in part by a charismatic housewife turned business innovator, Tupperware pioneered more than the party. Brownie Wise, and the company she came to represent, are behind a core sales technique that we might now recognize as influencer marketing.

The company was so successful at its peak, it reached almost cult status. But it didn't last.

On our latest episode: Tupperware's success and the company's demise. And how its descendants — in products, and in sales strategies — lived on.

This episode is in partnership with Decoder Ring. For even more on the legacy of Tupperware, listen to their full episode.

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If you cut every single federal job President Donald Trump wants to cut, how much money would that save?

A president has tried to massively shrink the size of the federal government before. It was in the 90s, under a Democrat.

Today on the show: Where they found waste the last time we really looked. (Hint: it wasn't jobs.) And why the pace of firings under Trump might start to slow down.

For more:
- Lessons for the Future of Government Reform
- Is government too big? Reflections on the size and composition of today's federal government
- Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. We had fact-checking help from Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. Special thanks to Ben Zipperer.

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Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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