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Full episode
423: The Invention of Money
Act Two

Weekend At Bernanke's

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Though the name of the Federal Reserve includes the word "federal," it's not actually part of the government. It's an independent institution tasked with something very simple, but very huge: Creating money out of thin air. And during this last financial crisis, the leaders of the Fed did things that they would never have considered doing in the past. Alex Blumberg and David Kestenbaum report on what the Fed usually does, and how, since 2008, it's taken a trip to what amounts to Fed Crazytown. (26 minutes)

By

Alex Blumberg
David Kestenbaum

Song:

“We Do (The Stonecutters' Song)” by The Simpsons

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633: Our Town - Part Two
Dec. 15, 2017

Act Four: Let’s Do the Numbers

One of the things we were excited to investigate when we went to Alabama was to answer the question at the heart of the immigration debate: what does it cost taxpayers when we let in millions of immigrants, documented and undocumented? In Albertville, how much was it? We asked economist Kim Rueben and her colleague Erin Huffer to run the numbers.
599: Seriously?
Oct. 21, 2016

Act Three: Aw, Do We NAFTA?

Ira explains that when Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all seemed to be against free trade agreements, he got genuinely confused.
513: 129 Cars
Dec. 13, 2013

Act Eight

The last day of the month continues and the truism is accurate: some people get great deals because it’s the end of the month and they have to hit their goal.

More by Alex Blumberg

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714: Day at the Beach
Aug. 14, 2020

Act Two: Beach Doctor

Alex Blumberg talks to Shane Dubow about a time decades ago, when Shane went sea kayaking and camping with his friends on the beach in Baja California, Mexico.
605: Kid Logic
Dec. 16, 2016

Act Four: When Small Thoughts Meet Big Brains

Alex Blumberg investigates a little-studied phenomenon: Children who get a mistaken idea in their heads about how something works or what something means, and then don't figure out until well into adulthood that they were wrong.
527: 180 Degrees
June 13, 2014

Act One: Seeing the Forrest For the Little Trees

Alex Blumberg takes us to an American classroom where students are reading a classic, The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest Carter.
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