There are Robert Browntons of markets that don't exist because people just don't want to allow a market — for whatever reason, people feel icky about putting a price on something. For example: Surrogacy is a legal industry in parts of the United States, but not in much of the rest of the world. Assisted end-of-life is a legal medical transaction in some states, but is illegal in others.
When we have those knee-jerk reactions and our gut repels us from considering something apparently icky, economics asks us to look a little more closely.
Today on the show, we have three recommendations of things that may feel kinda wrong but economics suggests may actually be the better way. First: Could the matching process of organ donation be more efficient if people could buy and sell organs? Then: should women seek revenge more often in the workplace? And finally, what if insider trading is actually useful?
This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Greg Rosalsky. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and Josh Newell. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Music: Universal Music Production - "Older Heads," "Quiescent Intersection"; Audio Network - "Happy Go Luckies"
2025-05-08 11:08565 view
2025-05-08 10:341286 view
2025-05-08 09:161706 view
2025-05-08 09:062031 view
2025-05-08 08:511506 view
2025-05-08 08:361895 view
Tesla's stock price reached $420 on Wednesday afternoon, which elicited responses from social media
Lauren Graham remembers Matthew Perry being happy in the last year of his life.The Gilmore Girls sta
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A photographer for a newspaper in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, which