As Russia places troops on the Ukrainian border, there's a financial nuclear weapon that Europe and the U.S. can use: ban Russia from the system most banks use to transfer money internationally.

The shortest route to get a ship from Asia to the U.S. is through America's West Coast ports. But given the pileup there, some ships are going the long way through eastern Canada into the Great Lakes.

There's been a storm of debate about an old anti-inflation policy: price controls. So we dust off the history books to see what happened in World War II.

The vinyl record supply chain has always been a little fragile. But can it withstand the economic force that is Adele? She reportedly pressed over 500,000 vinyl records for her new album, 30.

In the Netflix hit series Squid Game, cash-strapped players compete in deadly children's games for money. NPR's podcast, The Indicator, looks at what the show reveals about debt and decision making.

The Beergame App simulates the steps of selling beer from brewer to drinker — revealing a real world problem that can tangle the supply chain.

Here's what a troubled property developer tells us about the Chinese economy.

For decades, China exported better and cheaper stuff. But now China is experiencing a factory worker crunch that could lead to higher prices on exports. It's been a long time coming.

An epic drought and population explosion is draining Lake Mead and the Colorado River, which millions in the Southwestern U.S. rely on.

The plant-based meat industry is growing rapidly, and companies that have traditionally focused on fattening cows with grass, corn, soy and other crops are now trying to take beef out of the equation.

The Senate is set to go on break without raising the debt ceiling, prompting grievances among Washington lawmakers. But the only time in history the debt was paid down, it didn't go quite as planned.

The latest Consumer Price Index showed prices were up 5.4% compared to a year ago. But how exactly does the government track this number?

Demand for homes has increased dramatically this year amidst a labor shortage in the construction industry. So employers are increasing wages and getting creative to entice people into the trades.

The Chehalis Tribe in Washington state has a plan to create jobs and revenue. The problem? A racist law from 1834.

It might be the best product in the world, but that doesn't mean people will try it. What does it take to get consumers to try something new — like toothpaste tablets?

The U.S. just backed calls by South Africa and India to waive intellectual property protection for COVID-19 vaccines, but that may not be enough to ramp up vaccine production.

Skinny jeans dominated the jeans market for nearly two decades. Now they make up about 33% of jeans sales. The Indicator from Planet Money investigates the possible demise of the skinny jean.

Have you ever dreamed of winning a promotion that seems too good to be true? From Planet Money, the podcast The Indicator has the story of a promotion that went terribly wrong for Pepsi.

Many doctors and nurses say they are not receiving enough N95 masks to feel safe. Yet, U.S. companies say they can't sell their federally approved N95 masks to hospitals.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the time the world came together to plug the hole in the ozone layer.