Economy

Who has the power? Workers or bosses? It changes through the ages, though it's usually the bosses. Today, we look at two key moments when the power of labor shifted, for better and worse, and we ask why then? What does history have to say about labor power right now?

We travel to Sicily, Italy in the year 1347, where the bubonic plague is about to strike. The horror known as the Black Death will remake European society in countless ways, but we'll focus on one silver lining: how economic conditions shifted for workers.

Then we head about 500 years into the future, to an English factory at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, where textile workers take up arms against the machines taking their jobs and show how rapidly labor supply and demand can change. This is the famed tale of the Luddites, now a byword for knee jerk anti-technology, but the true story has nuance and a desperate but rational violent rebellion.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.

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FRONTLINE documentarians Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes spent decades following two working-class families who lost well-paying manufacturing jobs and then struggled to regain their way of life.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks to David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution, about Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance's approach to economic policy.

The Digital Markets Act is a new piece of European legislation aimed at making markets in the digital sector "fairer and more contestable." It's essentially antitrust regulation—rules to ensure that no one company or group of companies makes an area of business uncompetitive. And these rules are making some big companies sweat, not because they're afraid of monetary penalties, but because they could have an effect on antitrust regulations around the world.

Today on the show, we examine the differences between how the EU and the United States handle antitrust and what the Digital Markets Act could mean for big tech's regulatory future.

Related episodes:
EU leads the way on controlling big tech

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If you regularly listen to The Indicator, you know China's economy is not doing great. Over the last few years, indicators like unemployment and local debt are up, and consumption and property sales are down.

There is one big indicator that's been a bellwether for China's economy ... booze. One specific kind: Baijiu.

In today's episode, a quick history on baijiu and how the liquor is a potent symbol for consumer confidence in China.

Related Episodes:
China's weakening economy in two Indicators
The Beigie Awards: China Edition

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NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to economist Claudia Sahm about cooling inflation rates and about the Federal Reserve's strategy in keeping interest rates high.

Traders are using publicly available data to track which lawmakers are reporting big stock market gains. We try to copy them.

4.5 million households in the U.S. have solar panels on their homes. Most of those customers are happy with it - their electricity bills have just about disappeared, and it's great for the planet. But thousands and thousands of people are really disappointed with what they've been sold. Their panels are more expensive than they should be, and they say it is hard to get someone to come fix them when they break.

It turns out this sometimes crummy customer experience is no accident. It ties back to how big, national solar companies built their businesses in the first place. To entice people to install expensive solar panels, companies developed new financing models which cut upfront costs for customers. And they deployed lots and lots of salespeople to grow their businesses. But in the drive to get more households installing solar panels, consumer costs went up and the focus seemed to shift away from making sure those panels actually worked. All of this left some consumers feeling like they've been sold a lie.

On today's episode, we look into how the residential solar business model has turned some people sour on solar. And we'll try to figure out where the industry could go from here.

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

On Indicators of the Week, we cover the numbers in the news that you should know about. This week, we cover an encouraging trend for global wealth, closing Mexico's tariff loophole and the European nation bucking the trend of shorter work weeks.

Related episodes:
Why tariffs are SO back (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Inflation fell in June, as a drop in gasoline prices more than offset the modest monthly rise in rent. This could help clear the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September.