Jacob Goldstein
Jacob Goldstein is an NPR correspondent and co-host of the Planet Money podcast. He is the author of the book Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing.
Goldstein's interest in technology and the changing nature of work has led him to stories on UPS, the Luddites and the history of light. His aversion to paying retail has led him to stories on Costco, Spirit Airlines and index funds.
He also contributed to the Planet Money T-shirt and oil projects, and to an episode of This American Life that asked: What is money? Ira Glass called it "the most stoner question" ever posed on the show.
Before coming to NPR, Goldstein was a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. He has also written for the New York Times Magazine. He has a bachelor's degree in English from Stanford and a master's in journalism from Columbia.
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The creation of the electronic spreadsheet transformed industries. But its effects ran deeper than that. -
One in three American jobs require a license. Today on the show, why those licensing rules hurt the U.S. economy. -
On today's show: Snuggies, printer toner, and a banking road trip. Three stories about what happens when you actually read the fine print. -
Picture an organic farm, with thousands of free-range chickens roaming wide-open land. Now picture it from above, from the vantage of a soaring bald eagle. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet.
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Many developed countries are issuing bonds at negative interest rates. That means people are buying them expecting to get paid back less than they invested. Why then are people buying them?
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In the campaign leading up to the Brexit vote, economist Tim Harford played the role of independent fact checker. Now that it has passed, he's letting out some strong feelings.
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Many of the lines on tax forms like the 1040 seem oddly specific. Some are for farmers, some for divorcees, some for servicemen and women. Behind each of those we can see the process that shapes our tax code. NPR looks at one line — for performing artists — and how it came to be.
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If Greece isn't a good place to do business anymore, then businesses will leave. When solid businesses close up or leave, then Greece becomes even worse for the remaining firms.
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On Sunday, the people of Greece will vote on their country's future. What happens when voters are asked to choose between two options that could send their country down two very different paths?
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Megan McArdle spent years in a doomed relationship. The reason, she says: She fell victim to a common economic fallacy. Our Planet Money team has a love story with an economic idea at its heart.