Planet Money

Adam Davidson takes a road trip to Vegas, via Haiti. When Adam and Chana Joffe-Walt traveled to Haiti recently, they kept hearing about "Magic" — a big clothing trade show in Vegas that the Haitians hoped would be a post-earthquake boon for their apparel industry. So Adam went to Vegas for the show. But Haiti, as it turns out, is only a bit player on the Vegas scene, swamped by the likes of China, Bangladesh and Egypt. And the real star of the show turns out to be Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative. What Haiti (and everybody else) really wants is a sweet trade deal with the U.S.

Greece is scrambling to get its national debt under control. Investors are already nervous. So what would happen if Greece actually defaulted-- if it simply stopped making payments on its bonds? Investors would go beyond nervous. They might even panic. Particularly because Greece isn't alone among European countries when it comes to being heavily indebted. Investors would start demanding higher interest rates on bonds sold by countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal. And then they, in turn, could default. At least, that's what Ken Rogoff, Harvard prof and former chief economist at the IMF, says in today's podcast. His description reminded us of what happened after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt; panic ensued, and a bunch of other big companies fell apart. So if push comes to shove, will Greece be like Bear Stearns — saved from default at the last minute — or like Lehman Brothers?

Last week on This American Life, our own Alex Blumberg had a story about corporate personhood. The idea was actually pitched by Alex's dad, who was pretty upset about the recent Supreme Court ruling that essentially said: "Hey, giant companies are like people. So they get to spend money on political campaigns just like you and me." It was Alex's father's dream that motivated him to the bottom of this issue. He wanted Alex to call up Exxon Mobil and say: "Who do you think you are?" Alex's story went on the radio-- but halfway through the crew over at TAL cut it off. They thought it was too boring. We here at PM felt otherwise. Apparently you did too. We got lots of emails and tweets from listeners asking for the rest of the story. So today, we bring you Alex's full story on corporations as people. We also check back in with his dad.

We meet Yvrose Jean Baptiste, a small-time Haitian wholesaler. Yvrose has a unique business model. She borrows money from a microcredit bank and every two weeks takes a bus to the Dominican Republic border, where she buys a bunch of produce and products to bring back to Port-au-Prince. She then lends out her goods out to various small shop owners and people who sell things on the street. She gives them two weeks to sell everything and then comes back to pick up the money. Yrose says it's been a successful model in the past, but the earthquake has been a big hit to her business. Most of her inventory has been destroyed and now she has to scramble to pay the loan back.

We meet "Mango Man," Jean Maurice Buteau who heads JMB exports in Port-au-Prince. Jean Maurice buys mangoes from rural Haitian farmers and sells them to the US. Unfortunately, between the mango farm and his office near the port, almost half the mangoes get damaged. If Jean Maurice could just get his farmers to put their mangoes in plastic crates, he says he could double his revenue and the farmers' income. We take a look at why a simple idea like plastic crates, is in Haiti, not so simple at all.

We look at the world through the eyes of Matt LeBlanc, an efficiency expert (or lean expert), who runs around with a stopwatch and equations, trying to figure out how to eliminate waste in our economy. He finds it everywhere. LeBlanc says sometimes people love him and thank him. And sometimes not.

Adam and Chana are on the ground in Haiti. And despite the general misery and constant funerals, Adam tells us people there are starting to talk about how to rebuild the country and the economy, maybe in a better way. The world helped rebuild Indonesia after the tsunami, and Rwanda after the genocide. But Haiti's troubles run deep, and have existed for decades.

Economist editor,Tom Standage, says if you want to get a good picture of world history, you should look at spices. In his book, An Edible History of Humanity, Standage writes about how tall tales of carnivorous birds and flying snakes let Arab middleman charge Europeans inflated prices for cinnamon and pepper for years. Standage says it wasn't until an Indian ship went adrift in the Red Sea that the Europeans realized there was an easier route to get all those spices they had been craving.

We hear from Mary Kinsley, a lawyer in Phoenix who works at a legal help-line for people with real estate questions. She says her unit gets around 100 calls a day, almost all from people asking about foreclosure. Mary says that starting last year, the questions changed dramatically. In 2007 and 2008, callers couldn't pay their mortgages but wanted to Mary to help them find a way to keep their houses. Now most callers aren't trying to avoid foreclosure, instead they want Mary to help them bring it on as fast as possible. It's called strategic default, where the borrower owes so much more than the house is worth, that it makes more sense to just give the keys back to the bank.

Fourteen states have adopted medical marijuana laws. We talk to Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron about what happens when drugs move from the black market to the open market. Do they get 100 times cheaper? Or maybe, instead more expensive? Miron talks about the economics of prohibition, and reveals his drug of choice (which is legal) and one he would like to try (which is not).

We bring you a story about a cable television producer from New Jersey, a podcasting libertarian economist, an international pop superstar and the two dead economists who brought them all together. Plus, some really great music.

On today's Planet Money: We take a closer look at proprietary trading, which is under attack by the latest proposal from the Obama administration. The new banking regulations proposed by the president call for a ban on commercial banks engaging in potentially risky trades with their own funds-- or, in some cases, your funds. So we called up MIT Sloan School of Management professor Andrew Lo to shed some light on the murky world of 'prop trading', as the cool kids like to call it.

We debate the merits of the so-called "Cadillac" tax, a proposed tax tax on expensive health insurance plans. Jonathan Gruber, an economist at MIT, is a champion of the tax. He says charging consumers a bit more for pricey plans will make them think twice about rushing off to the emergency room for a swollen knee. Plus, he says it could mean a few extra dollars in your pocket. Gruber reasons that if employers are spending less on benefits, they'll put more money into paychecks. Not everyone agrees with Gruber including today's special guest. He says the tax will only make employers richer and hurt the middle class.

On today's podcast the exciting conclusion of our two-part examination of Denmark's unusual economy, part free-market, part huge welfare state. Denmark's government truly takes care of its people when it comes to things like health care and education. All that cost money though. A recent headline in a Copenhagen newspaper read "Denmark wins highest tax competition." Yes, in 2009 the country had the highest taxes in the world, the most dramatic example being car purchases, which are taxed at 200 percent.

We take you to Denmark, land of bicycles, pigs, Ikea-like furniture and economic indicators that seem too good to be true. Denmark has one of the lowest poverty rates in the world and lowest income disparities. At one point the jobs picture was so good unemployment dropped below 2 percent, something some economists would tell you should be impossible. Despite having the highest taxes in the world, Denmark's economy has grown steadily. Plus, Danes are the happiest people in the world, at least according to one analysis.