Stacey Vanek Smith
Stacey Vanek Smith is the co-host of NPR's The Indicator from Planet Money. She's also a correspondent for Planet Money, where she covers business and economics. In this role, Smith has followed economic stories down the muddy back roads of Oklahoma to buy 100 barrels of oil; she's traveled to Pune, India, to track down the man who pitched the country's dramatic currency devaluation to the prime minister; and she's spoken with a North Korean woman who made a small fortune smuggling artificial sweetener in from China.
Prior to coming to NPR, Smith worked for Marketplace, where she was a correspondent and fill-in host. While there, Smith was part of a collaboration with The New York Times, where she explored the relationship between money and marriage. She was also part of Marketplace's live shows, where she produced a series of pieces on getting her data mined.
Smith is a native of Idaho and grew up working on her parents' cattle ranch. She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and creative writing. She also holds a master's in broadcast journalism from Columbia University.
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During the COVID-19 crisis, almost 7 million Americans have started new businesses. Though an all time record, it's not unusual for such conditions to make people hungry to start their own thing.
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When companies don't want to directly raise prices, they often shrink the size of the product while keeping the same price. This tendency to downsize products has come to be known as shrinkflation.
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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?
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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.
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Several schools have cut women's sports teams during the pandemic, and some of the teams have lawyered up in response. Ultimately, these lawsuits ask the question: how do we measure equality?
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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.
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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.
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Bozeman, Mont., resident Sean Hawksford tried nearly 20 times to buy a house. But a flood of new home buyers from the coasts — who can work remotely — has driven home prices way up and supply down.
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The latest pandemic relief package includes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for small businesses. But for many companies, the money hasn't targeted one of their biggest overheads: rent.
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The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines are being administered. Our Planet Money team delves into the dark web to learn more about the counterfeit vaccines that are being sold around the world.