© 2025 WRVO Public Media
NPR News for Central New York
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Summer School 2: How taxes change behavior and the economy

By Robert Smith,
Alex Goldmark, Eric Mennel
Published July 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM EDT
Planet Money Summer School in text, with images of a pencil, palm trees and an inflatable pink flamingo.
NPR
Planet Money Summer School in text, with images of a pencil, palm trees and an inflatable pink flamingo.

We all know the government uses taxes to pay for things. But what about using taxes to control behavior? This week on Summer School, Professor Darrick Hamilton of The New School, helps us explore the true power of the tax code. Can taxes help lift people out of poverty? What about saving the planet?

Featured Episodes:

Featured Terms:

  • Progressive Taxation
  • Marginal Utility
  • Negative Externalities
  • Pigouvian Tax

Get tickets to our August 18th live show and graduation ceremony at The Bell House, in Brooklyn.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Eric Mennel. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Emily Crawford and Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Robert Rodriguez.

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

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Tags
NPR Podcasts
Robert Smith
Robert Smith is a host for NPR's Planet Money where he tells stories about how the global economy is affecting our lives.
See stories by Robert Smith
Alex Goldmark
Alex Goldmark is the senior supervising producer of Planet Money and The Indicator from Planet Money. His reporting has appeared on shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Radiolab, On The Media, APM's Marketplace, and in magazines such as GOOD and Fast Company. Previously, he was a senior producer at WNYC–New York Public Radio where he piloted new programming and helped grow young shows to the point where they now have their own coffee mug pledge gifts. Long ago, he was the executive producer of two shows at Air America Radio, a very short term consultant for the World Bank, a volunteer trying to fight gun violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and also a poor excuse for a bartender in Washington, DC. He lives next to the Brooklyn Bridge and owns an orange velvet couch.
See stories by Alex Goldmark
Eric Mennel