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Summer School 3: How government decides what to spend our money on

By Robert Smith,
Eric Mennel, Alex Goldmark, Emily Crawford
Published July 23, 2025 at 1:23 PM EDT
NPR

It's week three of summer school, government edition. So far this semester we've looked at how the government can help make us all richer (or poorer) and how we use taxes to change behavior and show our values. This week — How does the government decide what to do with all the money it collects? Woohoo! Government spending spree!

Although it seems like the government can spend an endless amount of money, it cannot actually do all the things it wants to do. So the big question in this week's lesson is: How do we decide? Why does the government spend so much money on some things and not on others? And honestly, is there any limit?

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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 Sofia Shchukina.

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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
Eric Mennel
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
Emily Crawford
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