A beautiful bill, Mamdani's market, and stock subscriptions

Daniel Kane (0:01)

N-P-R.

Wailin Wong (0:06)

This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Wayland Wong.

Ricky Mulvey (0:09)

And I'm Ricky Mulvey, and this is The Indicator Quiz. We test your knowledge of topics that we've been covering on the show, and you, dear listener, can play along too.

Wailin Wong (0:19)

Yeah, we're trying to keep your mind sharp in these dog days of summer.

And today we have listener Daniel Kane, who works as a professor and just got back from a little vacation. Welcome to the show, Daniel.

Daniel Kane (0:32)

Thank you.

Wailin Wong (0:32)

You're relaxed, you're tanned, you're ready to do this quiz.

Daniel Kane (0:35)

Yeah. All right.

Ricky Mulvey (0:36)

Well, today you're going to be playing for your choice of NPR merch.

Wailin Wong (0:40)

I actually just went on the website and there's this new line of 90s themed merch that's really exciting. And now we have our own Indicator t-shirts and like a new line of merch that's just for our show and Planet Money. Very exciting. By the way, all available to purchase on shop.mpr.org. And now I think it's time to play.

Ricky Mulvey (1:02)

Coming up after the break.

Wailin Wong (1:08)

It is Indicator Quiz time with our guest, Daniel. And Ricky here is going to be your helping hand if you need a hint.

Daniel Kane (1:14)

Okay.

Ricky Mulvey (1:14)

That's right. You know, you're, let's say, zoom a friend.

Daniel Kane (1:17)

You can zoom me if you need me.

Wailin Wong (1:19)

Yeah. Or like your teaching assistants use a college metaphor. Although I guess the TA doesn't help the professor. The TA helps the professor.

Daniel Kane (1:27)

If you need to ask for advice from your TA, something's probably gone wrong. All right.

Wailin Wong (1:35)

Let's start with an easy question before heading into some of our other quiz segments.

There's a proposal to put President Trump on a new $250 bill. While it's controversial, the show suggests one specific group might find these high-value notes very useful. Who is it? Is it A, travelers looking for more convenient sums of currency to swap on vacation? B, criminals because high denomination bills make it much easier to transport and conceal large sums of money for illicit purposes?

C, the US Treasury because larger notes are printed sparsely compared to other bills, thus keeping inflation worries at bay? Or is it D, nature preservationists because larger notes means fewer $100 bills get printed and you save more trees?

Daniel Kane (2:27)

I remember this. This should be B.

Wailin Wong (2:31)

Excellent work. Now, this new segment is something we're calling Test Your Terms. It is a series of questions on economic terms, people, or organizations that we've covered in our episodes. Are you, Daniel, ready to test your terms? Sure.

If you're a grad, you've been navigating a new world of loan repayments. And if you're a future college student, you're going to face stricter borrowing caps.

What is the specific name of the legislation introduced by the Trump administration that changed borrowing and loan repayments? Is it A, the Fiscal Freedom and Capstone Accord? B, the Student Debt Erasure Initiative? C, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Or D, the Higher Education Enablement Amendment?

Daniel Kane (3:17)

Well, the third one of those is the only bill that I actually recognize. Probably is the right one.

Wailin Wong (3:33)

Your instincts are correct. It is, in fact, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Seemingly, every legislative change falls under that act that we've seen so far.

Daniel Kane (3:43)

Yeah, well, I guess you need to get things through reconciliation, and you can only pass so many bills that way.

Wailin Wong (3:49)

Exactly. All right.

Number two in Test Your Terms. President Trump had recently discussed terminating a trade deal he previously called the fairest ever achieved. It's the USMCA. What does USMCA stand for?

Is it A, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement? B, United States Mutual Commerce Act? C, Universal Standards for Manufacturing and Consumer Affairs? Or D, United Supply Management Customs Alliances?

Daniel Kane (4:22)

All right. This one's A.

Wailin Wong (4:24)

You knew that one right off the dome. It is the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. And President Trump recently chose to decline renewing this agreement, instead opting for an annual review of the agreement for 10 more years.

Daniel, you dominated. Test your terms. Now we're moving on to a segment we call Numerical Nuggets. We test you on numbers featured in episodes. And if you need a hint, you can get two answers wiped off the board. Does that sound okay? Sounds great. All right. We're diving in. On a recent Indicators of the Week episode, we discussed New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani's city-owned markets. He's offering ad discounts on groceries at his proposed grocery stores. How much is that discount? Is it A, fruits and veggies are 100 percent free?