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How does the economy get back on track when it’s off course? In this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, you’ll learn about how the government uses fiscal policy to influence the economy.

PR’s Planet Money is a podcast about the economy for people who think they aren’t interested in economics. Over 10 years and more than 1,000 episodes, the podcast has drawn millions of regular listeners through humor, storytelling and an accessible style.

In the Women in Economics podcast series, we highlight the careers of women on the narrow end of those statistics: those who have become prominent economists in this global profession.

In this podcast, St. Louis Fed economic education officer Mary Suiter talks about the mission to get people of all ages to learn about basic economics and how to handle personal finances. Suiter selects several resources that would be a good starting point for those who want to teach themselves or others about these important subjects.

This episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series describes how the economy moves through phases of the business cycle, and the role the Federal Reserve System plays in smoothing some of the ride's bumps.

Is public transportation a public good? How about national defense? Knowing the characteristics of public goods will help you understand why private firms excel at producing private goods, but they have little incentive to produce public goods. Rather, if society wants public goods, government must produce them. This episode of The Economic Lowdown defines the characteristics of private and public goods and explains why these characteristics help determine who is best positioned to produce each.

Do you know the difference between nominal and real interest rates? If you’re not sure, then it’s time to “get real” about interest rates. In this episode of The Economic Lowdown, you will learn how inflation influences the real return on your deposits, how it impacts borrowers and lenders differently, and why price stability—a responsibility of the Federal Reserve System—is important.

Have you encountered mobile payment systems like mobile credit card readers? Pretty cool—and this kind of innovation can be good for the economy. From micro to macro, in this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, we’ll take a look at economic growth—how innovation and technological progress can make things happen for the economy over time by organizing the factors of production to be, well, more productive.

Prices send signals and provide incentives for buyers and sellers in ways you possibly never thought about. In a market economy, price signals prevent massive shortages and ensure that consumer wants are largely satisfied. In this podcast, hear how price signals from gas prices influence decision-making for both a father of three and a production supervisor for an oil refinery. Do you see price signals influencing decisions in your life?

The Economic Lowdown is a podcast series produced by the Economic Education department of the St. Louis Fed for high school students. The series covers topics in economics, personal finance, banking and monetary policy. The fifth episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series discusses the "ins and outs" of unemployment — how it is defined, how it is measured, and the three types of unemployment — and ends with a game show styled quiz.