Bloomberg Benchmark

(Bloomberg) -- Americans now owe a record $1.2 trillion in student loans, and a growing chorus is asking why they should even have to go into debt to get a college degree. Other countries provide free higher education. Could the U.S.? Education reporter Janet Lorin joins Tori, Dan and Aki to discuss.

(Bloomberg) -- How much money do you need to be rich, ultra rich and out-of-your-mind rich? Tori and Aki discuss, along with what growing income inequality means for the U.S. economy. Executive pay reporter Caleb Melby drops by to recount his exchanges with billionaires, including Donald Trump.

(Bloomberg) -- It's been both a depressing month and decade for U.S. manufacturing. But with the economy transitioning to one driven by services, why do economists continue to pay close attention to factory data? Tori, Dan and Aki discuss the role manufacturing still plays in America, with the help of Tori's mom, who's spent four decades in North Carolina's factories.

(Bloomberg) -- It's that time of the year again, when Washington erupts in heated debate over the decision to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. How worried should you really be? Hosts Tori, Dan and Aki discuss with debt historian John Steele Gordon, who also channels his inner Alexander Hamilton to offer advice to contemporary lawmakers.

(Bloomberg) -- Are social skills the last barrier between you, your job and a robotic replacement? Aki, Tori and Dan, with a little help from Siri, explain which jobs are the most resistant to automation. Meantime, Dan is forced to defend his humanity.

(Bloomberg) -- There's one honor that trumps all others in economics, and it's winning the Nobel Prize. Tori catches up with the 2015 winner Angus Deaton, who talks about the 6:10 a.m. phone call congratulating him, the research that earned him the award and how his work ended up on Orange is the New Black.

(Bloomberg) -- Hosts Aki and Tori discuss foreign exchange markets through the lens of a very special event: the Portguese wedding of Bloomberg data editor Catarina Saraiva. Find out why the dollar is strengthening over the euro, and what that dynamic says about their respective economies.

Prices around the globe aren't rising as fast as they need to, a phenomenon that's got economists and central bankers debating how to fix it. But what's so wrong with stagnant prices in the first place? Hosts Aki, Tori and Dan discuss, with help from Carl Riccadonna, chief U.S. economist at Bloomberg Intelligence.

(Bloomberg) -- With Dan on vacation, Tori and Aki take the chance to talk about their generation: the millennials. They push past the stereotypes and fact-check some common assumptions using real data. Listen to find out if millennials are forever scarred by the recession, when they'll start having children, and just how big the consequences of their economic decision-making could be.

(Bloomberg) -- Hosts Tori Stilwell, Aki Ito and Dan Moss talk paychecks. Why have Americans' wages been stagnant for more than six years, when will that change and which industries' workers are in the best position for a raise? The hosts use Labor Department data and a Magic 8 ball to get to the bottom of things.

(Bloomberg) -- When stocks crash in the world's second-largest economy, people pay attention. In this bonus episode, Brookings senior fellow Kenneth Lieberthal joins the team to discuss what's happening in China, where its economy is heading and what Dan discovered while back-to-school shopping for his son.

(Bloomberg) -- Every week, hosts Tori Stilwell, Dan Moss, and Aki Ito bring you a jargon-free dive into the stories that drive the global economy. In this episode, the team enlists Brookings senior fellow Barry Bosworth to discuss productivity. Productivity growth has come to a screeching halt in America, and economists are really worried. So what exactly is productivity? Why should you care? And what does it have to do with Twitter? Listen to find out.

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to episode zero of the Bloomberg Benchmark Podcast! Every week, hosts Tori Stilwell, Dan Moss, and Aki Ito bring you a jargon-free dive into the stories that drive the global economy. In this short episode, Tori and Dan tell you what to expect.