When Chicago pawned its parking meters
Episode
30 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Fundraising & VC, Sales & Revenue
AI-Generated Summary
What It Covers
Chicago's disastrous 2008 decision to privatize parking meters for 75 years, selling future revenue worth $2.1 billion for only $1.16 billion during financial crisis.
Notable Moment
Alderman Scott Waguespack discovers secret documents about the deal in trash bags behind a city building, revealing the parking system had been partially sold to Abu Dhabi.
You just read a 3-minute summary of a 27-minute episode.
Get Planet Money summarized like this every Monday — plus up to 2 more podcasts, free.
Pick Your Podcasts — FreeKeep Reading
More from Planet Money
How to beat the resource curse in Norway (Summer School)
Jul 29 · 38 min
The Mel Robbins Podcast
How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence & Never Get Angry or Bothered by Anyone
Jul 16
More from Planet Money
Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School)
Jul 24 · 38 min
Investing for Beginners
AAR57 - What Does Your Perfect Day Cost?
Jul 7
More from Planet Money
We summarize every new episode. Want them in your inbox?
How to beat the resource curse in Norway (Summer School)
Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School)
Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine
New NPR Series: "We Keep Us Safe" from the Embedded podcast
Can World Cup mania grow MLS in the U.S.?
Similar Episodes
Related episodes from other podcasts
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Jul 16
How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence & Never Get Angry or Bothered by Anyone
Investing for Beginners
Jul 7
AAR57 - What Does Your Perfect Day Cost?
Everything Everywhere Daily
Jul 6
Lake Baikal: The Largest Lake on Earth
The Diary of a CEO
Jul 6
UFC Legend Dustin Poirier: I Lost My Mind. I’ll Never Let It Happen Again.
Everything Everywhere Daily
Jun 21
The Smithsonian Institution: The Strange Origin of America’s Greatest Museum
Explore Related Topics
This podcast is featured in Best Finance Podcasts (2026) — ranked and reviewed with AI summaries.
You're clearly into Planet Money.
Every Monday, we deliver AI summaries of the latest episodes from Planet Money and 192+ other podcasts. Free for one show.
Start My Monday DigestNo credit card · Unsubscribe anytime