Planet Money

Podbit · Planet Money

It’s my tree. Why can’t I cut it down?

Explore episode Jun 12, 2026

Where this was said

The Secret Clear-Cut: 16 Acres Gone Overnight

At 10:10 · chapter starts 10:00

The smooth functioning of Canton's tree ordinance hits a wall in spring 2018, when a neighbor tips off the township that something has happened on the edge of town. Officials arrive to find nothing but mud and tree stumps: about 16 acres of woods have been clear-cut, more than 1,500 trees gone without a single permit. The property owners are local businessmen — a sign-company owner and two trucking-company operators — who, according to Ann Marie Graham Hudak, knew the rules. The township tells them to pay up: at a couple hundred dollars per tree, the remediation fee totals around $500,000. The response is swift and combative. 'They hung up and called a lawyer,' Hudak recalls. The lawsuits that follow quickly attract national attention from property-rights advocates who had been waiting for exactly this kind of test case.

Similar podbits

Government
The AI Race to Govern Itself: Multi-Stakeholder or Bust

Using AI to Increase Your Intelligence & Enrich Humanity | … · Aug 10, 2026 Government

Fei-Fei Li went back to Stanford from Google in 2018 specifically to build a multi-stakeholder governance framework for AI. Her argument: market forces are not societal norms. Just as biology uses IRBs and cars have safety laws, AI needs layered oversight from educators, governments, and the public — not just a few industry titans.

Government
Surveillance vs. Privacy: The Fulcrum We Need to Find

The Surveillance Economy, and How Capitalism Can Fix Poverty · Aug 10, 2026 Government

Mass surveillance is here to stay. The real battle isn't stopping cameras — it's ensuring judges and laws keep that data out of family court and civil disputes, admitting it only for violent crimes and national security. The surveillance economy currently yields more upside than downside, but only if we build the legal guardrails now.

Government
Northern Europe Isn't Socialist — It's Capitalism Done Right

The Surveillance Economy, and How Capitalism Can Fix Poverty · Aug 10, 2026 Government

When people cite Scandinavia as proof socialism works, Galloway says they've got it backwards. Northern Europe runs highly competitive free-market economies with more competition in many sectors than the US — they just make sure taxes are actually paid and redistributed. Billionaires and universal healthcare can coexist.

Government
How to Fix the UK in Four Moves

“We’re At The Beginning Of A Revolution” - Jimmy Carr - #11… · Aug 10, 2026 Government

Two percent adjustments to income tax and stamp duty tweaks are deck-chair rearrangements. The UK's competitiveness hinges on four structural levers: currency valuation, energy costs, regulatory burden, and tax rates. Devalue the pound, build 56 nuclear plants, slash red tape, introduce a flat tax — and the country transforms.

Government
Lisbon Solved Its Drug Crisis — Then Forgot Why

“We’re At The Beginning Of A Revolution” - Jimmy Carr - #11… · Aug 10, 2026 Government

Lisbon had one of Europe's worst heroin crises. Then Portugal legalised drugs and redirected all enforcement money into rehabilitation and housing. Crime collapsed. Addiction fell. Then politics moved the money elsewhere, and the problem started creeping back. Chesterton's Fence: you forget why you were spending that money.