NPR.

This is the indicator from planet money.

I'm Patty Hirsch.

And I'm Whalen Wong.

President Trump issued an executive order this week,

telling the Treasury and Commerce departments to produce a plan for, wait for it, an American sovereign wealth fund.

Well, the reaction to this latest order ran the usual gamut from disbelief and derision through hilarity to rapture.

Depending on who you follow on social media, an American sovereign wealth fund could be an

end run around congressional roadblocks, or maybe an opportunity for corruption and cronyism.

Could be a chance to create value and be of great strategic importance to the U.S.

But my personal favorite, it's a shiny new toy for both parties to play with as they spend and splurge

the U.S. Treasury into financial oblivion. That's from the Libertarian Meese Institute.

Spicy. The fun could be used for all sorts of good things, Trump said. Maybe even buying TikTok.

No wonder the announcement had the internet foaming at the mouth and searching for an

explanation of what exactly a sovereign wealth fund is. Fortunately, we already have a ready-made

explainer. Last year, we aired an episode laying out what a sovereign wealth fund is and how these

funds came about. So today, we're going to re-air that show, which we've updated to explain what Trump's

executive order actually means. That's coming up after the break.

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