The Indicator from Planet Money

Amazon's outage, anxious retirees, and LA brings the Heat, too

October 24, 2025

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  • The recent Amazon Web Services (AWS) global outage, which affected about 30% of the internet hosted on its platform, is unlikely to result in significant financial consequences for Amazon due to existing service agreements and high switching costs for clients. 
  • Despite knowing that claiming Social Security benefits before the full retirement age of 67 incurs a financial penalty (up to 30% reduction at age 62), 44% of surveyed U.S. workers plan to file early, often due to fears that the program will run out of money. 
  • Los Angeles is attempting to combat the exodus of film production by doubling its tax incentive program, which has resulted in 52 projects, including the highly anticipated "Heat 2," receiving credits to shoot locally. 

Segments

Indicators of the Week Intro
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(00:00:12)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts introduce the ‘Indicators of the Week’ segment for The Indicator from Planet Money.
  • Summary: The segment is introduced by hosts Waylon Wong, Adrian Ma, and Darian Woods. They confirm the focus is on fascinating economic numbers from the news this week. Topics covered include the Amazon global internet outage, early Social Security claims, and film incentives in Los Angeles.
AWS Outage Impact Analysis
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(00:02:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosts 30% of the global internet, and its recent outage, caused by a Domain Name System (DNS) problem, is unlikely to result in material financial consequences for Amazon.
  • Summary: The outage affected numerous web services, stemming from an internal directory issue that took over three hours to resolve. Companies using AWS are generally only entitled to small, prorated service credits for downtime. The argument is that users should implement their own backups, as errors are expected in web hosting.
Social Security Early Claiming
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(00:04:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Forty-four percent of U.S. workers plan to claim Social Security before age 67, despite knowing that claiming at age 62 results in a 30% lower monthly payment.
  • Summary: The early filing is driven by concerns that Social Security reserves will run out in less than a decade, potentially leading to payments being reduced to about 81 cents on the dollar. Waiting until age 70 yields a payment 45% higher than claiming at age 62. Policymakers might consider raising the retirement age to shore up the program.
LA Film Incentive Success
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(00:08:11)
  • Key Takeaway: California doubled its film incentive program to $750 million, resulting in 52 productions receiving tax credits to shoot locally, aiming to counter the loss of projects to other states.
  • Summary: These 52 projects are expected to employ around 9,000 cast and crew members locally. One approved project is “Heat 2,” the sequel to the iconic 1995 film, which originally shot on location in California. Tax incentive programs reward studios for promising to spend money locally.