NPR.

This is the Indicated From Planet Money, I'm Paddy Hirsch.

And I'm Whalen Wong.

Before it was invaded by Russia in February, Ukraine was a $200 billion economy.

It was one of the largest agricultural exporters in the world and a key producer of iron ore

and other metals.

And all of that makes Ukraine kind of a big deal in the global economy.

So it's no surprise that the devastation being wrought on Ukraine's infrastructure, its

agriculture, and manufacturing capacity, and of course its people is deeply worrying

to its neighbors and its trading partners.

No one knows how the war with Russia is going to end of course, but some people are already

planning ahead.

They're thinking about how to rebuild Ukraine and how to get it back to being a fully functioning

member of the global economy.

And a lot of those people are talking about using another plan to rebuild an economy

as a blueprint, or at least an inspiration for Ukraine's eventual recovery, talking about

the Marshall Plan, which played a big part in regenerating Europe's economy at the

end of the Second World War.

So on today's show, the Marshall Plan, what it was, what it might look like in Ukraine,

how much it might cost, and what the risks might be.

That's coming up after the break.

In the Second World War ended in 1945, Hitler's Germany had been defeated, but the global economy

...