When you sit down to watch the Oscars, what you are really watching is the final battle in a months-long war of financial engineering and campaign strategy. Because in Hollywood, every year is an election year. A small army of Oscars campaign strategists help studios and streamers deploy tens of millions of dollars to sway Academy voters. And the signs of these campaigns are everywhere — from the endless celebrity appearances on late night TV to the billboards along your daily commute.
On today's show, we hit the Oscars campaign trail to learn how these campaigns got so big in the first place. And we look into why Hollywood is still spending so much chasing gold statues, when the old playbook for how to make money on them is being rewritten.
This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. It was engineered by Cena Loffredo and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
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Planet Money - Is dynamic pricing coming to a supermarket near you?
Dynamic pricing is an increasingly common phenomenon: You can see it when Uber prices surge during rainy weather, or when you're booking a flight at the last minute or buying tickets to your favorite superstar's concert. On an earnings call last week, Wendy's ignited a minor controversy by suggesting it would introduce dynamic pricing in its restaurants, but the company quickly clarified that it wasn't planning on using it for "surge pricing."
One place you hardly ever see dynamic pricing? American supermarkets.
Why is that? Why shouldn't the prices for meat or bread or produce go down as they get older? Why does all the milk in the store cost the same, even when the "sell by" dates are weeks apart? Wouldn't a little more flexibility around prices be better for customers and help reduce waste?
Professors Robert Evan Sanders and Ioannis (Yannis) Stamatopoulus had similar questions. So they set out to discover what was keeping supermarkets from employing a more dynamic approach, and what might convince them it was time for a change ... in pricing.
This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez.
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One place you hardly ever see dynamic pricing? American supermarkets.
Why is that? Why shouldn't the prices for meat or bread or produce go down as they get older? Why does all the milk in the store cost the same, even when the "sell by" dates are weeks apart? Wouldn't a little more flexibility around prices be better for customers and help reduce waste?
Professors Robert Evan Sanders and Ioannis (Yannis) Stamatopoulus had similar questions. So they set out to discover what was keeping supermarkets from employing a more dynamic approach, and what might convince them it was time for a change ... in pricing.
This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez.
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Hayek Program Podcast - Environmental Economics — Governing the Global Fisheries Commons
Welcome back to the Environmental Economics series, hosted by Jordan Lofthouse. On this episode, Jordan interviews Pablo Paniagua Prieto and Veeshan Rayamajhee on their co-authored work, "Governing the Global Fisheries Commons." On this episode and in their article, they address the challenges of overfishing and the depletion of global fisheries. They critique one-size-fits-all solutions, advocating for an approach that recognizes overfishing as a complex set of interconnected problems across various jurisdictions. Drawing from Elinor Ostrom's insights, they propose combining market-based strategies, such as individual transferable quotas, with government interventions like removing harmful subsidies, and highlight the importance of local knowledge, community participation, and multi-layered solutions to effectively govern the global fisheries commons.
Pablo Paniagua Prieto is an economist and engineer from Politecnico di Milano and Professor of Political Economy at Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile. Pablo is an alum of the Mercatus Adam Smith Fellowship.
Veeshan Rayamajhee is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University and a faculty fellow at the Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise. Veeshan is an alum of the Mercatus Adam Smith Fellowship.
Check out Jordan Lofthouse's work.
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The Economics of Everyday Things - Bowling Alleys (Replay)
Once America’s favorite recreational activity, bowling has been in the gutter for decades. But some surviving alleys are resetting the pins. Zachary Crockett laces up.
- SOURCES:
- Mike Leong, owner of Bel Mateo Bowl.
- Devon Stewart, head coach of Florida State University bowling team, C.E.O. of Bowl Connect, and consultant with the Hansell Group.
- RESOURCES:
- "Cornhole and Bowling Are the Sports Most Americans Played Last Year," by Mallory Newall, Johnny Sawyer, Charlie Rollason, and Tyler Ivey (Ipsos, 2023).
- "Overview of the Bowling Industry," by The Hansell Group (2022).
- "How Bowling Alleys Made a Comeback," by Justin Fox (Bloomberg, 2019).
- "New Look Keeps Bel Mateo Bowl Thriving," by Curtis Driscoll (The Daily Journal, 2017).
- "Inside the Ugly Road Bowlmor Took to Make Bowling Cool," by Gabrielle Fonrouge (New York Post, 2017).
- "The (Short) History of the National Bowling League," by Bob Johnson (United States Bowling Congress News, 2015).
- EXTRAS:
- "Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
Planet Money - Shopping for parental benefits around the world
It is so expensive to have a kid in the United States. The U.S. is one of just a handful of countries worldwide with no federal paid parental leave; it offers functionally no public childcare (and private childcare is wildly expensive); and women can expect their pay to take a hit after becoming a parent. (Incidentally, men's wages tend to rise after becoming fathers.)
But outside the U.S., many countries desperately want kids to be born inside their borders. One reason? Many countries are facing a looming problem in their population demographics: they have a ton of aging workers, fewer working-age people paying taxes, and not enough new babies being born to become future workers and taxpayers. And some countries are throwing money at the problem, offering parents generous benefits, even including straight-up cash for kids.
So if the U.S. makes it very hard to have kids, but other countries are willing to pay you for having them....maybe you can see the opportunity here. Very economic, and very pregnant, host Mary Childs did. Which is why she went benefits shopping around the world. Between Sweden, Singapore, South Korea, Estonia, and Canada, who will offer her the best deal for her pregnancy?
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But outside the U.S., many countries desperately want kids to be born inside their borders. One reason? Many countries are facing a looming problem in their population demographics: they have a ton of aging workers, fewer working-age people paying taxes, and not enough new babies being born to become future workers and taxpayers. And some countries are throwing money at the problem, offering parents generous benefits, even including straight-up cash for kids.
So if the U.S. makes it very hard to have kids, but other countries are willing to pay you for having them....maybe you can see the opportunity here. Very economic, and very pregnant, host Mary Childs did. Which is why she went benefits shopping around the world. Between Sweden, Singapore, South Korea, Estonia, and Canada, who will offer her the best deal for her pregnancy?
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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Planet Money - The secret world behind school fundraisers
Fundraising is a staple of the school experience in the U.S. There's an assembly showing off all the prizes kids can win by selling enough wrapping paper or chocolate to their neighbors. But it's pretty weird, right?
Why do schools turn kids into little salespeople? And why do we let companies come in and dangle prizes in front of students?
We spend a year with one elementary school, following their fundraising efforts, to see how much they raise, and what the money goes to.
The school – Villacorta Elementary in La Puente, California – has one big goal: To raise enough money to send every single student on one field trip. The whole school hasn't been able to go on one in three years.
We find out what the companies who run school fundraisers do to try to win a school's business. And we find that this bizarre tradition is ... surprisingly tactical. That's on today's episode.
Today's show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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Why do schools turn kids into little salespeople? And why do we let companies come in and dangle prizes in front of students?
We spend a year with one elementary school, following their fundraising efforts, to see how much they raise, and what the money goes to.
The school – Villacorta Elementary in La Puente, California – has one big goal: To raise enough money to send every single student on one field trip. The whole school hasn't been able to go on one in three years.
We find out what the companies who run school fundraisers do to try to win a school's business. And we find that this bizarre tradition is ... surprisingly tactical. That's on today's episode.
Today's show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Economics of Everyday Things - 38. Junk Mail
Why does the mailman bring us so many catalogs, credit card offers, and pizza coupons? Because his job depends on it. Zachary Crockett checks the mailbox.
- SOURCES:
- Brett Chamberlin, program manager at Catalog Choice.
- Aaron Gordon, journalist.
- Mike Gunderson, president of Gunderson Direct.
- RESOURCES:
- "U.S. Postal Service Reports Fiscal Year 2023 Results," by the U.S. Postal Service (2023).
- "How We Ended Up With All This Junk Mail," by Aaron Gordon (Vice, 2020).
- "Here Are the Data Brokers Quietly Buying and Selling Your Personal Information," by Steven Melendez and Alex Pasternack (Fast Company, 2019).
- "How to Stop Junk Mail and Save Trees — and Your Sanity," by Elisabeth Leamy (The Washington Post, 2018).
- "How The Post Office Sells Your Address Update To Anyone Who Pays (And The Little-Known Loophole To Opt Out)," by Adam Tanner (Forbes, 2013).
- The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
- EXTRAS:
- "Is It Worth It for Charities to Harass Their Donors?" by No Stupid Questions (2022).
Planet Money - A controversial idea at the heart of Bidenomics
Réka Juhász is a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia, and she studies what's known as industrial policy.
That's the general term for whenever the government tries to promote specific sectors of the economy. The idea is that they might be able to supercharge growth by giving money to certain kinds of businesses, or by putting up trade barriers to protect certain industries. Economists have long been against it. Industrial policy has been called a "taboo" subject, and "one of the most toxic phrases" in economics. The mainstream view has been that industrial policy is inefficient, even harmful.
For a long time, politicians largely accepted that view. But in the past several years, countries have started to embrace industrial policy—most notably in the United States. Under President Biden, the U.S. is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on industrial policy, to fund things like microchip manufacturing and clean energy projects. It's one of the most ambitious tests of industrial policy in U.S. history. And the billion dollar question is ... will it work?
On today's show, Réka takes us on a fun, nerdy journey to explain the theory behind industrial policy, why it's so controversial, and where President Biden's big experiment might be headed.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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That's the general term for whenever the government tries to promote specific sectors of the economy. The idea is that they might be able to supercharge growth by giving money to certain kinds of businesses, or by putting up trade barriers to protect certain industries. Economists have long been against it. Industrial policy has been called a "taboo" subject, and "one of the most toxic phrases" in economics. The mainstream view has been that industrial policy is inefficient, even harmful.
For a long time, politicians largely accepted that view. But in the past several years, countries have started to embrace industrial policy—most notably in the United States. Under President Biden, the U.S. is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on industrial policy, to fund things like microchip manufacturing and clean energy projects. It's one of the most ambitious tests of industrial policy in U.S. history. And the billion dollar question is ... will it work?
On today's show, Réka takes us on a fun, nerdy journey to explain the theory behind industrial policy, why it's so controversial, and where President Biden's big experiment might be headed.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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Planet Money - Two Indicators: Economics of the defense industry
The Department of Defense's proposed budget for 2024 is $842 billion. That is about 3.5% of the U.S.'s GDP. The military buys everything from pens and paper clips to fighter jets and submarines. But the market for military equipment is very different from the commercial market.
On today's episode, we're bringing you two stories from The Indicator's series on defense spending that explore that market. As the U.S. continues to send weapons to Ukraine and Israel, we first look at why defense costs are getting so high. Then, we dive into whether bare-bones manufacturing styles are leaving the U.S. military in a bind.
The original Indicator episodes were produced by Cooper Katz McKim with engineering from Maggie Luthar and James Willetts. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Angel Carreras. They were edited by Kate Concannon and Paddy Hirsch. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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On today's episode, we're bringing you two stories from The Indicator's series on defense spending that explore that market. As the U.S. continues to send weapons to Ukraine and Israel, we first look at why defense costs are getting so high. Then, we dive into whether bare-bones manufacturing styles are leaving the U.S. military in a bind.
The original Indicator episodes were produced by Cooper Katz McKim with engineering from Maggie Luthar and James Willetts. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Angel Carreras. They were edited by Kate Concannon and Paddy Hirsch. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hayek Program Podcast - “Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?” Book Panel
On this episode, we’ll hear a book panel discussion on Lawrence H. White’s book, Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? (Cambridge University Press, 2023). In his opening remarks, Larry gives an overview of his book which details the history of money, explains how the gold, fiat, and bitcoin standards work, and aims to bridge the gap between the gold standard and cryptocurrency advocates. He covers issues of supply constraints, volatility, inflation, and common misconceptions for each of the standards. Moving forward, he explores potential forms for better monetary standards including non-governmental monetary systems. The panel is moderated by Peter J. Boettke, and they are joined on the panel by:
- Joshua Hendrickson, Associate Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Mississippi, and author of numerous publications including “The Political Economy of Bitcoin” (Economic Inquiry, 2015)
- Nicolás Cachanosky, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Free Enterprise at The University of Texas at El Paso, Senior Fellow at AIER, Fellow of the UCEMA Friedman-Hayek Center for the Study of a Free Society, and co-author of Austrian Capital Theory: A Modern Survey of the Essentials (2019)
- David Beckworth, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, former international economist at the US Department of the Treasury, and host of the Mercatus Center’s Macro Musings Podcast
Lawrence H. White is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a Distinguished Senior Fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Larry has published multiple books including The Clash of Economic Ideas: The Great Policy Debates and Experiments of the Last Hundred Years (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Virtual Sentiments, our new podcast series from the Hayek Program is now streaming! Subscribe today and listen to season two, releasing now!
Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgram
Learn more about Academic & Student Programs
Follow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatus
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