WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Price Profiteering, ESG BS, & Secondhand Smarts #516 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.759 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.400 and today we're discussing price profiteering e s g b 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:28.840 S and second hand smarts E s g b S. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.560 We're gonna get to that story, plus a bunch of 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.240 others today on our Friday flights. These are the headlines 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.479 that we've come across this week. But real quick, man, 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:39.800 I wanted to share, so listener. Benjamin he emailed into 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:41.400 us and he wanted to make sure that we knew 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.600 about the Capital One bonuses that have been rolling us, 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:46.720 not the red alert to everybody out there. He's like, hey, 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.440 if you if you're still banking with a crumby bank, 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.920 not only can you do business with someone who doesn't 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.319 hate you, but also there's a bonus at stake two. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.920 Capital One they are a legitimate online savings account, checking account. 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:00.480 Total P likes to keep all of your They are 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.720 one of the O G good online bank accounts. Yeah, 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:04.280 what was it? The used to be I n G 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.840 Direct back in the day, and then I had that 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.040 same electric Orange chetric Orage, So I'm like grandfathered in man, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:11.600 I've been there a long time. That was back when 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.160 they were paying like five percent on that Electric Orange 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.280 account back in two thousand and five. I think it was. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.840 I think it was that long ago. It's crazy. If 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.240 only we had five get your faces on savings accounts, 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.360 I think those days are over. But it turns out 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:26.400 you can get a one hundred and fifty dollar bonus 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.120 if you deposit twenty dollars with Capital one and if 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.000 you have fifty thousand dollars sitting around. Turns out you 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.160 can get a four and fifty dollar bonus by making 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.759 that deposit and keeping that account open for I think 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.200 something like three months. The same thing with a checking account. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.559 To right, you can get that's two d fifty bucks 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.399 just for opening a checking account doing two direct deposits. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.400 Both of these deals and in mid to late June 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.400 will link to to them in the show notes. But yeah, 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.040 if you're if you're disappointed with your current bank or 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.560 with what you're making at your current bank, these are great. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.640 I love not just the ability to matt earn just 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.480 a lightly higher rate of interest, but the bonuses. It's 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.760 like the it's like the whip cream on top and 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.840 cherry and like you knew you wanted it anyway, but 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:09.960 this just sweetens the deal even more for a lot 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:11.760 of people, it's like, Okay, that's gonna get me off 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.040 my stuff and make it happen. Yeah. Well, simultaneously, I 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:15.960 do think we are going to see more deals by 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.000 some of the different banks because I think the competition 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.480 has gotten a little more stiff as banks are saying 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.320 that folks have less less cash on hand. I mean, 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:24.120 we we can see, like you can if you check 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.520 with a FED that they've got an awesome chart where 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:28.720 it shows that the personal savings rate it's back down 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.200 to pre pandemic levels. We're back to the way things 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:34.160 where folks have less cash on hand. But there's no 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:36.560 guarantee that they're going to be upcoming bonuses, but I 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.839 wouldn't be surprised. Yeah, okay, Well, you know, we will 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.200 continue to put out information if we see good bonuses 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:44.200 for switching banks, and we'll also call him out in 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:45.840 our How the Money newsletter. By the way, you can 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.400 sign up at how the Money dot com slash newsletter. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.960 But Matt, let's get to the Friday Fight, the sampling 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.080 of stories we found interesting this week and how they 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.200 pertain to your personal finances. And let's let's start off 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:59.040 by talking about something free that all of our listeners 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.280 qualify for and its one likes a freebie. That's right. 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.680 It's been a ministers we've talked about this, but COVID 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.120 cases are back up across the nation. We've seen a 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:10.040 sixty increase in the past two weeks alone, which is 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:13.360 obviously crappy news. But on the right side, everyone out 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.880 there can get more free at home COVID tests. So 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.760 just head to COVID tests dot gov and you can 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:24.040 snag eight free antigen rapid tests for home use. What 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:25.920 was it, Matt, We were able to get four a 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.160 few months ago. I don't keep track. Now you can 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.480 get eight and so yeah, just in case you want 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.960 to avoid paying fifty bucks at the store for a 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.080 couple of tests, you can get them for free from 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.200 the federal government. I think that's the federal government just saying, 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:41.880 how don't we don't want to keep these sitting around 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:43.920 and warehouses anymore. Let's just go ahead and send them 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.880 out so we don't have to sign another lease. All right, 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.520 let's keep moving our buddy five am Joel. He sent 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.320 us a recent survey from op you. They've got a 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.400 bunch of free resources and free little classes that they 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:00.240 offer online, but they found that seventy of folks don't 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.160 have a budget that they follow regularly, which is obviously 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.680 not good. Uh. Personally, I think everyone needs a budget, 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:08.720 regardless if you are on the frugal end of the 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.400 of the spectrum or if you're a spendthrift, right because 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:13.800 I think you need a budget for different reasons. Obviously, 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.039 if you are a spendthrift and you need you need 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.760 a budget to regulate your expenses because you're over spending 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:20.839 most likely. But even folks who are on the frugal 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:22.880 end of the spectrum, I think need to have a 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:24.920 budget on hand to make sure that they're spending their 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.120 dollars the way that they want to, the way that 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.520 they have decided. Makes them the happiest if they're not 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.200 freaking out every time they spend a dollar because they're like, oh, no, 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.600 I budget for that. It's okay, even and I know 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:40.240 that my incomes go into investments and savings, you know that. 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:42.320 I think the budget can release some stress, even for 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:44.880 frugal people. It puts on paper what you say that 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:46.400 you're going to do with your money, and it kind 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.440 of keeps your emotions in check. I think living life 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.880 without a budget sort of like like riding a motorcycle 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.640 without a helmet. It's incredibly risky, or it's it's like 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.880 running a football play without just winning. It's just like 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:58.920 everybody just run, let's see what happens. That's where you 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.520 get the flee flicker. I think I think that's where 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:02.840 that came from, exactly. But the longer that you go 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:06.080 without tracking your spending and and creating a budget that 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.640 you can actually stick to, the more likely you are 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.280 to spend money in ways that don't align with your values, 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.160 the more likely you are to take on debt, even 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.640 for purchases that that don't move the needle for you. 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.680 And it'll likely also take a lot longer to get 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.800 some financial breathing room, much less for you to reach 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:23.880 some of those bigger financial goals that you might have. 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.200 And so definitely make sure to check out Mint. You 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.880 can use their software for free wide NAP. We've talked 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.440 about you need a budget before, but you're gonna pay 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.000 nine dollars a month in order to use their software. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.920 But maybe that is the sort of buy and maybe 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:38.760 that's the skin in the game that you need in 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.279 order to actually follow through every everyone I talked to 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.279 who has used wine they love. I was literally talking 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.599 to a parent at at school yesterday and she didn't 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:50.440 know what I did. Got to talk about the podcast 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.680 and she looked at me like locked eye. Oh, then 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.039 you know about why NAP right, And I was like, oh, yeah, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.159 you are you a fan? She's like, I love Why 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.480 NAPA And so if you have not checked amount, make 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:02.680 sure to look into it. And by the way, back 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.080 in the episode three sixty two, we actually talked about 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.840 why it is that not only that you need a budget, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.160 but that you need a bare bones budget, and that 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.600 when we shared why it is incredibly important for you 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.800 to know how little you could potentially live on, we're 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.400 stuff to hit the fan, especially with the looming recession 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.800 talks Matt, It's it's nice to have that bare bones 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.240 budget in your back pocket, knowing that you can cut 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.760 your spending and dramatically improve your finances overnight. So we 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.599 love people going through that practice and having that on hand. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.680 So let's talk about housing, because not having a budget 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.240 is obviously something you're you're likely to regret. You're not 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.840 gonna be optimizing where your money is going, and that 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.560 will have significant ramifications in the short and the long 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.800 term on your financial health. But another regret that folks 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:52.960 are having that also has disastrous financial consequences is waving 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.240 a home inspection and we've seen people doing that hand 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.960 over fist lately. Bad idea. Yeah, and buying a car. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:01.800 We've for people talking about buying a card that's a 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.240 lemon that just like has the same issue on repeat 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:07.520 that ends up costing people. It's it's just a it's 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.960 a money pit. Well that's a bad thing, but buying 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.400 a home that's a lemon is catastrophic. It's far worse 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.000 than even buying a car that's a lemon. But so 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.400 many folks have been doing that over the past eighteen 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.040 months as the housing market has heated up. You know, 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:24.680 we've warned on the show against waving inspection rights. I 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:26.120 know a lot of folks were doing it in an 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.520 effort to win a bidding more because like they felt 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.080 like there was no other way for them to get 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.560 the house they wanted, but still they needed to take 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.120 us up a drastic step to set them apart from 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:37.800 the competition. That's right, but a lot of people are 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.680 finding out on the backside of that that there are 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.160 a lot of issues with this house that they didn't 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.720 they weren't aware of because they didn't have an inspection done. 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.640 And now some folks are regretting it and they're having 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.080 a hile a ton of money into a house that 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.120 they thought had a clean bill of health. But yeah, 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.280 it's been especially risky for for home buyers lately, especially 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.240 inexperienced home buyers. It's it's incredibly risky to wave a 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.160 home inspection. We want to wave a large red caution 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.000 flag to to make you think twice before you wave 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.520 a home inspection with any offer. And hopefully is the 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.600 housing market appears to be cooling off at least a 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.520 little bit, that will feel less necessary for lots of 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:14.560 folks to yet Yeah, well, I mean, honestly, it's better 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:16.480 just to keep renting than to get in over your 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.800 head with the house that has a ton of issues. 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:20.760 But yeah, we I think we are seeing a little 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.840 bit more supply on that. You know, within the housing market, 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.040 we're seeing some more price cuts. We're seeing some houses 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.280 sitting longer on the market. Uh, And that means that 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.280 a home inspection clause that you would normally include is 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.679 going to be less likely to prevent your offer from 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.439 being considered moving forward, we believe, and a home inspection 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.079 isn't a necessity in every single case. In some instances, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.000 some home sellers have actually been providing their own home inspection, 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.160 provided by a third party, just to kind of grease 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.480 the wheels, grease the skids a little bit, uh, to 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.200 kind of smooth out the process. But that is not 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.679 something we would recommend. We would still should get your own, 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:57.839 want you to get your own exactly. Yeah, you want 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.320 to make sure that that multi hundred thous and dollar 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.480 purchase is in good working order before you drop down 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.000 all of that change. Yeah, there are certain things that 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.079 certain regrets that people have in life. This is one 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.080 we don't want you to have because it can cost 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.040 you a ton of money and just a lot of 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:15.480 headaches too. Let's talk about financial literacy for a second, Matt. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.480 There's a there's this thing called the spillover effect, which 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:20.720 you and I we've never really talked about on the show, 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:25.040 but there was a white paper written recently just released 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.800 that talks about this very phenomenon. And you know, you 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:29.880 and I were big fans of virtually any form of 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.960 financial literacy, and and we're always looking to highlight when 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.959 states are making it a priority in K to twelve education. 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.840 You know, our fine state of Georgia just made a 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:42.600 requirement for personal finance classes moving forward starting next year. 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:46.120 We're excited about that. But there might be some naysayers 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:47.640 out there. I don't know who they are, but bring 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:49.680 them my way and I'll set them straight. Who they 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:51.680 might wonder if, well, is it any of that's really 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.520 making a difference, right, or even just some skeptics who 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.719 are less enthusiastic because of how long it's going to 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.520 take for these financial lessons to make their way into 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.560 the real world, Like should we actually be teaching kids 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.320 about how to handle money well? Or is it a 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:06.600 waste of time? But I feel like those are the 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.400 same folks who are not willing to plant an acorn 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:11.640 or like a seed link to see that tree grow 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.840 up in shade the house, because it's like, well, it's 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.000 not going to benefit me at all. But even still, 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.719 I think what we're talking about here is paying it forward. Yes, 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.880 I agreed, And some recent research actually proves that there's 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.320 a large what's called a spillover effect of this newly 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.640 acquired financial knowledge that kids partake in in elementary, middle 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.880 or high school, and you know it's it's actually it's 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.440 interesting because it's not just the students who are benefiting, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.120 it's the parents too. This study was done over the 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.600 course of a full semester, and researchers found that there 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:45.440 was quote unquote and economically significant increase in financial literacy 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.479 not only from what the students encountered in the classroom, 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.480 but in the knowledge that their parents acquired secondhand as well, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.920 because those kids are bringing the lessons they're learning back 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.920 to the dinner table, they're having family conversations, and so 0:10:58.000 --> 0:10:59.840 the parents are benefiting from what the kids are learning 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:02.160 to exactly. And we love hearing this, of course, because 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.840 it reinforces our belief that learning how to money will 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.040 not only create a better life for yourself, but also 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.160 for those around you. Uh. There's also another interesting aspect 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.320 of the research. It showed that the spillover effect it 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.240 didn't apply to all parents equally, but not surprisingly, there 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.480 was more of an increase in the parents who had 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.839 more of these face to face interactions with their kids 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.400 throughout the week, Meaning the more we talk about personal finances, 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.880 the better we should be doing with our personal finances. 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.480 So the t l d R is just to keep 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.280 talking about money with with everyone that you love. We're 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:39.920 all about making personal finance and talking about money more commonplace. 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:41.440 We do not want it to be to do and 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.640 so we're gonna encourage you to do the same. Yeah. 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:45.680 It makes me think of a conversation Matt, you and 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.960 I had years ago with Dan Lessal, who is now 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.440 he's a principal, I think, but he at the time 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:55.560 he was a teacher, and he like made money tangible 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:58.320 for the kids the personal finance classes at this inner 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.080 city school in Philadelphia. He gave them money, he gave 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.160 them jobs, they had actual cash on hand to start investing. 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.000 And one of the side effects that he mentioned was 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.720 that parents of these kids who didn't know much about 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.920 personal finance. As these kids were learning a ton, the 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:14.559 parents were learning a lot too, And I thought that 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:16.599 was cool. The spillover effect. We never really talked about it, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.120 but now that I'm thinking back, I'm like, oh, well, 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.959 we kind of referred to at least that's what that was. Yeah, 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.360 that's what was happening in that case. That's right. Okay, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.520 let's keep moving. Let's talk about how the Washington post 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.360 they wrote this article about an airport beer. You'll know, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.880 we're not against paying more for some great beer, but 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.160 we're not talking about paying that much for an incredible 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:39.719 barrel aged stout or some meticulously crafted fruited sour. I'll 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.000 pay a lot of money for a cantio on my friend, right. No, No, 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.920 this is a dollar Sam Adam summer ale ouch, which 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.040 is what I'm not going to knock on Same Adams. 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.720 Seven bucks is a lot. It's not worth it, and 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:55.800 it set off this crackdown on concession prices by the 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.240 New York Ports Authority. I think this beer was sold 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.600 at La Guardia. It's kind of funny that just a 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:05.280 really expensive, generic, some somewhat craft beer can set off 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.240 like some sort of government intervention. Well, honestly, like that's 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:10.679 that That's a part of why we're talking about this, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:12.960 right because the real question is should there be a 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.959 bunch of interventions just because someone decided to pay that 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.160 much for the for a beer, Like, let people make 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.320 their dumb decisions if they want to with with their money, right. 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:22.800 I mean if I had seen that, of course I 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:24.520 would have been like, wait, the same amount of summer 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:27.280 and this is worth maybe a third of this at most, 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.360 and I would have kept I would kept walking or 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.560 ordered water instead, or ordered another beer that didn't cost 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.000 as much. But I'm usually like, I'm not much of 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.920 an airport beer guy, just because the prices are inflated 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:39.960 at the airport. Like, just keep moving on down the road. 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.640 But some folks would argue that, like, oh no, the 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:44.440 airport beer is the best kind of beer, you know, 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.400 like like there's all there's there's all different types of 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.560 beers that are dependent upon the situation in which you drink, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.680 like a hot tub beer, shower beer, the beach beers. Also, 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.360 I didn't know airport beer was included in that. Oh 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:56.720 I think not for me personally, because I'm not willing 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.880 to pay the inflated rates as well. But for those 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.600 who want to pay stupid prices for that airport beer, 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:03.800 I think they should be allowed to do so. It's 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.800 not like they're being forced to pay that for something 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:07.720 that they must have in order to survive or something like. 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:09.200 It's not like it's it's not like we're talking about 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.480 baby formulas, right, Like, there's a big difference between big 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.760 difference formula and a summer ail. But we've actually got 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.040 more to discuss in the realm of ridiculous prices, and 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.240 we will get some more of that right after this. 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.200 All right, we're back and it's it's time to get 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.560 into the ludicrous headline of the week. Matt. We were 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:38.160 just talking about expensive beer at the airport. Well, this 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.480 week's ludicrous headline comes from the New York Times and 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.720 it reads, I listened in on big business. It's profiting 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.240 from inflation and you're paying for it. Time to talk 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.600 about price gouge. Let's talk about price gouging, price profiteering. 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.480 It's it is true than in this time of rising prices, 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.520 many businesses have actually seen increased profits. You know, some 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.640 of these businesses have been able to pass higher costs 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.880 and a little bit more onto consumers. Uh. In recent months, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.320 this has led to more folks, including some politicians, pointing 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:12.360 fingers at Corporate America with accusations of price gouging. But 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.400 here's the thing. In a market based economy, a company 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.480 that rips off its customers doesn't often perform well in 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.920 the long term. Like to that beer example, most folks 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.120 see the price and they keep walking on because they 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:28.680 say that's ludicrous, even though it was. I also saw 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.320 that still more than a dollar announced my friend, very 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:35.200 very expensive. Well, plus, many of these businesses are taking 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:38.720 those profits, they're investing more back into the business, training 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:43.480 more employees, offering raises to their employees. Other businesses are 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.920 actually reporting less than stellar numbers. Look at what happened 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:48.640 with Walmart and Target and their earnings reports this week. 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.400 You know, if customers get taken advantage of, they tend 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:53.600 to vote with their wallets and they go elsewhere in 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.000 the future. Profit padding, I would say, is is not real. 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.840 You know, it's not the reason that we're seeing higher 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:02.120 than normal inflation. Yeah. Again, going back to the beer story, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.240 I think only like three people had purchased, had had 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.000 spent that much money on that on that dumb beer. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.160 But my question would be, like those people probably had 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.760 expense accounts and you know, they had experiencing their employer 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:14.600 was paying for it, because it's not an individual who 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:16.480 is price sensitive paying for that, right. But it's it's 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.680 not like a bunch of companies got together and you 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.320 know all at once decided to become a little more greedy, 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.400 but actually caused the change because competition is still strong 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.880 in most sectors of our economy. Uh. And even though yeah, 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.320 there are some corporations that have seen increased profits, that 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.760 doesn't mean that these profits are going to continue to 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.160 be inflated uh in the coming months into the future. 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:37.120 And here's the thing, you don't even have to This 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.560 is more of kind of like the opinion corner right now, 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.960 proud of money, but you don't have to op ed section. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.160 Take our word for it. A survey of economists shows 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.720 that the vast majority of economists disagree with the narrative 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:52.600 that businesses are exploiting the inflationary environment to rake in 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.400 more dough. And on top of that, almost all of 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.000 these economists disagreed with the idea that government use of 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:01.240 price controls would help rein in inflation as well COVID delays, 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:03.800 supply shortages, these these have all been difficult for many 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:05.840 businesses to deal with, but it's important to remember that 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:09.439 healthy businesses helped to create a healthy economy that we 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.919 all end up benefiting from in the end. Yeah, we 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.840 can talk about a lot of reasons that inflation has 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.360 taken off the way that it has, and I know 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.440 that it's painful for consumers, but if you want things 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.280 to get more painful. Just try instituting price controls. Just 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.800 try creating more levers over who can charge what for 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.639 what good or service. There are some historical examples we 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:32.199 can point to you of how that works out. But 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.439 a perfect example also of what we're talking about was 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:38.320 reflected in another story actually from Bloomberg this week. A 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.520 T and T and Verizon are raising prices on cell 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.600 phone plans. It's not by a ton, it's not a 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.280 big move forward, but millions of customers are going to 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.520 start seeing an increased administration charge on their bill, meaning 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.560 they're gonna pay a dollar thirty five more moving forward 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.520 starting next month. Are these companies trying to eke out 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.720 some additional profit? Maybe? Do Do we hate fees? Yes? 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.800 We do. Is this gouging though? We would say no. 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.400 And the great thing is you can leave those companies 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.560 whenever you want to. You can do business elsewhere. And 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.120 we would say, if you're with either of those two companies, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.800 you should, Yeah, you should leave right now, you should 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:15.800 go down the road. Just like the bonuses for the 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.480 different checking accounts. This is the perfect opportunity for you 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.800 to say, you know what, Like from a principal standpoint, 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:22.040 it is time for me to move all it's just 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:24.399 a buck thirty. But guess what, I don't want to 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:26.480 deal with that, and I'm already paying more than I 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.520 should be in so Mintmobile, Visible and Google five are 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.960 all vastly superior options, and those companies have actually been 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.600 reducing rates and fees in recent months. So competition is 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.399 alive and well in most sectors and it's benefiting all 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.560 of us. Yeah. Again, as long as we have options 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:43.320