WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Toxic Ticketmaster, Water Waste, & Macron’s Mission #648 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.960 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.160 Today we're talking toxic Ticketmaster, water waste, and Macrone's mission. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.520 I'm surprised you didn't roll your art there on the McCrone. 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.520 I took Spanish in high school college. Matt related to French. 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:36.519 That's true. You can always come on, Joel. Though for 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:40.400 some alliterative headlines, you should have capped it off with 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.320 rising rates, which we'll get to. Yeah, I'll talk about 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.840 that too. Postponed passports. Let's just go ahead and round 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:48.760 it out. But this is our Friday flight and we're 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:50.720 going to cover some of the best headlines that we 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:52.440 came across this week, the ones that we think are 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.680 going to impact your finances the most, and what it 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:57.640 is that you should be doing in response to the 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:00.280 stories as well. Okay, just briefly wanted to mention listener 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.400 Jen posted in our Facebook group this week. She said, 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:04.120 since none of us are going to be interviewed by 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.360 Matt and Joel, which don't speak too soon, Jen, we 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:08.160 might be reaching out to you. You never know, you 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:10.160 never know, you never know, and she said, well, I 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:12.200 want to know what everyone's craft beer equivalent is, so 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:16.520 It just really started this fund of people posting the 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.160 stuff that they like to spend money on. It was 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:19.760 just fun to see. By the way, if you're not 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:21.920 a member of the how to Money Facebook group and 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.720 you're also on Facebook, you should totally join it because 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.760 like that's the only good redeeming part about Facebook, I think. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.280 But it was just really neat to see what everybody 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.119 spends money on, like what they the stuff they prioritize 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:35.840 in their lives. Yeah, yeah, so this must have it 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:37.800 must have been a popular thread because Kate actually brought it. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:39.360 I'm never all it, so I feel like you added 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.520 that part. And if you're on Facebook, because I'm on Facebook, 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:44.920 but I'm like I'm a member or whatever, like having 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.039 a kid, you're number there. I literally it's one of 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.320 the social media platforms that I just decided I need 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:52.080 to remove from a life. So I don't know, you're 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.840 like the dead beat dad of our Facebook group exactly. 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.960 Everyone knows it. Well, Kate mentioned this particular thread and 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.080 it sounds like a blew up. But did you have 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.000 some favorites in particular that folks mentioned. Well, I did 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:06.280 notice that a lot of people will have beverages that 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.960 they prioritize coffee in particular. Okay, a lot of people 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:10.880 go to coffee dire. Actually I can get behind that. 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.400 I'm actually thinking about getting a pretty nice grinder at it. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.520 I keep getting I don't want, I don't want to 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.160 talk about it. Okay, you're about to me to decide 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.680 what Kate and I purchase for our home. Well, you 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.799 like coffee a lot, though, I really do. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:26.720 somebody else, by the way, I said, think about up 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.760 in the kind of grinder, and they have, all right, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.200 get the nice one, get the nice one. I think 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:31.799 you can. You can, you can spring for it. But 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.120 someone else had expensive board games, which, of course you 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:38.359 or in on that. We don't play nearly as much 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:40.840 as we used to, but sixty dollars game less time 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:42.840 to just hang out with one of us. But it's 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.520 well worth it to buy a couple of good board games, 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.600 or you know, five or ten. And then someone said 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.560 competitive darts. I don't even know what that looks like, 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.520 or you just is it kind of like a pool 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:53.959 queue that you get a nicer Q stick or something 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.320 like the competitive I'm assuming darts that you throw at 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.560 like a dart board, right, But I'm saying like, similar 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.400 to a poolue or people up, I can get the 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.040 nice ones. Do they have fancied darts? Oh? I'm sure 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:03.760 they do. Okay, you can get like the cheap ones 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.160 that come with like the kit you know that you 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:07.920 buy from the toy store, or I'm sure you can 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.359 get some that are really nice that are hand tied weight. 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:13.520 It makes me think of like phishing flies, like you 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.120 can buy like fly fishing. You can get the standard 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.840 issue flies, but then it's also an art. Yeah, although 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.240 I'm not even sure that folks use those to fish with. 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.680 I think they're just kinda on display. But no, I 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.480 love this. I love that somebody put competitive darts. I'm 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.000 also curious how much they could potentially cost, Like what's 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.920 the range of really nice darts I would be fascinated 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.600 to now? I bet they throw real good, real nice. 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.240 But I love, honestly the weirder the better here because 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.280 what it makes me think is that folks have given 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.320 some time, They've given some thought to what it is 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:46.240 that they want to spend their money on, as opposed 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.520 to just going with a flow and spending money on 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.880 whatever the internet it tells them that they should be 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:52.880 spending their money on. It makes me think a little 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:54.920 bit about a conversation we're planning to have next week 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.400 about stealth wealth and how it's important to spend in 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.040 ways that reflect our values because it's just so easy 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.200 to get sucked into spending in ways that other people 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.480 say are important, exactly not taking the time to figure 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.600 out what matters to us. So thanks Jen for totally 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:09.400 making that fun thread in the babook. I love that. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.240 All right, Matt, let's move on. Let's get to the 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.120 Friday Flight the Stamp League of stories we found interesting 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.280 this week. There's a lot to cover, a lots to 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.480 talk about FED interest rate hikes. That was a top 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.760 story of this week, right, and what do they do 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.880 on Wednesday? They kept hiking rates And although they kind 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.359 of signaled that maybe we're starting to get close to 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.240 the end of rate hikes, that remains to be remains 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:31.680 to be seen, but that's at least kind of what 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:33.880 they're signaling. See well, I mean, so the balance was 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.480 do you raise rates to kind of combat inflation or 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:39.400 do we not raise rates in order to give the 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:41.039 banks that really if it's just sort of walk in 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.920 that tight rope and actually j Pal he mentioned in 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.960 a statement too that by slightly raising interest rates not 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:48.360 as high as maybe some of the governors, some of 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.440 the FED governors wanted to, that will likely tighten up 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:53.680 lending standards. And what that means is banks will essentially 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.240 be lending out less money, which should in turn also 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.640 drive down inflation, because if there's less money floating around 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.159 in our financials system, they'll just be less money to spend. Yeah, 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.640 And basically the FED was signaling that inflation is still 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.599 the top priority, even though kind of what's been happening 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.240 in the banking sector has been a little concerning right 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.200 over the last couple of weeks, And I think it 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.160 makes sense for more worth setting, like and it's it's 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.640 good news for savers too, even though, but it's it's 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.800 not great news if you've got something like credit card 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:20.640 debt on you haven't paid off. We've been saying that 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.360 for months and really over a year now, Like, hey, 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.320 these rising rates mean you got to get rid of 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.200 that credit card debt as quickly as possible because it 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.359 just continues to get worse. And if you want to 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:32.080 know more about what these rate hikes are doing to 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.320 your finances, by the way, we just talked about that 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:36.360 in episode six forty four, so check that one out 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.760 if you haven't had a chance to listen. But even 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.400 though interest rates kind of took the top slot, what's 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.320 happening with the banks is still front of mine too, 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.080 And so Matt, let's talk about everyone's favorite topic right now, 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:50.600 FDIC insurance. I think most listeners probably have seen more headlines, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.200 have read more about FDIC insurance over the past couple 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.839 of weeks then at any time previously in their lives, 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.520 and debates are starting to rage about whether or not 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.760 fdi CE insurance is a good thing. Should we raise 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.520 limits to prevent future bank grounds, or should we eliminate 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.839 FDIC insurance altogether. There are proposals kind of on both 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.039 sides because kind of in actuality, what happened was a 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.240 lot of people with uninsured deposits got bailed out when 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.039 those couple of banks collapsed. So then the nature of 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.960 fi C insurance starts to come into question, and you know, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.560 wonky people are debating these things. My favorite proposal though, 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.600 that I saw, was to maybe keep FDIC insurance where 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:29.479 it is, or maybe even lower it just a touch. 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.200 But if you want to have more insurance on your deposits, 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.680 pay for it yourself, start to self insure, and so 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:40.760 some of these smaller companies or wealthy individuals with larger deposits, 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:42.240 it's like cool, if you want to do all your 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.919 business with one bank, pay for that extra insurance, like 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:46.880 make that come out of your own time. Heck yeah, man, 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:51.120 privatize It makes sense to us, honestly, because our deposit 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.360 insurance here in the US it actually goes well beyond 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.320 what most other major countries are offering. And so maybe 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.600 even reducing that mandatory FDIC surance threshold und K where 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.960 it used to be. Yeah, So I don't know, maybe 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:05.720 it does make sense to have an insurance product out 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.080 there that allows individuals to pay that extra in order 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.600 to pile their funds up under one roof. But still, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.520 this is what's going on for the time being. And 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:16.760 just so you know, we've we said this last week, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.720 but just to reiterate it, money that is in your 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.440 savings account is safe. Just make sure that you are 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.760 keeping it under two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.440 there is no need to go running to some of 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.280 the bigger banks. If you are with an FDIC insured bank, 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:31.920 your money is safe. And also if you have more 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.080 than two hundred and fifty k sitting around you probably shouldn't. 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.240 That should likely be money that you should be investing 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.600 in the market as opposed to having it sit idle. 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:42.640 That's what your money goals are, right, It depends on 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.960 all your goals are buying a five million dollar mansion 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.080 in a couple of months, then then maybe you need 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.160 more cash on hand, and you've got to react accordingly. 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:50.960 But keeping it all on one account where you have 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.720 uninsured assets is not smart exactly. Yeah. And also I 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.880 can imagine there's too many folks saving up for that 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:57.800 five million dollars home. Well, I can't imagine pay good 0:07:57.800 --> 0:07:59.120 for you. I can't imagine there's that many hand of 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.600 money listeners who are like, have the fortunate problem of 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.280 having eight hundred thousand dollars in liquid cash or something 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.080 like that. But I'm sure there are a few out 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.080 there who are trying to wrestle with those sorts of things. 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.120 But I think just a lot of concerns prop up 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.200 from people to wondering whether or not the bank they'rewith 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:15.960 this safe. And we just want to continually say the 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.400 same thing that yes, your bank if it's FDIC insured, 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:21.400 is a safe place to store your money. You don't 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:23.320 need to go to one of the big banks where 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.360 they're gonna likely charge you more fees, offer you worst 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.240 customer service, like not have nearly as great of interest rates. 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.000 So I just want to keep hammering that home. You 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:33.560 don't need to go to your local brick and mortar 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:35.560 and move all your funds over there. But let's talk 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:37.880 about banking fees for a second map because there's actually 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:39.600 some good news on that front, and it turns out 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.920 that banks are eliminating over draft fees in a big way, 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:48.120 saving consumers billions of dollars and how many billions, basically 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.840 about about five billions, and so over draft fees they 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.200 used to be a major source of revenue for the banks, 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.040 but they were also one of the worst, most irritating 0:08:56.120 --> 0:09:00.199 kind of fees for individuals, for consumers, and so to 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.640 see more banks moving in this direction, I think a 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.120 lot of it's done to try to appease regulators on 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.280 the front end of things, But yeah, I think it's 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.679 important too to mention that we all need to make 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.720 sure we're doing business with the banks that are intent 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.480 on reducing fees we mentioned them every time it happens, 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.640 ally is one of those. Capital One has done a 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.440 great job at that. Check the bank's website long into 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.040 your accounts, see if you're being charged a monthly maintenance 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:25.720 fee or if you've been charged over draft fees recently, 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.720 and if so, it's time to switch. It's time to 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.280 get out of there. There are a lot of banks 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.400 now who are saying we're doing away with these fees, 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:32.960 and we just want to make sure you're with one 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:34.920 of them, that you're not sticking with one of the 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.880 ones that is stocking you with a thirty six dollars 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:39.839 over draft fee just when you buy a cup of 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:41.719 coffee that you didn't quite have enough money in the 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.439 account to cover. That's right. Yeah, So speaking of fees, 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.880 let's talk about Ticketmaster, because I don't know if it's 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.199 possible for Ticketmaster to get any worse, right, Like, I 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.680 don't think there's any other person or any other institution 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.000 that draws this much hate. And even though Ticketmaster they 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.920 actually did something that they maybe others would considered nicest week, 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.000 they still deserve a public shaming here on the podcast. 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:07.600 They deserve to be called out because yes, Taylor Swift fans, 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:09.120 they had a hard time on buying tickets to see 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:13.200 their their favorite performer. But the astronomical fees that Ticketmaster 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.720 continues to charge customers is what we can't get over. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.200 And the latest example of this has been The Cure's 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.800 latest tour. They just started selling tickets for the new tour, 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.120 and of course, if you're a fan, you gotta go 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:31.240 through Ticketmaster, So some fans were apparently paying over ninety 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.319 dollars in fees on eighty dollars worth of tickets. That's 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.679 a total of over one hundred and seventy bucks for 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.720 just a handful of tickets. But what's crazy is just 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.440 that the fees are adding up to actually be more 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.920 than what the actual tickets we're going to cost. Initially, well, 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.360 you gotta pay the CEO, Matt and the upper echelon 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.480 of Ticketmaster, so the band doesn't even get, you know, 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.360 as much money as the Ticketmaster elites. But I really 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.800 do think Ticketmaster should be truly ashamed of kind of 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.400 the fee structure that they have in place, but they're not. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.560 I don't think they care at all. And Robert Smith, 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:03.600 who's the lead singer of the Cure, he was pretty 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.960 sensitive to a lot of the fan complaints, and he 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.760 said something to Ticketmaster on their behalf, which is always 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.000 amazing to me. The artists more artists aren't sticking up 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:12.959 for their fans because their fans are the ones who 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.720 are being taken advantage of. And I will say, one 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:19.400 little small check mark in Ticketmaster's corner. For the first 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.640 time ever, they actually did and I was surprised to 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.880 see this. They admitted that their fees were a bit much. Yeah, 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.400 this could potentially be a turning point. This is the 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.240 one tidbit of good news. Unlikely that it's a turning point, 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:31.680 but at least it was something. It was a drop 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:33.560 in the bucket. But here's exactly what they said. They said, 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.280 many of the fees being charged are unduly high. I 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.120 quote that, and so they were funded well how much money, 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.040 five to ten dollars depending on the ticket price. So 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.360 we're still talking about ticket prices being double what they 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.640 otherwise would would be. And you know, basically Ticketmaster has 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.920 a monopoly selling something like eighty percent of the concert 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.000 tickets in the country. And I think artists really need 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:54.800 to push back even more. They need to have their 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.440 voices heard because again, it's their fans who are being 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:02.160 taken advantage of. Congress I think needs to do something too. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.600 The fact that Ticketmaster continues to be allowed to host 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.679 consumers in the way they do. It's uncomfortable. I hate 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.959 seeing fees like this charge to everyday folks who just 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.160 want to go see their favorite Pans or whoever. Yeah, honestly, 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.360 I just don't understand how Ticketmaster and Live Nation were 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:18.400 able to join forces. So it was back in the 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:20.880 back in two thousand and nine. They're allowed to merge, 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.640 and that's what essentially gave them like a stranglehold over 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.560 the entire industry. But when you're so dominant, when you're 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.360 such a juggernaut, there is no ability for competition to 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:33.080 come in and actually compete and to offer a competitive product, 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.880 something that can stand up to Ticketmaster a little bit. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.760 But this is why competition matters. And actually, if you 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.720 want another example, take wet dog food and this might 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.200 be a weird example of a just stick with us. 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.200 James Kerr he wrote about this over at the Humble 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.200 Dollar this week, and he found that wet dog food 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.160 has jumped in price, while dry dog food it's barely 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.640 budged and so he wrote a letter to the manufacturer 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.920 and he no surprise, he got a short note back 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.240 that said basically nothing. But what he found was that 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.080 even though there were ten brands of wet dog food 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.280 out there, they all come from the same two or 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.520 three suppliers. Uh. And so again just a limit, a 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.319 smaller amount of competition. So it also makes me think, 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.160 was it Jet Blue and Spirit we're looking to join 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.880 forces again and they got shut down? So and there 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.600 are a lot of different airlines, more airlines than there 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.640 are ticket issuers absolutely or what dog food? Yeah, yeah, 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:29.600 so there's not It's not as bad as the concert 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.120 ticket industry because nothing, I would even say, not even 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.400 home internet is as bad as like Ticketmaster, because at 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:38.680 least up there, Yeah, but at least you've got two 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.199 you've got two guys that you are bouncing back and forth. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:43.320 A lot of people would call that a duopoly. They 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.920 set prices kind of against each other, not in a 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.200 competitive way, but almost in like a collaborative way, which 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.080 is pretty pretty nasty. But it's not still not as 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.320 bad as a monopoly, which Ticketmaster clearly is. Yeah, and 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.920 I would yeah, And you said even said something about 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.360 Congress doing something too, And I might even push back 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.280 a little bit on that because I'm not sure or 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.679 when any regular like anytime I feel like the government 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:05.440 gets involved, it tends to lead to ultimately, like in 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.640 the long run, perhaps an inferior product. But I am 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.080 surprised that they were again back into nine, that they're 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.560 able to join forces. Man, it's just well, I disagree 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.319 because there's so it's so terrible that they are allowed 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:18.920 to do this, and they charge such high fees, and 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.040 it's not like they're providing a great product either, So 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.440 the product suffers, the consumer suffers, and like something needs 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:26.680 to be done. Really would feel differently if like the 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.880 airlines they get because it's more of a public utility, 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:34.200 but like this is entertainment, and do folks need to 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.600 go see the cure? Kate would enjoy that, you know, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.480 choose a fan back in the day. But for that reason, 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.880 it's something that I think folks can choose to opt 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.480 out of and their life won't be dramatically impacted, you 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:45.640 know what I'm saying. But I feel like this puts 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:47.560 a bad taste in people's mouths in terms of like 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.120 how capitalism works when monopolies and duopolies are allowed to 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:52.640 run them. Uck. It makes people think that capitalism. Yeah, 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.280 you know, and I get that, and I don't think 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.880 that's the problem. I think the problem is the monopoly 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.120 or duopolies situation. We also have a choice to because 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.480 if you say you are like, okay, I must go 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.480 to that show, maybe it is life giving to me. 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.400 But you can still go to the show, but just 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.000 go straight to the box office and then you get 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.080 to skip those those fees altogether. Well, sometimes sometimes it 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.280 depends on it depends on the place it's selling it, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:15.960 and sometimes there are fees when you buy it in 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.080 person too. I've been able to skip fees many times 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.080 going that route. But then again, when you look at 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.640 something like the Taylor, Swift or Beyonce concerts, like the 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.440 tickets we're gone, and those tickets we're gone, blink of 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.200 an eye. Yeah, basic, So you don't have that option. 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.960 So yeah, something something should be done about Ticketmaster. I 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:30.840 don't know what, but at least we're gonna rake them 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:32.960 over the coals here on the show. But Matt, let's 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.600 we got more to get to in on today's Friday flight. 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:36.960 We want to talk about kind of what's happening with 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.640 the passport situation and give kind of a word of 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:41.960 advice for anybody who's looking to travel soon. I'll talk 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:53.840 about that and more right after this. We are back 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:55.920 from the break and we're going to continue our Friday 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.240 flight here with the ludicrous headline of the week, and 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.520 this one comes from Bloomberg. The headline reads, bottled water 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.480 sales exceed the cost of providing safe water for all 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.040 un says, so, yeah, it turns out that we spend 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.840 way too much on bottled water in this country, and 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.800 it raises the question, Joel, you know, given just the 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.120 reality of safe, cleaning tap water at our disposal, it 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.520 is amazing that so many folks are opting for bottled 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:26.520 water that costs way more. Part of what this new 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.920 paper found was that and this is i'll quote this 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:32.200 company selling water also use marketing to undermine faith in 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.560 public systems, which essentially what that means is like we 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.200 are buying into the marketing hype that bottled water is 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.960 better for us when it's just not. Yeah, and well, 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.320 I feel like all sorts of newfangled bottled waters have 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:46.800 come on the market recently too, where it's like bottled 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:49.760 water with electrolytes or different pH levels or something like that. 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:53.520 And so with salt, Yeah, it's it seems and I'm 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:55.360 not saying that there's zero merit to any of those 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:57.760 different kinds of bottle water. I'm sure there is something, 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.520 But how much money we're spending to get these fancified 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.480 versions of bottled water. Or there's even like Liquid Death, 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.480 which is canned water, which has like seven hundred billion 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:07.879 dollars in sales or something. It's like one of the 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.480 fastest growing companies and it's literally just a cool can 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.920 that contains water. Liquid Death. We are so buying into 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.440 the marketing on this front, and it's pretty disturbing. Yeah, 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.119 I will say so, like they're they were trying to 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:23.000 equate the fact that certain companies, certain industries, in particular 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.600 the bottomed water industry, that because it's doing well, that 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.720 that means other countries out there aren't able to provide safe, 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.240 publicly accessible drinking water. And I'd take a little umbridge 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.080 with that part of it, because it's not like the 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.560 success of those industries is holding down the ability for 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.840 some countries to thrive. Right, Like say they were spending 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.119 more on bottle water. It's just a kind of absurd. 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.480 It's a comparison, yeah, essentially, but I didn't I guess 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:48.199 I didn't like how they're kind of comparing, Like it 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.840 made me think of like you can apply that to anything, Like, Hey, 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.040 the reason there aren't mosquito nets on the other side 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.760 of the world because you're watching Netflix. It's like, well, like, 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:57.840 if we all stop watching Netflix and sent that towards 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.680 mosquito nets, there's probably doesn't necessarily equate to the other. 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.480 And I think we should all have to have the 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.720