How Corporations Jack Up Prices with Lindsay Owens
Summary
Adam Conover hosts Lindsay Owens, author of *Gouged*, to explore how technology and mass surveillance have enabled corporations to engage in systemic price gouging. They discuss algorithmic price fixing, artificial scarcity, and dynamic pricing strategies that undermine fair competition and consumer trust. The conversation highlights the failure of political classes to address these corporate practices, contrasting them with ineffective tax subsidies. Owens explains how modern pricing tools allow companies to extract maximum value from consumers while evading regulatory scrutiny.
Topics discussed
Intro: The affordability crisis and price gouging
Patreon book club, special episode, and guest intro
Tech-enabled price fixing and dynamic pricing
Defining price gouging vs. legitimate cost increases
Tariffs, artificial scarcity, and the egg market
Why Americans blame inflation, not corporations
Sponsor reads: Hungry Roots and SmileSet
Market concentration and the breakdown of competition
Monopolies in the supply chain and meat processing
Lina Khan, antitrust enforcement, and all-in pricing
Political inaction and the failure of subsidies
Historical cartels: Lightbulbs and Amazon/Walmart
Enforcement challenges and the Uber effect
Dynamic pricing expansion: Museums, casinos, and stores
Airlines and the backlash against personalized pricing
Surveillance pricing, loyalty programs, and data
The history of the price tag and fairness
Consumer strategies and proposed legal reforms
Book promotion, credits, and outro
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