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Explore " goods" with insightful episodes like "Bad Words", "Bad Words", "A Conversation with Professor Steve Hanke | Analysis of U.S. Midterm Elections | Misery Index | US Miltary Aid to Ukraine — Addressing Corruption", "Sharing the Load on Texas Roads: Are overweight trucks paying their fair share?" and "Strikes on Strikes on Strikes" from podcasts like ""HAPPY FRIDAY", "HAPPY FRIDAY", "America's Roundtable", "Thinking Transportation: Engaging Conversations about Transportation Innovations" and "Last Week 100 Years Ago"" and more!
Episodes (77)
Bad Words
The biggest power you have is your voice.
Nothing is stronger than the power of love. Use the force for good.
Shop our COMMON GOODS (https://commongoods.ltd) store for t-shirts designed with a positive message.
A Conversation with Professor Steve Hanke | Analysis of U.S. Midterm Elections | Misery Index | US Miltary Aid to Ukraine — Addressing Corruption
Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) Radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy in a conversation with Steve H. Hanke, a top economist and leading monetarist.
Dr. Steve Hanke provides an analysis of midterm elections, an update on America's economy, and raises concerns about the prolonged Ukraine - Russia conflict as the West's economic sanctions fail to bring an end to the war on the European continent. Dr. Hanke has been a strong critic of corruption in Ukraine and recent reports that he highlights raise red flags that US weapons are making its way to the black market. On America's Roundtable, principled leaders have called for greater oversight on how US taxpayer aid is being used in Ukraine and within NATO's Eastern European countries mired in corruption.
Professor Hanke also discusses the Misery Index, and "why it is essential for policy-makers to have a read of their constituents’ well-being, as viewed through the lens of economic statistics."
Report: Hanke’s 2021 Misery Index: Who’s Miserable and Who’s Happy? (https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/03/hankes-2021-misery-index-whos-miserable-and-whos-happy/)
Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI). What is it — and how should we conceive of man’s well-being? The human condition lies on a vast spectrum between “miserable” and “happy.” In the economic sphere, misery tends to flow from high inflation, steep borrowing costs, and unemployment. The surefire way to mitigate that misery is through economic growth. Comparing countries’ metrics can tell us a lot about where in the world people are sad or happy. HAMI gives us the answers. My version of the misery index is the sum of the year-end unemployment, inflation, and bank-lending rates, minus the annual percentage change in real GDP per capita. Higher readings on the first three elements are “bad” and make people more miserable. These “bads” are offset by a “good” (real GDP per capita growth), which is subtracted from the sum of the bads to yield a HAMI score.
Bio: Dr. Steve H. Hanke
Steve H. Hanke is a professor of applied economics and founder and codirector of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Dr. Steve Hanke served as special counselor to the Center for Financial Stability in New York. Hanke is also a contributing editor at Central Banking in London and a contributor at National Review. In addition, Hanke is a member of the Charter Council of the Society for Economic Measurement and of the Euromoney Country Risk’s Experts Panel.
In the past, Hanke taught economics at the Colorado School of Mines and at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers in Maryland in 1976– 77, as a senior economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981–82, and as a senior adviser to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress in 1984–88. Hanke served as a state counselor to both the Republic of Lithuania in 1994–96 and the Republic of Montenegro in 1999–2003. He was also an adviser to the presidents of Bulgaria in 1997–2002, Venezuela in 1995–96, and Indonesia in 1998. He played an important role in establishing new currency regimes in Argentina, Estonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia‐Herzegovina, Ecuador, Lithuania, and Montenegro. Hanke has also held senior appointments in the governments of many other countries, including Albania, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yugoslavia.
Hanke has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (2003), the Free University of Tbilisi (2010), Istanbul Kültür University (2012), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2013), Varna Free University (2015), the Universität Liechtenstein (2017), and the D.A. Tsenov Academy of Economics (2018) in recognition of his scholarship on exchange‐rate regimes. He is a distinguished associate of the International Atlantic Economic Society, a distinguished professor at the Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta, Indonesia, a professor asociado (the highest honor awarded to international experts of acknowledged competence) at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca, Ecuador, and a profesor visitante at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (the UPC’s highest academic honor).
In 1998, he was named one of the 25 most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine. In 2020, Hanke was named a Knight of the Order of the Flag.
Hanke is a well‐known currency and commodity trader. Currently, he serves as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. in Amsterdam and chairman emeritus of the Friedberg Mercantile Group Inc. in Toronto. During the 1990s, he served as president of Toronto Trust Argentina in Buenos Aires, the world’s best‐performing emerging market mutual fund in 1995.
Hanke’s most recent books are Currency Boards: Volume 1. Theory and Policy (2020), Currency Boards: Volume 2. Studies on Selected European Countries (2020), Currency Boards for Developing Countries: A Handbook (2021), Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives (2022), and The Hong Kong Linked Rate Mechanism: Monetary Lessons for Economic Development (2022).
americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/)
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/
America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472
Twitter:
@steve_hanke
@ileaderssummit
@AmericasRT
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA
@supertalk
America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.
America’s Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.
Tune into America’s Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms.
Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm
Sharing the Load on Texas Roads: Are overweight trucks paying their fair share?
Big trucks cause more damage to transportation infrastructure, but they pay less to use roads and bridges than passenger vehicles do. New research findings – with input from the freight industry – can inform how policy makers might change that.
Strikes on Strikes on Strikes
Last Week 100 Years Ago is created by Isaac Smith. This episode produced by Isaac Smith and Michael Karcz. Mixing and additional audio editing by Jeremy Zussman.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, for clippings of these articles and random thoughts.
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Jeremy Zussman is the audio master. Check out his website!
What is a typesetting machine? Find out here!
"Space Jazz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Reducing logistics costs in India
The National Logistics Policy was unveiled recently. The policy aims to improve the competitiveness of Indian goods and enhance India's economic growth. Anupam Manur and Sarthak Pradhan discuss the recent policy move's significance and the challenges ahead.
You can follow Anupam Manur on twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/anupammanur
You can follow Sarthak Pradhan on twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/PSarthak19
Check out Takshashila’s courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/
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John Freer (Journalist - Thames Business Association) - ALTBAYS SHOW #90
Show 90 John Freer (Journalist/Thames Business Association)
Welcome to ALTBAYS Show (feat. Brett Soanes and Leo Magri)
Meet John Freer
John is a former journalist and former Thames Valley rugby player. He currently manages Goldfields Shopping Centre in Thames.
John is a Thames-Coromandel district mayor candidate in the 2022 elections. He wants to unite the wider community so that all residents and ratepayers have a “shared and agreed” approach to future development.
Recently, John was hit in the mall he manages in Thames when asking a few young people not to skate inside the facilities.
ALTBAYS Show invites awesome people from Aotearoa, New Zealand, to have an honest, laid-back conversation. Our platform focuses on bringing communities together to grow and thrive.
Of Needles and Haystacks: For truck drivers, finding a parking space is tougher than ever.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped to expose a chronic shortage of truck drivers in America – and a scarcity of places for those truckers to park, too. That has big implications for how we get the products we need, and how much we pay for them.
Steph Wood (Sol. Goods Suncare) - ALTBAYS SHOW #89
Show 89 Steph Wood (Sol. Goods Suncare)
Welcome to ALTBAYS Show (feat. Christine Threadgold and Leo Magri)
Meet Steph Wood
Steph started her sustainable suncare business, Sol. Goods, after wanting to naturally protect the faces of her family when they travelled the coast of Central America chasing waves a few years ago.
What started as a small idea has created a fire inside her to be better, do better and produce a sun care range that is safe, effective, and doesn’t come at the cost of our environment. She has created low waste plastic-free packaging with a closed-loop program and always is on the hunt for better ways to improve the sustainability of what we choose to use.
Steph is always chasing the best waves with her family and friends. She makes the best out of the Coromandel lifestyle, that’s for sure!
ALTBAYS Show invites awesome people from Aotearoa, New Zealand, to have an honest, laid-back conversation. Our platform focuses on bringing communities together to grow and thrive.
Dr. Steve Hanke | U.S. Inflation at 40-year High | Energy Independence | Failure of Sanctions — Russia
Join America's Roundtable co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy for a conversation with Dr. Steve H. Hanke, professor of applied economics and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Prof. Hanke served as senior economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers and as senior adviser to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
The discussion will highlight the reasons that Americans are facing skyrocketing inflation and high gas prices. On America's Roundtable, Professor Hanke will share why he believes that there is a 70 percent chance of a recession impacting America — and stagflation as a real possibility.
"According to what the Fed released on Tuesday, the US money supply (M2) has slowed dramatically in the past two months. If this plunge continues, a recession will begin late in 2022 or early 2023. The Fed is clearly doing what they’ve been doing for some time: flying blind." — Professor Steve Hanke
The conversation will also delve into America and the West's failure to change Russia's behavior as Putin and his generals wage war on the European continent. Professor Hanke, a strong critic regarding the effectiveness of imposing sanctions will share empirical observations and history's lessons regarding this failed effort being pushed by politicians.
CNBC report (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/23/russias-ruble-is-at-strongest-level-in-7-years-despite-sanctions.html) "Russia’s ruble hit its strongest level in 7 years despite massive sanctions. Here’s why" —
"The reasons are, to put it simply: strikingly high energy prices, capital controls and sanctions themselves. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of gas and the second-largest exporter of oil. Its primary customer? The European Union, which has been buying billions of dollars worth of Russian energy per week while simultaneously trying to punish it with sanctions."
WSJ: Cancel Milton Friedman, and Inflation Is What You Get — By Steve H. Hanke and John Greenwood (https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-joe-biden-op-ed-wsj-milton-friedman-monetarism-fed-11654293974) | June 5, 2022
The word ‘money’ doesn’t even appear in President Biden’s plan to whip inflation.
The lead paragraph of President Biden’s op-ed “My Plan for Fighting Inflation (https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-plan-for-fighting-inflation-joe-biden-gas-prices-economy-unemployment-jobs-covid-11653940654?mod=article_inline)” (May 31) asserts that the global economy faces an inflation problem exacerbated by Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, high oil prices and supply-chain problems. This line of argument shows why the president’s team and the experts at the Federal Reserve were unable to anticipate the inflation conundrum that their economic missteps have forced us into. It also shows why the president’s plan will likely fail to allow us to exit inflation with a smooth landing.
We don’t have a global inflation problem. Inflations are always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon spawned by the creation of excess money by local central banks. China, Japan and Switzerland also face elevated oil prices, supply-chain problems and fallout from the war in Ukraine, but their annual inflation rates are 2.1%, 2.5% and 2.5%, respectively. They have avoided the ravages of inflation because their central banks haven’t produced excessive quantities of money.
Adherence to the tenets of monetarism is nowhere to be found in the Biden White House or the Fed. Chairman Jerome Powell has stressed that we had to “unlearn” monetarism. It looks like Mr. Biden was an attentive student. The word “money” doesn’t even appear in his plan to whip inflation. As he said in 2020, “Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore.” As long as Friedman and monetarism remain canceled, the White House and the Fed will be grasping for straws.
Prof. Steve Hanke and John Greenwood
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore and London
Further reading:
WSJ: The Fed Needs to Put Its Eye on the Money Supply — By John Greenwood and Steve H. Hanke (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-needs-to-put-its-eye-on-the-money-supply-inflation-transitory-banking-system-rates-11646944490)
Slowing its growth without triggering a recession is a tricky proposition. Is the central bank up for it?
WSJ: Jerome Powell Is Wrong. Printing Money Causes Inflation — By Steve H. Hanke and Nicholas Hanlon (https://www.wsj.com/articles/powell-printing-money-supply-m2-raises-prices-level-inflation-demand-prediction-wage-stagnation-stagflation-federal-reserve-monetary-policy-11645630424)
The Fed chairman insists the growth of M2 doesn’t ‘have important implications.’ The math shows otherwise.
https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/
America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472
Twitter:
@steve_hanke
@supertalk
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA
America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.
America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.
America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.
Facing the Counterfactuals (How to Navigate the eCom Downturn)
A Boom to the Creator Economy?
- Counterfactuals give us a what-if thinking. It’s thinking through scenarios that haven’t happened, but what if they did? They help us analyze our past performance
- “Counterfactual analysis makes up a lot of like our cause-effect thinking when we're thinking about how to apply a situation in a new context because nothing is ever the same and the pace of change is happening faster and faster.” -Brian
- The concern that many have right now is where do customer place their loyalty? Will they be more experimental or less experimental? They're going to go to the things that they know and return to defaults
- There is a demand for growth and demand for goods right now that's being pent up. The demand is there, but it's not being met
- In a downturn, more money is necessary for all areas of life, causing people to look for another job, side gig, and ways to bring in that extra income. With everything increasing, there will be a people supply as well, which in hand would lead to a boom in the creator economy
Associated Links:
- Insiders #123: A Marketer's Guide to the Multiverse of Madness
- Stocking up and Seeking Out, Rightpoint
- Stay tuned for VISIONS 2022…coming soon!
- Subscribe to Insiders and Senses to read more of our hot takes!
- Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce
- Check out Decoded, our newest limited series
Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!
Randy Ramsey / Jarrett Bay
Our first truly luxury goods episode, Randy Ramsey co-founded Jarrett Bay custom boats when he was 18 and his positive impact and outlook has gone in every direction on everything he touches. If you want to hear “paying it forward” in action, this is the episode for you.
00:18 - Randy Intro
02:08 - How did Jarrett Bay start?
07:58 - Boat building cycle
10:14 - Collaboration
11:03 - Scaling the business
13:49 - Boat repairs
15:24 - Brand articulation
16:54 - Furniture line
18:28 - Jeff Burton’s boat
19:03 - Sun Communities acquirement
23:40 - Marketing
24:33 - Measuring ROI
26:28 - Accidental boat builder
28:45 - Company’s values
30:23 - Dream build
31:03 - Educating others
33:49 - What keeps you up at night
34:43 - The next five years
https://www.facebook.com/JarrettBayBoatworks/
https://twitter.com/JarrettBay
A Tradition Unlike Any Other
Dan and Will talk about the problems in golf supply chains and a special treat that's missing from the Masters
Want to suggest topics or get advice on your supply chain management? E-mail us at: Hello@Anvyl.com
Expanding Horizons with Vertical Farming
Dan and Will discuss the value of vertical farming and what to make of Oatly's struggles
Want to suggest topics or get advice on your supply chain management? E-mail us at: Hello@Anvyl.com
Dr. Steve Hanke | US Inflation at 7.9% — Fastest Pace in 40 Years | Fed's Surplus of Money Fueling Inflation | Failed Policies from Washington, D.C. Leading to Skyrocketing Gas Prices
The brilliant economist Dr. Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, joins America's Roundtable co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy in a timely conversation on the U.S. Labor Department's report on the rising inflation rate - now at 7.9%, the highest in four decades, about increasing interest rate and how it will impact hard working and decent Americans, families and small and medium private enterprises.
On America's Roundtable, key issues and topics impacting America and the world will be brought to the forefront with an in-depth look at how bad policies in Washington, DC, led to skyrocketing gas prices. The discussion will bring to light the Federal Reserve Bank's role in fueling inflation with surplus of money.
Steve H. Hanke is professor of applied economics and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Steve Hanke served on President Ronald Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors and is a leading world expert on measuring and stopping hyperinflation.
Further reading:
The Monetary Bathtub Is Overflowing
https://www.wsj.com/articles/monetary-bathtub-overflowing-inflation-drain-transitory-11634847429
The Fed Needs to Put Its Eye on the Money Supply
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fed-needs-to-put-its-eye-on-the-money-supply-inflation-transitory-banking-system-rates-11646944490
https://ileaderssummit.org/services/americas-roundtable-radio/
https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/
America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472
Twitter:
@steve_hanke
@supertalk
@ileaderssummit
@NatashaSrdoc
@JoelAnandUSA
America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit.
America’s Roundtable radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America’s economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world.
America’s Roundtable is aired by Lanser Broadcasting Corporation on 96.5 FM and 98.9 FM, covering Michigan’s major market, SuperTalk Mississippi Media’s 12 radio stations and 50 affiliates reaching every county in Mississippi and also heard in parts of the neighboring states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, and through podcast on Apple Podcasts and other key online platforms.
Supplier Relations and Presidents with Stacy Corona
Dan and Will are joined by their first guest ever! Stacy Corona from Twin Health talks about supplier relations and a former President that shaped her approach to business.
Want to suggest topics or get advice on your supply chain management? E-mail us at: Hello@Anvyl.com
Blast Off: We Are Heading to Space!
Dan and Will are joined by their first guest ever! Stacy Corona from Twin Health talks about supplier relations and a former President that shaped her approach to business.
Birth of the Ownership Economy: 2021 Year In Review
2021 was the year acceleration stuck. It was also the year in which the “passion economy” gave birth to the “ownership economy”, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership. All driven by the Web3 boom. And it reveals a glimpse into a possible future where all platforms are built, operated, funded, and owned by their users, who are rewarded with tokens that are proportional to the value that they’re able to create.
Chris and Andrew explain this paradigm shift, summarizing in just 20 minutes the 15 industry articles, 31 podcasts, and 7 industry watch lists the RockWater team published in 2021.
Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up link
Learn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater website
Email us: rounduppod@wearerockwater.com
--
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Chris Erwin:
So Andrew, it is the end of January and we are recording our first Roundup podcast of the year. I think we've left our listeners hanging a bit.
Andrew Cohen:
Pros and cons of not being a full-time media company, try our best to turn out excellent content, but not always the most timely we do our best
Chris Erwin:
We're full-time advisory and just added doing some direct balance sheet investing this year into digital goods as well, trying to have all of... Stay updated on all things content, a little bit of a challenge, but we do our best. So we just published a piece that summarized all of our amazing thinking and all of our articles and podcasts in 2021, it was our year in review and we talked about two key themes. So I'll talk about the first one. And then you could talk about the second. How does that sound?
Andrew Cohen:
Sounds good.
Chris Erwin:
All right. So looking back on 2021, one thing that didn't surprise us was sticky acceleration. So we defined this as that there was certain things, dynamics of the economy that were pulled forward during COVID in 2020. These things include e-commerce penetration, content consumption, and content spending. And what we saw in '21 was that this acceleration, it wasn't a reversion back, it was sticky. It stayed with us in 2021, actually continued along it's trajectory. So let me review a few key stats on that front. On the e-commerce front, reminder that in 2020 during COVID e-commerce sales grew 32%, 2021 they grew by another 16%. Incredible. On the audio front in 2020, 52% of consumers said they began listening to more podcasts. Last year, monthly audio listenership was up 7%.
Chris Erwin:
In OTT video by the end of 2020, 73% of consumers were streaming more OTT video content than they were before the pandemic. Last year in '21, the average number of streaming services per consumer increased 28% year over year. For the creator economy 2020, we saw Cameo grow its bookings by 350% and its GMV by 4.5 times while Only Fans grew its user base by 75% month over month during COVID. But last year in '21, the number of digital creators increased 48% year over year growing the total value of the creator economy market to $104 billion, which we covered in a pretty foundational piece at the end of last year.
Chris Erwin:
So look, a lot of things I think people had been anticipating were going to happen in the digital content e-commerce economy for a while, got pulled forward during COVID 2020, that stayed the trend last year. But as a result of these macro shifts, capital flowed accordingly, right? So we saw $5 billion of investor capital flow to the creator economy, total telecom, media, tech, aka TMT investments hit $233 billion, 27% year over year increase from 2020 and total content global spending increased 14% to $220 billion. Really some staggering numbers here, Andrew. So that was sticky acceleration, but something else happened here too. Tell us about that.
Andrew Cohen:
That might have surprised some people that kind of sticky acceleration, but I think we were always bullish that COVID was more of an accelerant than an aberration and I think that proved true in 2021. But I think one thing I could admit that I definitely did not see coming the beginning of 2021 was the birth of the ownership economy. So just take a step back first, we had the attention economy, let's call it 2010 to 2020, where social media incumbents empowered traders to reach and engage audiences at scale and monetize that reach through ad revenue and grant partnerships. Then last year we wrote about this at top of 2021, we were seeing the birth of the passion economy, where immersion creator economy platforms and services were empowering creators to monetize their fandom directly with things like subscriptions, merch, tipping, you name it.
Andrew Cohen:
And now what we saw in 2021 with the mass adoption and integration of crypto, it allowed creators to drive value beyond merely kind of transacting with their fan communities. And through the implementation of digital scarcity, web3 has enabled creators to monetize and engage their audiences in totally revolutionary new ways. So through limited edition drops and auction models, creators are now able to create and monetize new classes of the super fans, which can be capitalized upon far beyond the price of a single branded hoodie. And in these ecosystems, fans transcend the role of being mere consumers and actually become shareholders and collaborators they're incentives are now completely aligned with those of their favorite creators and their platforms. And the result is what we're calling the ownership economy, which blurs the line between creators and fans into communal ownership. And it reveals a glimpse into a possible future where all platforms are built, operated, funded, and owned by their users who are then rewarded with tokens that are proportional to the value that they're able to create.
Andrew Cohen:
And so the seeds of this ownership economy, we saw begin to sprout in 2021, and we definitely expect them to blossom beyond in 2022. Just a couple stats that really stand out from 2021. First of all, NFT sales in 2021 hit total sales volume of $23 billion, which was up from only $340 million in 2020. So again from $340 million in 2020 to $23 billion in 2021 is pretty incredible. And so as a result, we saw things like the NFT marketplace OpenSea, they recently raised a $300 million Series C for a $13 billion valuation. We saw similar valuations from Dapper Labs and other in the space. This is definitely something that we think is going to continue to emerge and grow in 2022. But as a reminder, we don't believe that this is at odds with the passion economy, see this as kind of a new subset of the passion economy. Definitely think that there's room for the web2 and web3 versions of this to continue to evolve together and not necessarily a zero sum game.
Chris Erwin:
Andrew, I'm just looking at those numbers when you say the sales volume for NFTs from $340 million in '20 to $23 billion in '21 that reminds me when I first started investing in Ethereum and Bitcoin back in 2017. And I just remember the trading volume, I felt like it probably like 10X during that year. And everyone was talking about it, all friends were like, "Are you investing in crypto? Where are you at?" And this year I could say, now the amount of texts that I got from friends and industry peers are saying, what's your status? What's your portfolio in NFT? Looking at these numbers, it explains all that context.
Andrew Cohen:
Very jealous of you, I wish my friends were telling me to invest in crypto in 2017, would be in a lot better place right now.
Chris Erwin:
Well, Andrew on the burgeoning ownership economy, right? So I think what we've established is this is going to be a recurring trend in 2022. And we have some predictions that I'll come out and talk about this. But before we get into those for the year ahead, let's take one last look back at how these trends shaped our priority coverage verticals in 2021. So as a reminder, if you go to our website, wearerockwater.com. You'll see all the different verticals where we specialize. So this includes audio, food, livestreaming, media and commerce, OTT video, and sports, and probably and it's something that we should add will be web3. I have to talk to our website developer about that.
Chris Erwin:
So we are now going to walk through across those main categories. What are the main highlights from last year? And keep in mind. There's a lot here. Our team wrote articles, industry watch lists and podcasts on all these topics. So they're all on our website wearerockwater.com go and check it out. So I think the first key theme, Andrew, is the creator economy and all things at the intersection of media and commerce. What's a highlight that stood out to you?
Andrew Cohen:
To me, when I think back on the creator economy in 2021, I think of the creator war which is yet another wars add to the list. Then we saw these emerging creator economy platforms like Patreon, Substack, how they began to establish market share and raised big money to build out tools and services, to empower and expand creator monetization. And in response, all the incumbents, the Metas, the TikToks of the world, YouTube, they began to replicate those tools in house. So like Facebook launching basically its own version of Cameo and its own Only Fans, as well as billion dollar creator funds that it launched to keep these creators in their ecosystems. I think that was really a defining characteristic of 2021. And now we're kind of beginning to see some of the seams of these creator funds begin to fray at the top of 2022. So very curious how these platforms are going to continue to evolve their models to keep creators happy in 2022.
Chris Erwin:
Yeah. Everyone's talking about that recent Hank Green piece on the TikTok creator fund, but love to save that for a separate podcast. So yeah. Look, I think in a similar vein in livestream shopping, right? So this is a trend we started covering a couple years ago when we saw a hundred billion plus market size out of China. And we're asking ourselves, why haven't these capital flows and investor conversations been happening here in the U.S.? Well, that changed. So all the major incumbents, they enter the race within livestream shopping, we think of YouTube and Meta and TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest. And we even saw some big livestream shopping festivals during the Q4 holiday season from YouTube and Facebook.
Chris Erwin:
But in addition to the incumbents, we also saw the emergent livestream, commerce, native platforms, raising big money to compete with and establish market share against those incumbents. So Whatnot became the first unicorn to emerge in a livestream commerce space at a $1.5 billion valuation. We also saw NTWRK raise a massive Series C and then other investments to Popshop and a bunch of other upstarts that raise rounds as well. So I think we're going to increasingly see capital flows to these upstarts in the new year, but we'll get to more of the details there in our upcoming predictions.
Andrew Cohen:
Absolutely. So moving to audio, what happened in audio in 2020? To me, the biggest defining trend of audio in 2021 was the birth of social audio. If you would've said the word social audio to me, 16 months ago, 18 months ago, I would've had no idea what you're talking about. And just within the first six months of 2021 Clubhouse raised at a $4 billion valuation. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Slack, Spotify, Reddit, Discord, they all invested and launched major social audio initiatives. Twitter acquired Breaker, Spotify acquired Locker Room to support these endeavors and it still has yet to be seen where this trend is going to go.
Andrew Cohen:
Definitely Clubhouse is not what it was at this time last year, but we are seeing a lot of activity on Twitter Spaces. And it seems like the space is very much influx, but led by Facebook, Spotify, a lot of the big platforms are really taking this seriously and continuing to invest in it. So I don't think that we can say that the story of social audio is over quite yet, but it began in 2021 and excited to see where it goes in '22.
Chris Erwin:
Totally agree. In addition into social audio, there's also some major acquisitions across a traditional podcasting space. So we saw SiriusXM, Pandora acquire Triton digital for $230 million and we saw Libsyn acquire AdvertiseCast for $30 million. So the capital's still flowing in the traditional part of the audio space. On top of that, we saw some major talent and IP deals from the top audio platforms that are vying for early stage market share, all with the goal of winning what we describe as the 'audio wars'. So we saw Call Her Daddy the podcast migrated over from the Barstool network, go over to Spotify for a $60 million licensing fee. And then Smartless was licensed by Amazon for an $80 million fee. So yeah, the money is still moving towards these tentpole talent and tentpole IP in audio, which is also what we're seeing in traditional video and OTT video as well. And we'll get to that in a moment.
Andrew Cohen:
So then moving on to sports, definitely 2021 was an exciting year for sports. Two things to me that really stuck out in terms of how to capture what happened in the world of sports business in 2021, I would say one, the explosion of sports betting in the U.S., cannot talk about sports in 2021 without talk about betting. Sports betting revenues doubled in 2021, putting it now at $52 billion and it's only skyrocketing up from there. And as part of a downstream result of this, but also as a result of several other factors like streaming wars cord-cutting, the increasing value of live content, which we've written about before, but the live rights values for sports teams are also continuing to explode. So this past year, the NFL re-upped its live media rights packages bringing in $110 billion over an 11 year deal, which is an 80% increase from its last deal cycle.
Andrew Cohen:
The NFL also re-upped its live rights package, doubling it in total value. And so as a result, we're seeing a ton of private equity capital moving into this space as well, especially in European markets. We're seeing American investors begin to invest in the media entities and live media rights packages for European sports leagues. So most recently we're seeing a bunch of U.S. PE funds bidding on French soccer leagues, media rights packages, which are being valued at about $14 billion right now. So a big reason why the overall sports economy is continuing to skyrocket at the pace that it is, I would say it's because of gambling, but also because of the huge valuation growth that we're seeing in their live media right packages, which is really the biggest revenue driver for all the major leagues.
Chris Erwin:
The numbers coming out of the sports media space, Andrew, which you've really educated me on, have just been so eye-popping over the last year and a half. I just can't believe it and it continues. Something that we covered extensively last year was the rise of creator competitions. So this is often merging traditional and digital native talent together for a tentpole competitive event that is then wrapped in a lot of different content that helps to market it and amplify the fandom. And it really led to some pretty incredible figures. So we saw Logan Paul fight Floyd Mayweather that drove over $50 million in pay-per-view revenue.
Chris Erwin:
We saw House of Highlights drive a hundred million views across their platforms for the first of its two showdown event series. So shout out to Doug Bernstein and Drew Muller, some of our friends over there. And just in December of last year, Triller announced its plans to go public at a $5 billion valuation, which I think is quadruple what it was last valued at. And as a reminder, Triller is one of the platforms that has actually really gotten behind these creator competition series and a lot of them actually go down on their network.
Andrew Cohen:
Bullish on creator competitions, bearish on Triller, save that for another episode.
Chris Erwin:
We'll have to see how that IPO goes. It's been planned, but it has not yet happened. And I think that'll be a good bellwether of the market here.
Andrew Cohen:
So then moving on to OTT video and the streaming wars, so really continue to escalate in 2021. And especially with really a subset of the streaming wars, which we're calling the IP wars, where, because of these huge arms races for user acquisition between all of the highly capitalized streamers, we are seeing tons of investment capital, M&A activity around studios and production companies. And that really kicked up this year. So a couple examples, MGM studios was acquired by Amazon for $8.45 billion, which is 27.5X EBITDA. Roald Dahl, story company, so all of the IP by author Roald Dahl was acquired by Netflix for $686 million with a planned billion dollar production spend behind it to put into original content, video games, everything.
Andrew Cohen:
And Candle Media, new venture by Mayer, Staggs and Blackstone made a couple big acquisitions, including Moonbug for three billion and Hello Sunshine for $900 million. So as the streaming wars are picking up, we've said the production companies to studios, they are the bullet makers, they're the arms dealers and they're more valuable than ever before. And that really became true in 2021.
Chris Erwin:
Shout out to Roald Dahl's estates. He is my favorite author. Favorite book is Boy, his autobiography. It was just cool to see that happen. Hopefully Netflix is a good servant of the IP that he's created.
Andrew Cohen:
I'm ready for a Matilda sequel bring back Danny DeVito.
Chris Erwin:
Dude, Danny DeVito all day. And also from New Jersey. Rise of kids screen time. So I think another thing that we saw in OTT video is 2020, there's a big inflection point here where I think kids in 2020 for the first time started watching and consuming more content on digital than they were in linear, that is a big deal. And so as a result of this, we started doing a little bit more work in the kids space. We were hired by a kids audio company and also a kids retailer and toy manufacturer. So we really believe in the space in that there's a lot more headroom here. So a few quick stats, kids screen time increased 50% since March 2020, 70% of kids spent at least four hours per day on screens. That's 10% year over year increase. 85% of kids under 11 spend an average of 85 minutes per day, watching videos on YouTube.
Chris Erwin:
And as a result platforms like Amazon, Spotify and Roku, they're all launching kids focused platforms. Instagram tried to launch a kids’ social network, but ran into some snafus there that might emerge again this year. We also saw YouTube, Netflix, ViacomCBS, Warner, Apple, Disney, all increasing their spends on kids' content. So it led to some things like what you talked about, Andrew, the $3 billion acquisition of Moonbug. And then we also saw Like Nastya a massive kids' YouTube personality that is also on a bunch of other platforms signing a major deal with Will Smith's Westbrook studios to produce a portfolio of animated content together. So yes, again, this is the kids and family screen time and retailer space and area that we get really excited about.
Andrew Cohen:
Absolutely. And so last but not least in food, media and commerce. We've always said that much like the kids and family vertical, food, media, really over-indexes on commerce conversions. And we saw that kick off in 2021 where we've previously seen a ton of activity in the CPG space with things like Complex and their Hot Ones hot sauce. During COVID we saw that continue, Barstool launched their frozen pizza line all across Walmart's nationwide. We also saw it expand into the experiential realm, both digital and IRL. So Ghost Kitchens really came on the scene this year, headed up by MrBeast Burger, which sold a million burgers in its first three months and has expanded rapidly since then. Also seeing companies like VDC, Virtual Dining Concepts, and our friends at Popchew build really exciting companies around turnkey style Ghost Kitchen platforms made for traders, brands, publishers to activate their audience in this kind of virtual restaurant and business model.
Andrew Cohen:
And now that things are moving back into brick and mortar, I wouldn't say post COVID, but now that we're not all locked down in our home, we're also seeing the success that some of these virtual restaurant models have had move back into the real world. Again, Barstool has launched a chain of some bars, sports bars, pizza restaurants. And I think with the success that we saw of tying out food markets globally before COVID, I think we're going to see that come back in 2022 in a big way and have these omnichannel food experiences between Ghost Kitchens, in-person restaurants, as well as more CPG activation. So it's an industry that's continuing to kick up steam in 2021 and [inaudible 00:19:54] that really excites us.
Chris Erwin:
Andrew, so I think we're definitely past our time limit. So just a reminder to our listeners guys, we wrote about all these topics in 2021. So if you go to our website, wearerockwater.com go to the content section and you'll get industry articles, industry watch list, podcast about everything that we just talked through. There's a lot there. And then upcoming Andrew, I think we just started to drop our predictions. I think our first one that's out is How Future IP Investments Will Super-Serve Under-Served Audiences Like the 40% of Non-Whites. So I think our next microcast is going to have to cover that topic as well as some other predictions that we have. I'm just looking at our recording. I think we might be a bit past our 15 minutes, Andrew, but maybe that's the new normal for 2022. We're going to be a little bit long-winded this time.
Andrew Cohen:
New normal. All right. See you next time.
Chris Erwin:
All right. Later.
Jerry Bowyer: 2021 Gave You Inflation
This is Jerry Bowyer for Townhall.com.
We recently received the inflation numbers for December. And I’m sure most of you are feeling it: We are at 7 percent year-to-year inflation—the highest annual rate in 40 years. It may well be the most important fact in the U.S. economy right now. 2021 gave you inflation.
This was not only predictable; it was also avoidable.
When money supply grows at vastly higher rates than money demand, inflation results. If the Fed keeps adding trillions to the monetary base at the same time that the regulators suppress commerce, that amounts to more money, chasing fewer goods, an inflationary double-whammy.
Is anyone helped by this?
Yes, the ruling class in politics and finance who get the new money first, get to spend it before the resulting inflation.
It’s time to put the blame where it belongs: a binge-spending government and a central bank in the role of enabler.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jerry Bowyer: 2021 Gave You Inflation
This is Jerry Bowyer for Townhall.com.
We recently received the inflation numbers for December. And I’m sure most of you are feeling it: We are at 7 percent year-to-year inflation—the highest annual rate in 40 years. It may well be the most important fact in the U.S. economy right now. 2021 gave you inflation.
This was not only predictable; it was also avoidable.
When money supply grows at vastly higher rates than money demand, inflation results. If the Fed keeps adding trillions to the monetary base at the same time that the regulators suppress commerce, that amounts to more money, chasing fewer goods, an inflationary double-whammy.
Is anyone helped by this?
Yes, the ruling class in politics and finance who get the new money first, get to spend it before the resulting inflation.
It’s time to put the blame where it belongs: a binge-spending government and a central bank in the role of enabler.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.