Episode Reprise: Encore Interview with Tony Gill

Waaay back in Episode 22, Ron and Ed detailed the ideas behind Joel Waldfogel's book, Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays. Waldfogel makes the case that the deadweight loss to the economy from gift giving, in 2007, totaled $12 billion, out of approximately $66.5 Billion spent (about 12%) and that we should all give cash rather than presents. In this episode, we will speak with Professor Tony Gill about his ideas around Rethinking Scroogencomics and some of his other writings.

About Tony Gill

Anthony Gill (Ph.D. UCLA 1994) is professor of political science at the University of Washington and an adjunct professor of sociology at the UW. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, a research affiliate at the Mises Institute (Auburn, AL), a frequent mentor at the Institute for Humane Studies, and is currently nominated for membership in the Mont Pelerin Society. He specializes in the political economy of religion, religious liberty, and is currently dabbling in the economics of culture. He is author of two books — Rendering unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America and The Political Origins of Religious Liberty — and a bunch of articles and stuff in places like the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Rationality & Society, and Public Choice.

Normally, you would see info here about joining us live. This is a pre-recorded episode while Ron and Ed enjoy a well deserved break.

As always, please check our website for upcoming and previous show notes and recordings, use Twitter to find the show at @AskTSOE or find us on Facebook.

The Soul of Enterprise show hosts, Ron Baker and Ed Kless, are on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) at @ronaldbaker and @edkless, respectively (and obviously).

Episode #470: Holiday Hodgepodge

For their last show of 2023, Ron and Ed cleaned out their stacks of (business and economic related) stuff. It was a fast-paced conversation that makes it hard to listen on double speed!

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one

• We didn’t mean to start off on a bummer but it is worth noting that Gadi Haggai is believed to have passed as an Israeli American hostage being held by Hamas https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-gaza-hostage-dead-gadi-haggai 

• “One in five young Americans thinks the Holocaust is a myth” https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/12/07/one-in-five-young-americans-thinks-the-holocaust-is-a-myth 

• Ed mentioned that one of the things he likes about X/Twitter is the community notes feature. This allows others to publicly comment and rate the veracity of claims. More here: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-x/community-notes 

• From Jim Geraghty in the National Review: It appears a significant portion of the college students chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” have no idea which river and which sea they're chanting about. https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-antisemites-are-out-and-the-masks-are-off/#:~:text=It%20appears%20a%20significant%20portion,sea%20they're%20chanting%20about  

• The effective AirBnB ban in Manhattan had the exact intended effect…benefitting the hotel industry https://www.travelandleisure.com/airbnb-nyc-brian-chesky-8346923 

Segment two

• “Judge Orders Giuliani to Pay $148 Million Damage Award Immediately” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/20/us/politics/judge-giuliani-pay-damages.html 

• “Jimmy Lai’s show trial is how liberty dies” https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2023/12/21/jimmy-lais-show-trial-is-how-freedom-dies/ 

• Here is the Michael Munger podcast episode that addresses Huawei during a conversation with John Nelson https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-5g-revolution-huawei-controversy-and-global/id1687215430?i=1000639070906 @mungowitz

• “The Answer to China’s Totalitarianism Is Trusted Tech” https://nationalinterest.org/feature/answer-china%E2%80%99s-totalitarianism-trusted-tech-200598 

• Wage gaps are shrinking and The Economist has a great article about this: “A new age of the worker will overturn conventional thinking” https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/11/30/a-new-age-of-the-worker-will-overturn-conventional-thinking 

Segment three

• Costco membership fees and operating profits were approximately the same 10 years ago. Now their operating profit is twice the size of their membership fee. https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/you-wont-believe-how-much-money-costco-just-made-on-membership-fees/ 

• From the Economist: “Homeland Economics” is a protectionist, high-subsidy, intervention-heavy ideology administered by an ambitious state https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/10/05/are-free-markets-history 

• The COP28 climate change conference just ended in Dubai and Ron is really impressed with what 128 countries committed to for their carbon reduction efforts. Ha! I’m completely kidding. Ron’s comments today in segment three of the show are worth listening to for their…..LOGIC. 

• What used to be done via brain surgery can now be done with a helmet, as an OUTPATIENT. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265964/ 

• Sleep is a bit of an evolutionary mystery and now we have chin strap penguins that sleep thousands of times a day for only seconds at a time. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/11/30/why-chinstrap-penguins-sleep-thousands-of-times-a-day 

Segment four

• Quietly passed in 2021, the NY state legislature passed a bill and now “automated work speed zone monitoring” is being rolled out. Speed cameras. https://wpdh.com/automated-speeding-tickets-begin-for-i-84-and-i-87-in-new-york/ 

• From Gale Pooley: “Knowledge is what transforms atoms into resources. While the number of atoms on our planet may be finite, undiscovered knowledge is infinite. This is why resources can be infinite.” @gpooley

• “Supervisors vote against reactivating historic Nevada County gold mine” https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/historic-nevada-county-gold-mine-return-controversy-over-vested-rights/ 

• We are re-running our interview with Tony Gill next week and will be live again on Friday, January 5th. https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/417 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #469: The Art of Humor in Business — Interview with Greg Kyte

This is Greg's fifth appearance with Ron and Ed. Some of them incognito. (We'll let you try to figure which is which.) The topics are not scripted, but we assure you jocularity will ensue.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one

• Once a year, we host Greg Kyte on the show. In his words, Greg is the annual subscription guest of The Soul of Enterprise. If you don’t know him, you might recognize his voice from our commercials.

• Two years ago, Greg started “Oh My Fraud” - a podcast with Caleb Newquist. Never heard of it? Not likely but just in case here is the link https://ohmyfraud.com/  

• What has Greg learned from doing the podcast “Oh My Fraud”? He could become a fantastic embezzler of funds if only he didn’t have a conscious!

• The biggest overarching theme Greg sees from preparing for the “Oh My Fraud” podcast is a lack of internal controls that customers have

Segment two

• Oh….great term that I’ve never heard called the Fraud Triangle. Greg dropped the term today to refer to the things you need for fraud to flourish: opportunity, pressure, and rationalization

• What’s the one thing that drives most fraud to be uncovered? The person committing the fraud gets JUUUUUUUUUST a touch too greedy and then gets busted.

• The retail industry, for example, does calculations on how much money should be spent on deterring shoplifting. The answer might surprise you because they are not looking to control 100% of the shoplifting incidents.

• According to the ACFE Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, organizations lose approximately five percent of revenue to fraud each year with the average loss per case totaling more than $1.78 million https://www.acfeinsights.com/acfe-insights/tag/report+to+the+nations 

Segment three

• Greg and Caleb did episode 30 of Oh My Fraud about Fat Leonard. A man who basically bribed the entire 7th fleet of the United States Navy. Link is here: https://ohmyfraud.com/episodes/e30 

• Episode 32 of the “Oh My Fraud” podcast blew Ron Baker’s mind. It’s called “the Lawyer who sues the big 4 for missing fraud and wins” https://ohmyfraud.com/episodes/steven-thomas-the-lawyer-who-sues-the-big-4-for-missing-fraud-and-wins 

• “Santa uses the subscription model” —Greg Kyte

• “You can’t go to the market with a common offering because you will command a common price.” —Ron Baker

Segment four

• Is it possible to create a concierge comedy service? A subscription service for a comedy club? If you own a comedy club, you could have an annual pass to the club. Greg knows of ZERO comedy clubs actually doing this. 

• “If comedy clubs banded together and subscribed to a pool of comedians they could draw on, that would be interesting.” —Ron Baker

• A big THANK YOU to Greg Kyte for joining us today. Folks, you have to check out his podcast with Caleb Newquist, Oh My Fraud, at this link https://ohmyfraud.com/ 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #468: Centers of Progress — Interview with Chelsea Follett

This week Ron and Ed welcomed Chelsea Follett to talk about her book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World. From the book: "Where does progress happen? The story of civilization is the story of the city. It is cities that have created and defined the modern world by acting as the sites of pivotal advances in culture, politics, science, technology, and more. There is no question that certain places, at certain times in history, have contributed disproportionately toward making the world a better place. This book tells the story of 40 of those places." In Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World, Chelsea Follett examines a diverse group of cities, ranging from ancient Athens to Song-era Hangzhou.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Chelsea spends a lot of time thinking about human progress (get it?) and the conditions that drive it. This inspired her to write a book called “Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World”. More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Centers-Progress-Cities-Changed-World/dp/1952223652 

• Chelsea started writing this book during the pandemic and this (the pandemic) caused people to question cities and their role in the future. It was HARD the trim the list down to 40 cities for her book. 

• Most of the cities in Chelsea’s book were selected by reverse engineering things like a stable food supply and sanitation (for example). The origin points became some of the cities featured in her book.

• Urban centers are where we have seen new innovations and world changing innovations. Chelsea’s book - “Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World” - goes through the examples

Segment two:

• Relative peace, freedom, and multitudes of people are some of the key attributes associated with the Centers of Progress identified in Chelsea’s book. More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Centers-Progress-Cities-Changed-World/dp/1952223652  

• Sure, sure…human accomplishment can happen during times of war and instability. Chelsea’s book looks at the conditions that foster creativity and progress to help cultivate innovation. Peace and stability.

• “Conditions for progress can unravel so quickly. One of the most recent examples is Hong Kong.” —Chelsea Follett

• Many people assume the humanities are the result of leisure time, entrepreneurs, inventions. Writing evolved gradually due to…accountants and their need to document finances. Apt for our audience :)  

Segment three:

• “Economic development […] then funds all of the other forms of progress. Scientific advancements, inventions, great artworks.” —Chelsea Follett

• So much of the great music that we are familiar with TO THIS DAY all occurred in Venice. That’s where artists were well paid so it was lucrative for them. More on great cities here: https://www.amazon.com/Centers-Progress-Cities-Changed-World/dp/1952223652

• How did Thomas Edison influence Hollywood? At the time he was a very litigious man so the only way creative freedom in film could happen would be to go all the way to the West Coast…where Hollywood was created.

Segment four:

• Why is Wellington, New Zealand in Chelsea’s book about 40 cities that changed the world? They represent significant moral progress in the area of suffrage throughout the city’s history.

• China was superior in many aspects during the 12th century through the 16th century. Conditions for prosperity are fragile and not being at the front of the Industrial Revolution for China is a great example.

• San Francisco is a “city of extremes” and is featured in Chelsea’s book, “Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World”. More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Centers-Progress-Cities-Changed-World/dp/1952223652  

• A big THANK YOU to Chelsea Follett for joining us today to talk about her book, “Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World”. More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Centers-Progress-Cities-Changed-World/dp/1952223652 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #467: Subscription Economy Update — 2023 Edition

We can't believe it has been since February of 2022 that we have done a subscription-economy update. (Check it out at http://thesoulofenterprise.com/378.) We are glad to be sneaking this one in just under the wire for 2023. Ron and Ed share their latest thinking on the progress (or regression) of subscription pricing both in the professions and in the broader market including both business and consumer. As usual they come "loaded for bear." It will be a challenge to listen to this one at double speed.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Other subscription updates that were full shows include show 378 in February of 2022. Show audio and notes here: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/378 

• For one and done services, it’s really hard to turn into a subscription. What about a real estate agent, for example? We don’t have an answer yet but maybe some businesses do not fit the subscription model.

• Divorce attorneys and funeral parlors. Those are two great examples Ron and Ed give that are……ahem…..challeging from a subscription perspective.

• Ed and Ron had a fun time with this article today with a hat tip to Hector Garcia. Let’s just say there are some holes in the article :) https://www.axios.com/2023/11/24/membership-subscription-economy-business-model 

Segment two:

• From Andrew on LinkedIn (via Ron): He runs a sonic branding agency (the sounds we associate with brands) with weekly and bi-annual orders with budges in hundreds to the tens of thousands. How can this be a subscription?

• Related to Andrew’s question, Tim Williams has a great quote here because this is more about positioning than it is pricing: “Be something to someone.”

• Here’s a great definition of strategy from Playing to Win by AG Laffley and Roger Martin: “Strategy is an integrative set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice so that you can flourish.”

• “Diversification is what you do when you don’t know what to do. “ —Tim Williams

Segment three:

• The subscription release of the year for 2023: CNN blocks all programming of CNN so that you don’t see it again for $15 per month https://babylonbee.com/news/cnn-introduces-premium-subscription-service-that-blocks-all-cnn-programming-from-view 

• Gaming subscriptions are an enormous market now. Total gaming subscription revenue is currently estimated at $16 billion with game subscription revenues to rise to $22 billion a year by 2027 https://www.xfire.com/game-subscription-revenues-to-rise-to-22-billion-a-year-by-2027 

• People Are Sick and Tired of All Their Subscriptions: https://www.wsj.com/articles/people-are-sick-and-tired-of-all-their-subscriptions-cbee7e03 

• “Subscription moves things from CapEX to OpEX. It makes things more predictable and usually saves cash flow.” —Ron Baker

Segment four:

• Great news from Ron! You are invited to attend the Successful Bookkeeping virtual summit where Ron will be speaking on the subscription business model. Register here: https://www.thesuccessfulbookkeeper.com/virtual-summit-2023 

• Wait….what??? Did Ron just say you don’t need 3 pricing options anymore? You’ll need to listen to segment 4 of the show today to listen to him tease out this idea.

• From Ed today: Why has this option not appeared since the advent of cloud accounting? “You can use our system as long as you allow us to use your data to train our systems.”

• Why do people gravitate to flat pricing? Three reasons: 1) We overestimate our usage. 2) The feeling of being nickeled and dimed. 3) The insurance effect.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits.