Products Of The Mind: A Conversation About The Intersection Of Business + Creativity

Products of the Mind Episode 17: Author Marina Krakovsky on the Value of Middlemen Welcome to Episode 17 of Products of the Mind. On this episode, I speak with reporter and author of The Middleman Economy Marina Krakovsky. “I noticed that people have this very conflicted, often ambivalent attitude toward middlemen; we need them but we often resent them.” “What is a fair price of a snow shovel after a snowstorm?” Today we chat with Marina Krakovsky, a reporter, researcher, and author. We chat about behavioral economics, or what happens the intersection of psychology and economics. Marina tries to answer the question, “How do people behave in economic situations?” What is the true role of those “wheelers and dealers” known as economic middlemen? Do middlemen profit fairly; what value do they provide? How is Craigslist both a middleman and a platform for other middlemen? Why is eBay’s “power seller” award a highly coveted middleman status? Also: Why we use Amazon; why your cable company might be the most reviled