Odd Lots Talks Beak Capitalism on Money Stuff Talking Chicken

Tracy Alloway (0:00)

Hello, Odd Lots listeners. We have something very special for you. Joe and I appeared on an episode of Bloomberg's latest podcast. It's called Money Stuff, and it is hosted by two people that I think you will recognize from Odd Lots. Matt Levine, the esteemed financial columnist and chronicler of capitalism, as well as Katie Greifeld, who knows all things ETFs and horses as well. And Joe and I were there to talk about chicken.

Joe Weisenthal (0:29)

That's right. So if you recall, back in November, Tracy and I released a three-part series called Squawk Lots, where we explained how the US economy can be understood through the lens of chicken, basically taking the entire industry from an egg to sandwich, so to speak. And so we were delighted to go on with Matt and Katie and talk about our work.

Tracy Alloway (0:50)

Technically, it was called Beak Capitalism.

Joe Weisenthal (0:53)

Oh, that's right.

Tracy Alloway (0:53)

But Squawk Lots was our code name for it for a long time.

Joe Weisenthal (0:55)

That's right, it was called Beak Capitalism. That's right. It's been a long time.

Tracy Alloway (0:59)

Yes, it has. We hope you enjoy this special episode of Money Stuff and definitely give it a listen.

Joe Weisenthal (1:09)

Bloomberg Audio Studios.

Tracy Alloway (1:11)

Podcasts, radio, news.

Matt Levine (1:16)

Hello and welcome to a very special crossover episode of the Money Stuff slash Odd Lots podcasts. I'm Matt Levine and I write the Money Stuff column for Bloomberg Opinion.

Katie Greifeld (1:27)

And I'm Katie Greifeld, a reporter for Bloomberg News and an anchor for Bloomberg Television.

Matt Levine (1:31)

And we have two very special guests in the studio with us today, Katie.

Katie Greifeld (1:35)

Their names are Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway.

Matt Levine (1:39)

Wow.

Katie Greifeld (1:40)

This is very exciting.

Tracy Alloway (1:42)

I like the pause to build suspense, Katie.

Katie Greifeld (1:45)

I've been told to pause and then say names slowly for gravitas, so trying it out.

Tracy Alloway (1:50)

It's working.

Katie Greifeld (1:50)

It worked?

Joe Weisenthal (1:51)

Yeah, it worked. It worked.

Matt Levine (1:52)

All right. We've established some gravitas.

Joe Weisenthal (2:00)

For what it's worth, Tracy and I spent three years of Odd Lots workshopping ways to introduce guests, and I know we're only the second time you've had external guests, so don't feel any anxiety.

Katie Greifeld (2:09)

My heart is pounded.

Joe Weisenthal (2:10)

Don't feel any anxiety about the guest. Do you remember how we used to do it, Tracy?

Tracy Alloway (2:13)

Yeah, we used to pretend that neither of us, or one of us didn't know what we were gonna talk about. And it was like, guess what we're gonna talk about? But it didn't make any sense, because we clearly knew what we were gonna talk about.

Joe Weisenthal (2:24)

It took us a while.

Katie Greifeld (2:25)

How are we doing so far? Because I feel like it's not going super well.

Joe Weisenthal (2:29)

It's going fine.

Matt Levine (2:30)

What are we gonna talk about? What?

Katie Greifeld (2:33)

Someone should make a fucking noise. You brought us here. Let's talk about chickens. You guys obviously have a lot to say. You did a three-part series on chickens recently, which was pretty cool, because I feel like this was something different for you guys.

Tracy Alloway (2:46)

Yeah, every once in a while, we like to shake things up and do something slightly different. Last year, we actually did a three-part series on the rollout of New York's legal marijuana market called Potlots. This one was a three-part series about chicken, and the code name for it was Squawklots, but the actual name was Beak Capitalism, and the idea was you could actually explain a lot of really interesting themes in the American economy through the medium of chicken.

Joe Weisenthal (3:16)

Yeah, you just think from like egg to chicken sandwich, or egg to chicken tender, or egg to McNugget.

Katie Greifeld (3:23)

I mean, speak for yourself.

Joe Weisenthal (3:24)

There are just so many interested, like the sort of premise is there are just so many really interesting things that can be discussed along that entire supply chain. So whether it's avian flu and how to keep the flock of the birds, whether it's concentration in the poultry market, whether it's the nature of the labor market, how the big poultry companies contract with independent growers and so forth who raise the chickens themselves, which is interesting. Then there's questions about pricing and so forth. And then commodity prices and then the chicken sandwich wars and the consumer experience of why Papa is versus Panda Express versus whoever. There's a million different things even within all these things where it's like, we can learn a little something about how the economy works through that trajectory.