Slate Money Planet Money In Book Form!
17 snips
Feb 21, 2026 
Alex Mayyasi, Planet Money contributor and author, guides listeners through economic storytelling. He explores Argentina’s failed push for local manufacturing and the Tierra del Fuego BlackBerry experiment. He unpacks market design from organ matching to spectrum auctions. He also reveals how credit card interchange fees create a reverse-Robin Hood that favors wealthy cardholders.
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Argentina's BlackBerry Factory Flop
- Alex Mayyasi recounts Argentina forcing BlackBerry to build a remote factory in Tierra del Fuego and the political photo ops around it.
- The factory produced phones but failed because higher costs and slower updates made them uncompetitive and unsold domestically.
Picking Winners Often Misallocates Resources
- Forced industrial policy diverted talent and capital from Argentina's comparative advantages like beef and wine.
- That reallocation raised prices and inflation while creating unsustainable protected jobs.
U.S. Market Power Tempts Protectionism
- The U.S. has more market leverage than Argentina, so protectionism can look more tempting to U.S. politicians.
- That leverage doesn't guarantee success and can trigger tit-for-tat trade retaliation.
