This type of monopsony power or weight-setting power, right, is really kind of built into the nature of this market.

Different from markets, you know, that may be relatively easy to switch to, like what brand of cereal, although even there, as we know, there's brand loyalty and other sources of differentiated products

that give some degree of pricing power. Jobs are a lot more so because there's a lot more at

stake and we don't typically change jobs in the same way we change breakfast cereal.

And as a result, that these kind of mobility and other frictions are just likely to be a lot

harder to just wish away.

I'm Bethany McLean.

Did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed's a good idea?

And I'm Luigi Zengalis.

We have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.

And this is Capital Isn't, a podcast about what is working in capitalism.

First of all, tell me, is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed?

And most importantly, what isn't?

We ought to do better by the people to get left behind.

I don't think we shouldn't kill the capital system in the process. For much of the 20th century,

we economists have repeated a simple story of why everybody wins when companies invest and innovate.

Better technology means workers can produce more because workers are more productive,

companies fight over them. And because companies are fighting over them, we just go up. Basically,

if you help bake a bigger economic pie, you are guaranteed a bigger slice.

The story actually fits the data very well, or the data fits the story very well for the three

decades after World War II. In those years, productivity rose by 97%. And average salaries,

they went right up with it, rising 91%. The pie got twice as big and everyone's slice got twice

...