Economics in the News – Sept. 30 – Oct. 6, 2024
Economics impacts our lives every day. Below are some of the top storylines from this past week related to economics.
o Netflix offers its customers more than 16,000 titles of content, thousands of them being Netflix Originals created for or acquired by the platform. With the wide array of titles, it would take a person nearly three and a half years of nonstop viewing to get through the catalog.
Netflix’s massive library changed the business of television, leading to the streaming wars and the rise in competitors such as AppleTV+, Paramount+, Peacock, Disney+, etc., It also changed how consumers approached TV. Instead of amusing as many people as it could at one time, the streaming video on demand model liberated TV from the law of averages and the prison of time. [The New York Times]
o The Harlem Globetrotters of baseball are back and more popular than ever. The Savannah Bananas are taking their act to a bigger stage in 2025, touring almost exclusively in NFL and MLB stadiums. After catering to small towns and smaller, more intimate minor league baseball venues such as Des Moines, Iowa or Hartford, Ct., the Bananas will go on tour to some of America’s largest stadiums.
In 2024, the Savannah Bananas played in 29 cities, drawing more than one million fans. With larger venues, the Bananas expect to double the overall attendance of their games. Three other Banana Ball teams, including the Party Animals, the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters will continue to headline games across minor league, smaller venues, without featuring the famous Bananas. In addition, the Bananas also expanded on plans to create an actual league with a Banana Ball-style championship on the line. [The New York Times]
o Dockworkers returned to work, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy. Port employees were offered a 62 percent increase in wages over six years, after a strike closed container ports from Maine to Texas. That is less than the union demand of a 77 percent increase in pay, but more than an earlier proposed 50 percent increase.
Many US dockworkers already earn more than $100,000 per year with baseline hours boosted by work rules and overtime requirements. The cost of higher wages will be assumed by cargo owners and shipping lines that manage the port terminals. The strike had impacted the country’s imports of food, vehicles, heavy machinery, construction materials, chemicals, furniture, clothes, and toys. [The Wall Street Journal]
o Hurricane Helene brought flooding to the Tampa Bay region not seen in decades. Now, the region braces for another hurricane – Hurricane Milton. A Category Five storm, as of Monday, Milton’s path projects it to make landfall near Tampa Bay. If Milton makes landfall in Tampa Bay or just north, it will hit one of the most susceptible places in the United States for severe flooding from a hurricane.
A direct hit from a hurricane has not happened in the Tampa Bay area since 1921, and it could decimate an economy that is dependent on winter tourists. Hurricane Helene made landfall to north of the Tampa Bay region, and even still, the area experienced record-breaking storm surge. Despite the known risks of climate change and the potential impacts of hurricanes, living in the area has grown more appealing to many. The population has grown by more than 187 percent from 1970 to 2020, with more than 3.2 million residents calling the region home. [The Washington Post]
o To try to accommodate a growing population in a country smaller than New York City, Singapore’s Turf Club was handed back to the government to provide land for new homes. The Singapore Turf Club was home to horse racing for more than 180 years and hosted its final race on Saturday, the Grand Singapore Gold Cup.
The racetrack of more than 300 acres is set to be bulldozed to accommodate new public and private homes. While the decision to close the track was a surprise when it was announced last year, the sport was on decline with spectatorship falling from a race-day average of 11,000 in 2010 to 6,000 in 2019. Younger citizens are migrating to other sports in the city, including the annual Formula 1 race – attracting more than 270,000 spectators. [Bloomberg]
