PM does a pop culture draft: 1999 edition

What It Covers

Planet Money hosts draft 1999 pop culture artifacts through an economic lens, competing to assemble the best team of movies, songs, and wildcards that illustrate business principles, from Pokemon's franchise model to Napster's industry disruption.

Key Questions Answered

• •Comparative Advantage in Boy Bands: Backstreet Boys' I Want It That Way demonstrates economic theory where AJ dances center stage despite being the best singer because Brian sings better than he dances, optimizing each member's relative strengths within the group's production constraints.
• •Low-Budget Film Returns: Blair Witch Project cost between $30,000-$70,000 to produce and grossed $248 million, achieving a 250x return on investment. This model directly influenced Jason Blum's Blumhouse strategy of placing multiple small bets on horror films expecting occasional massive hits.
• •Marriage Economics and Gender Roles: TLC's No Scrubs reflects documented trends where marriage rates decline down the income ladder as working-class women face smaller pools of employed men due to industrial job losses and mass incarceration, choosing independence over partnerships with insufficient economic contributions.
• •Digital Currency Precursor: Flooz.com launched in 1999 converting real money into internet-only currency accepted by retailers like Tower Records, paying spokesperson Whoopi Goldberg in company shares. The venture collapsed after $300,000 in stolen credit card fraud, foreshadowing modern cryptocurrency marketing tactics.