Podcast Summary: Slate Money – "The Facebook Pandemic"
Date: May 23, 2020 | Host: Felix Salmon with Anna Szymanski & Emily Peck

Episode Overview

In "The Facebook Pandemic" edition, the Slate Money team—Felix Salmon, Anna Szymanski, and Emily Peck—delivers an incisive roundtable on how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping business and financial markets. They explore the feverish stock market reaction to vaccine news, the moral and economic dilemmas of vaccine development, the consolidation of Big Tech power (especially Facebook), and the long-term implications of widespread remote work. With a mix of skepticism, humor, and deep expertise, the hosts untangle how the pandemic accelerates underlying trends—while raising new societal and ethical questions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The "Vaccine Rally" and Market Frenzy

Segment: 00:32–21:50

• Feverish Market Reaction: The Moderna vaccine trial (on just 8 people) resulted in a massive stock market surge—raising questions about investor rationality. Felix calls the market "febrile" (01:46).

  • Quote:
    "Trillions of dollars was added to the valuation of the stock market on Monday because of this press release that came out from Moderna about a trial about eight people." (02:45 – Felix)

• Disconnection from Reality: Investors and politicians tout miracle solutions, but the path to a viable vaccine is more complicated and lengthy.

  • Quote:
    "I think there's definitely a disconnect between what investors have done and what politicians are saying about vaccines to the reality of what it would take..." (04:16 – Emily)

• Market as Casino: Felix contends recent market movements are more about gambling than rational forecasting, especially with the rise in trading volumes and lack of sports betting alternatives.

  • Quote:
    "The market has just basically become a casino floor. You know, it's just purely gambling at this point." (05:03 – Felix)
  • Retail day trading is surging, partly because people who'd normally bet on sports or visit casinos have turned to stocks (07:54–09:54).

• Pharmaceutical/Tech Stock Frenzy: Discussion of how tech and pharmaceutical companies see disproportionate gains, compounding broader inequality.

Vaccine Development and Global Equity

• Government Deals & Vaccine Access: The US and UK are inking exclusive deals with pharma companies, which could give richer nations first access to vaccines—provoking moral and practical concerns about global public health (14:01–16:18).

  • Quote:
    "It's a way of getting the vaccine to the rich people first rather than the people who really need it the most first." (14:01 – Felix)

• For-Profit vs. Public Good: The panel debates if the traditional profit motive is fundamentally at odds with developing and distributing vaccines for pandemics.

  • Quote:
    "The only way it makes sense to finance this stuff is to just throw philanthropic and government money at it. It just doesn't make sense on a capitalistic level at all." (20:06 – Felix)
  • Emily suggests government-run pharmaceutical research could better serve the public good (21:02).

2. Facebook and Big Tech's Pandemic Power Grab

Segment: 21:51–32:52

• Zuckerberg's Consolidation: Facebook's CEO has concentrated more power, absorbing competitors (by acquisition or imitation), and integrating services (WhatsApp, Instagram).

  • Quote:
    "He has kind of like consolidated power around himself... causing... the founders of those companies to just leave the company totally with billions of dollars left on the table." (22:14–23:43 – Emily)

• Small Business "Hooks": Facebook’s initiatives during the pandemic (like small business grants and Facebook 'Shops') serve to lock SMBs into their ecosystem, potentially leading to digital dependency.

  • Quote:
    "This grant... is basically... like crack cocaine for small businesses." (23:43 – Felix)
  • Facebook copies competitors shamelessly (e.g., Instagram Stories vs Snapchat, Shops vs Shopify).

• Regulatory Vacuum: Despite prior bipartisan antitrust grumbling, the pandemic only boosts Facebook and similar giants as weaker competitors struggle.

  • Quote:
    "I don't think that there's going to be any pushback to Facebook for a very long time." (26:33 – Anna)

• US vs China Tech Competition Rhetoric: Facebook leverages fear of Chinese tech dominance to deflect antitrust scrutiny (27:21–27:36).

• Amazon: Less Disruptive Than Feared: Evidence suggests Amazon doesn't always take over new markets as expected, in contrast to Facebook's track record (28:00–29:53).

• Pandemic Advertising: Facebook is "winning the pandemic," not just in user numbers but in capturing ad spend and mindshare (30:01–30:57).

  • Facebook ad campaigns tap into pandemic emotions and position the platform as essential, aggravating for observers who see growing consolidation (30:59–31:59).

3. Working from Home: Pay, Inequality, and the Future of the Office

Segment: 32:52–44:43

• Facebook's Remote Work Shift: Mark Zuckerberg announces a move to permanent/large-scale remote work, but with locality-adjusted salaries—employees in less expensive places will earn less (32:52–34:28).

  • Quote:
    "If you were in the most expensive place... and then you move... your salary will have to go down. If it's going to be commensurate with where you live." (34:09 – Felix)

• Equal Pay vs. Location-Based Pay: Debates about fairness—should equal work mean equal pay, regardless of location? The practice is common, but raises equity questions (35:39–36:16).

  • Quote:
    “This seems to be a direct move in the opposite direction... It’s unequal pay for equal work.” (36:05 – Felix)

• Possible Upside for Inequality: If high wages become less concentrated in expensive coastal cities, could this stealthily reduce economic inequality? (35:39)

• Stock Options and Remote Work: Should the value of equity compensation also adjust based on location, or is that a different matter? No clear answer emerges (37:54–38:21).

• Resentment of Executive Privilege: The public may bristle at top managers working comfortably from vacation homes while frontline staff are exposed (39:04–40:27).

• Remote Work for Senior Employees Only?: At least initially, remote work benefits may mostly go to later-career, better-paid staff, while entry-level workers are still required in-office for 'socialization' and on-the-job learning (40:27–41:38).

• Cultural Shifts and Productivity Tools: Tech improvements since the last major debates about WFH may make it more feasible now (42:46). But the subtle loss of serendipity and uneven home-work setups could reinforce inequalities (43:32–44:38).

4. Numbers Round

Segment: 44:43–49:49

• Anna: 5.4 million euros

  • The amount Schenck Process in Germany claimed as 'EBITDAC'—Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization, and COVID—a "completely imaginary universe" metric for borrowing money (44:46–45:27).

• Felix: 15%

  • Proposed LA ordinance to cap food delivery fees to restaurants at 15% of order value, potentially helping restaurants survive the pandemic (46:03–46:41).

• Emily: 180 days

  • If NYC schools reopen on schedule, it will be 180 days since students attended in-person. Prolonged closures highlight both the essential caretaking/supervisory function of schools and the minimal 'real' classroom time during at-home learning (46:41–48:02).

    • Quote:
      "It will be 180 days my kids, our kids in New York, have gone without going to school. So that's a lot of days to be with your kids all the time." (46:41 – Emily)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Felix: "The market has just basically become a casino floor. You know, it's just purely gambling at this point." (05:03)
• Emily: "Everyone just wants this miracle vaccine to appear, you know, but I think reality is so much more complicated than that." (04:16)
• Anna: "Vaccines are like kind of notoriously bad business... There's a reason that you had a lot of private companies not spending a lot of money on vaccines." (15:07)
• Felix: "This grant... is basically... like crack cocaine for small businesses." (23:43)
• Emily: "Facebook, they are winning this pandemic, right? I mean, that's the bottom line here." (30:01)
• Felix: "This seems to be a direct move in the opposite direction. It's unequal pay for equal work." (36:05)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Vaccine/Market Mania: 00:32–21:50
• For-Profit Vaccine Debate: 14:01–21:50
• Facebook’s Power Accumulation: 21:51–32:52
• Remote Work and Salary Implications: 32:52–44:43
• Numbers Round: 44:43–49:49

Tone and Language

The hosts blend dry wit, sharp skepticism, and pragmatic analysis throughout. Conversation flows naturally with lively interplay and honest uncertainty about how the current tumult will resolve. Felix’s British-accented cynicism and Emily’s pop culture references keep things conversational, while Anna anchors with business fundamentals.

Summary Takeaway

The COVID-19 pandemic is acting as an accelerant, deepening the casino-like mood of markets, boosting the dominance of Big Tech (especially Facebook), and potentially transforming work culture with profound implications for pay and inequality. The underlying threads are urgent questions of fairness: in medicine, in business, and in society at large.