Podcast Summary: The Indicator from Planet Money

Episode: Pay transparency. The WhatsApp and Instagram decision. Our beef with screwworms.
Date: November 21, 2025
Length: ~10 minutes
Hosts: Darian Woods, Waylon Wong, Nick Fountain (guest)

Main Theme and Purpose

This episode presents the hosts’ "Indicators of the Week," covering three timely economic topics:

• The wage effects of pay transparency laws
• Meta (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp) prevailing in an antitrust lawsuit
• An unusual contributor to rising beef prices: the battle against screwworm flies

The tone is lively, witty, and informative, with hosts mixing serious data with playful banter.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Pay Transparency and Wage Growth

[02:30–04:46]
Host: Darian Woods

• Indicator: 2.5%
  • Definition: The average change in wages after pay transparency laws, per a new economics working paper.
• Pay transparency laws require employers (in some states) to post salary ranges in job listings.
• Expectations vs. Reality: Common belief is that transparency might raise wages by creating competitive pressure, but some economists worry it could also lead to wage “collusion” where firms coordinate to keep wages level.
• Notable Quote — Darian Woods [03:13]:

  “Pay transparency could also mean employers can tacitly collude with each other. They can see that the accounting firm down the block is keeping wages at, say, $70,000. They think if we can all just keep our wages at $70,000, maybe we can avoid competition for workers that would eat into our profits.”

• The new research looked at states like Colorado and found a 2.5% increase in wages on average after the law, but Darian points out the research is a working paper—more studies are needed.
• Caveat: “The economy is complex and we don’t always know the effects of a policy ahead of time.” [04:00]

2. Meta’s Legal Win and Social Media Competition

[04:48–07:08]
Host: Waylon Wong

• Indicator: $4 an hour
  • Definition: What participants were paid (in a study) to use Facebook and Instagram less.
• Antitrust Context: The FTC sued Meta (then Facebook) in 2020, saying it had an illegal monopoly by buying up Instagram and WhatsApp.
• Meta argued that it faces real competition from other apps, using a study by economist John List (University of Chicago) as evidence.
• Study Details:
  • 6,000 people had app-tracking software; some were paid $4/hour to use Meta’s apps less.
  • Results: People reduced time spent on Facebook/Instagram and switched to other platforms (like YouTube and TikTok).
  • Impact: Helped convince the judge Meta has competitors, which undermined the FTC’s case; Meta prevailed.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Waylon Wong [05:57]:

    “The judge was pretty openly skeptical of the FTC’s arguments, so ultimately he sided with Meta.”

  • Darian Woods [06:13]:

    “John List… super famous economist. He’s been on both of our shows. He’s worked for rideshare companies and Walmart. As an economist.”

3. Beef Prices and the War on Screwworms

[07:10–10:16]
Host: Nick Fountain

• Indicator: 16.6%
  • Definition: The increase in the price of steak over the last year (per BLS).
• One factor behind the price spike: an old foe—the screwworm fly (Latin name “man eater”).
• Background:
  • Screwworm larvae infest wounded cattle, devastating herds.
  • In the past, U.S. scientists eradicated the screwworm by sterilizing male flies and air-dropping them. When females bred with sterilized males, populations crashed.
• The comeback:
  • In recent years, screwworms have started reappearing northward from Panama, spotted in Mexico.
  • The U.S. halted imports of Mexican cattle and reactivated “tick riders” (cowboys on horseback who patrol for infested livestock) and built new fly-sterilization factories in Mexico and Texas.
• Impact: If unchecked, an outbreak could cost Texas alone $1.8 billion/year.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Nick Fountain [08:43]:

    “We were winning this war until a couple of years ago, when the flies started making their way north.”

  • “One day kids will ask, what did you do in the Great War, Grandpa? And grandpa will say, ‘I dropped millions of flies from a plane.’” – Waylon Wong [09:58]

Memorable Moments and Quotes

• Hosts' humor about intergalactic visitors, fly-drop “war stories,” and the significance of cowboys on tick patrol keeps the episode lively.
• Darian’s deadpan: “Boy, I would love to be a fly on the wall there.” [10:09]
• Waylon’s joke about “tick riders” (“I thought that was a kind of tick”) [09:30]
• Nick’s summary of the U.S.-Mexico fly offensive reads like a sci-fi plot.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:30: Pay transparency laws and wage effects
• 04:48: Meta’s antitrust case and the $4/hour study
• 07:10: Beef prices and the screwworm campaign
• 08:38: International fly drops and sterilization campaign
• 09:48: U.S. response: tick riders and fly factories

Takeaways for Non-Listeners

• Pay transparency laws are new but early research suggests a modest (2.5%) bump in wages.
• Meta’s victory in court drew on academic research suggesting users will shift to other platforms, weakening claims of monopoly.
• The price of beef is rising, in part due to renewed battles against an invasive fly, leading to cross-border efforts and modern cowboy heroes.

The episode is a perfect snapshot of big economic issues—legal, social, and biological—all intersecting in the indicators that drive daily economic life.

For further information, listen to "The Indicator from Planet Money" on your preferred podcast app.