Get Exclusive Market Power Content
Today I'm launching exclusive content for paid subscribers to the Market Power newsletter. The decision to paywall some content has been tough, so let me explain what I'm creating, why I decided to create a subscription, and how you can get a free subscription.
Why do I have a paid subscription?
I split my work time between three main things. Being a professor takes two of them: teaching and research. Then the third is Market Power. There's a fixed amount of time I teach, and then I devote mostly any other working time to research (since that mostly determines whether I keep my job). Market Power is mostly done in my free time.
But if I look at the potential for impact--the potential to reach as many people as possible--Market Power ranks the highest and research is the lowest. So I would love to put more of my time into Market Power. But the opportunity cost is high. One of the reasons I dialed back my Market Power content was that I started doing it so much that I wasn't spending enough time on research, and I was seriously worried I was going to lose my job. Fortunately, by cutting back on videos, I was able to do enough research that it looks like I'll still get to be a professor (decision comes next year). But I want to do more on Market Power.
One of the things that makes Market Power so time consuming is that I edit all of my own videos. And I am not a natural editor (this surprises no one who actually watches these). Comparative advantage says I should hire an editor, but the problem is that Market Power relies solely on ad revenue, and it's not bringing in that much. So far I've made $4 off my latest video. Not quite enough to hire an editor.
Furthermore, some of the content the community wants more of is not stuff the YouTube algorithm wants to promote. I know a lot of you are interested in book recommendations, but those have performed especially bad for me on YouTube. If ad revenue is the only source of revenue, I have to make videos for broader audiences, and that means less stuff for people who like getting into the deep stuff like you do.
I also would love to do bigger videos. Recently I have been learning so much about economics from watching interviews with Haitian entrepreneurs in Haiti. (I'll probably write a newsletter on it soon.) I would love to do something like visiting another country to document cool economics lessons or interview more economists about what they do for work.
And, since we're all economists, I'd also like to be making some money from this. I do enjoy making the videos, but if MC>MB every time, it makes it hard to keep going.
In summary, I'm launching a paid subscription because I want better videos and better newsletters that serve the community we've created.
What is the exclusive content?
Both Market Power videos and the Market Power newsletter will continue to be available for free.
So what will paid subscribers get?
Think of the paid subscription like a backstage pass. This is where I'll show you not just how Market Power is made, but also what it's like to be an economist. What's the research process like? How do I get data? What are economics conferences like? What recommendations do I have for getting into grad school?
I'll also be taking your recommendations on what to provide. I'll do some Q&A videos for subscribers. I might propose some video ideas and get your feedback on which to make. When I interview economists, I'll post extended versions of the interviews for subscribers.
You can get a taste of it from the first paywalled post. The past 18 months I have been experimenting with a system that I wish I had started when I was in graduate school. In fact, I feel like I wasted graduate school because I had not been using it. And I feel like schools are wasting your time without teaching this. In the first post, I document how I take notes on the books I read. I don't just describe it. I wrote the post as I took notes and added screenshots of every step of the process. Comments will be open, and I'll answer questions in another paywalled article later this week.
There are three types of subscriptions. You can subscribe monthly for $10/month. Or you can save and do an annual subscription for $100, which is two free months. OR if you just really love Market Power and want to support the vision, you can become a Cartel Leader (since cartels create market power...). For anyone who becomes a Cartel Leader, I'll setup a one-on-one Zoom call to thank you and chat about your hopes and dreams.
If you're on the margin, I'm opening a 7-day free trial for you to experiment with. But if you want more than 7 days, read what's next.
The Market Power Positive Externality Subsidization Program
This newsletter gets better as more people read it. First, I have a greater incentive to write when the audience is larger. Second, your feedback helps me write higher quality articles and make higher quality videos.
That means there are positive externalities when you share this newsletter with a friend. And if there are positive externalities, that means sharing is undersupplied! If we're going to fix this, I have to subsidize sharing.
I'm inviting you to participate in the Market Power referral program. When someone subscribes to the newsletter using your unique link, you'll get a point on the Market Power Leaderboard. And with those points, you can earn rewards!
If you can get 5 people to sign up for the newsletter, you'll get 1 month of the paid subscription for free. Can you get 10 people? We'll do another 3 months for free. And if you can get 25 people, we'll throw in another 9 months. The rewards stack, so if you get 10 people you get 4 months total and 25 people means you get a whole year (+ 1 month) of the paid subscription for free.
These benefits stack on top of the subscription you already purchase. So if you want to buy a year right now, and then you get 25 people to sign up, you're good for two years. And the way inflation is going, that's probably a good investment to make!
Closing comments
I just want to thank everyone for their support. Even if you can't do a paid subscription, you're supporting Market Power just by reading the newsletter and watching the videos. There are many times when I've thought of quitting, but your support has helped me see that this content actually benefits someone.