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Home > Words & Numbers > Episode 490: We’re Not Interested
Podcast: Words & Numbers
Episode:

Episode 490: We’re Not Interested
Category: Education
Duration: 00:48:46
Publish Date: 2026-01-20 12:00:00
Description:

In this episode, we examine the illogic behind TSA security rules and how performative regulation often substitutes for real safety, before turning to the economics of ticket scalping and why attempts to suppress secondary markets routinely backfire. We discuss proposals to cap credit card interest rates, including Donald Trump’s suggested limit, and explore how price controls distort lending, restrict access to credit, and harm the very consumers they are meant to protect. The conversation connects these issues to broader misunderstandings about markets, incentives, and regulation, highlighting how political solutions driven by optics rather than economics tend to produce higher costs, reduced choice, and unintended consequences across everyday life.


00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:26 The Illogic of TSA Rules and Security Theater

03:19 What TSA Bans (and Allows) Makes No Sense

05:47 Why TSA Rules Persist Long After the Threat Is Gone

07:02 Missed Episode Fallout and “Are You Still Alive?”

09:02 Trouble Inside the Trump Administration

12:36 Foolishness of the Week: NFL Ticket Resale Crackdown

13:15 Are Season Tickets Really “Yours”?

15:29 Why Ticket Scalping Actually Adds Value

17:21 Risk, Resale, and the Free Market for Tickets

19:05 What Secondary Markets Reveal About True Prices

21:31 Trump’s Proposal to Cap Credit Card Interest Rates

22:33 Does the President Even Have the Authority?

25:28 What a 10% Cap Would Do to the Credit Card Market

28:13 Credit Cards as Unsecured Loans and Risk Sharing

29:30 Why Banks Can’t Lend at 10% to Everyone

31:59 Trump, Elizabeth Warren, and Left-Wing Economic Policy

33:32 Why People Feel Economic Pain Despite “Good” Data

34:45 COVID Policy, Inflation, and the Middle-Class Squeeze

37:22 Who Really Pays for Artificially Cheap Credit

38:46 Life Without Credit Cards and Financial Shock Absorbers

39:53 Saving, Self-Insurance, and Economic Reality

41:58 Government Intervention and Cascading Market Failures

42:48 Why a Credit Card Cap Would Make Things Worse

45:02 Final Thoughts and Closing Reflections

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