Weyland-Yutani, and the Limits of Competition

Hey everyone. So, some of you may have read this Planet Money newsletter from a few months ago where I talked about labor market power and competition with Greg Rosalsky, drawing on my book, The Wage Standard. Somewhere along the way, there was talk about the movie Alien, and Weyland-Yutani conglomerate as a useful (though extreme) caricature about some of the ailments in the modern labor market. Greg even did a teaser piece leaning on the movie!

Well, one thing led to another, and recently we went full in with the Alien theme, and Greg, Kenny Malone, and I did a very deep dive into what turns out to be, ahem, the first R-rated movie I ever watched!

And what burst out was … a Planet Money podcast:

Ok, what does the movie Alien have to with understanding power imbalances in the labor market, and its various manifestations? Well, you don’t want me to give away the ending, right? But here are some breadcrumbs … you’ll find out about compensating differentials, shrouded attributes (sounds spooky!), and the really scary M-word, and why it is … endemic, and how to spot it. And what causes it in the real world even when companies are not literally like Weyland-Yutani. And of course, what we can do about it. Including … wait for it … ways that would have made the movie very short (boo!).

Oh, and this was really fun, in the episode, they also talked to Fede Alvarez, the director of Alien: Romulus from 2024.

Seriously, this was one of my most fun podcasts of all times.

Go listen!