Pulling the SNAP lever + Why Gen Zers bet (invest?)
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Zers → pull → lever
You're reading a newsletter from The Indicator from Planet Money.
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You → read → Money
Once a week, we curate our favorite stories and insights on business, finance, economics and why they matter.
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they → curate → business
"When's the last time you shorted a baby."
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you → short → baby
That's how the trailer starts for the video game Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator.
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trailer → start → game
This game feels just like a Planet Money episode wrapped in a weird little box.
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game → feel → box
And it plays on the concept of 'information advantage.'
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it → play → advantage
That's something ex-Congressman George Santos used to make money off the State of the Union, for which he just received a lifetime ban on Kalshi.
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he → use → Kalshi
It's about making money on a human outcome using the advantage of beautiful, all-knowing information.
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It → make → information
This game was posted in NPR's #gaming Slack channel and got people talking about how silly it was.
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it → post → channel
The game is … you pick an alien baby, you buy stocks in its simulated life and then you can buy, sell, short, and cash out on what happens.
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what → pick → life
Perhaps the baby commits war crimes or falls in love (in that order?).
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baby → commit → order
Perhaps it acquires a corporation.
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it → acquire → corporation
Who knows what a baby will do these days!
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baby → know → what
It's a nice little lesson in how the market reacts to live events.
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market → react → events
I got to play it … it's fast-paced, it's weird, it's just fun.
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it → got → it
Coming up, how changing what's eligible for SNAP recipients can actually affect consumption habits, who takes care of the Wall Street "Charging Bull," and why cocoa prices are so darn fickle.
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prices → come → Bull
News We're Watching
1. Banning soda from food stamp eligibility actually DOES reduce consumption?
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Banning → watch → consumption
After President Trump entered office, his administration encouraged states to cut sugary drinks like soda from SNAP eligibility as part of its "Make American Healthy Again" initiative.
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American → enter → initiative
So far, 23 states have implemented the restriction.
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states → implement → restriction
A working paper out of the University of Chicago last week expressed some skepticism that restrictions would affect consumption, given "the majority of recipients spend more on groceries than their SNAP allotment."
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majority → work → allotment
So … people could theoretically just switch to paying for sugary drinks with NON-SNAP funds, right?
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people → switch → funds
Purchases of the excluded drinks went down 12.4% in the first half of this year.
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Purchases → exclude → year
"A 12.4% decrease is larger than most researchers had predicted, and indeed larger than I had predicted," Hunt Allcott, co-author of the study, told CBS News.
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Allcott → predict → News
If the goal was making people healthier, the numbers aren't overwhelmingly promising.
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numbers → make → ?
The working paper found that if all sugary drinks were excluded, the average adult SNAP recipient would lose a total of 0.27 pounds with a drop in diabetes risk of 2.5% over 10 years.
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recipient → work → years
The other problem here … in states where there was only a partial ban on sugary drinks, recipients just bought whatever else was available.
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whatever → be → drinks
They diverted up to 39% of excluded purchases to things to NON-excluded items like energy drinks and fruit juices.
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They → divert → drinks
That said, it's now clear that changing what's eligible via SNAP does affect consumption.
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what → say → consumption
Sometimes it's just good to know a lever works.
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lever → know → ?
Who owns the charging bull near Wall Street?
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Who → own → Street
What to know: You don't have to strain much to understand the symbolism behind the "Charging Bull" statue.
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You → know → statue
Located near Wall Street in Manhattan, it is frequently surrounded by tourists.
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it → locate → tourists
But the nonprofit news org The City Reporter raised a good point last week: Who actually owns it?
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Who → raise → it
Their takeaway: WHO KNOWS?
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WHO → know → ?
The statue's creators sold it to British billionaire Joe Lewis around 2004.
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creators → sell → 2004
But a spokesman for Lewis' investment firm clarified that the family owns the original cast and rights to reproduce the bull.
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family → clarify → bull
They don't own the bull itself.
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They → own → bull
Why it matters: It's unclear who owns the statue, and yet it still gets maintained!
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it → matter → statue
Without any obligation, the Downtown Alliance has PAID to remove graffiti from the statue.
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Alliance → pay → statue
…and 51 more, not listed.
The Aporia
