Global Shortages and Greedflation: The Role of Corporations in the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this episode of Lever Time, we explore how corporations played a significant role in creating the shortages seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter Goodman, a veteran New York Times reporter covering the global economy, discusses this complex history in his new book How the World Ran out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain.

Goodman explains how the supply chain initially went global, then became consolidated, and ultimately ended up controlled by just three companies. This consolidation led to a crisis that impacted regions across the world. As inflation began to affect the economy, corporations saw an opportunity to capitalize on consumer desperation by raising prices, resulting in what has been coined as “greedflation.”

Lindsay Owens, executive director of The Groundwork Collaborative, joins Goodman on this episode to unpack the repercussions of this behavior. They sit down with senior podcast producer Arjun Singh to discuss how corporations exploited inflation and how it affected consumers and businesses alike.

For an unedited transcript of this episode, click here.