WTH Is Going On with the Baby Formula Shortage? How Government Created This Crisis

This is America - how can we have a shortage of baby formula?
That’s the question many parents are asking as they face bare
Soviet-style store shelves. In a country with ample means,
how did America arrive at what is essentially a food shortage?
How did three main domestic baby formula companies come to
control 98% of their market? Parent or not, this issue has
implications for everyone—it is a case study that involves
government regulations, supply chain, monopolies under the guise
of capitalism, and barriers to free trade. Or, as one of the
podcast’s guests notes, “a perfect storm.”


Marc and Dany explore this puzzling situation with guests
Annie Gasparro and Jesse Newman, Wall Street
Journal reporters covering the scandal. Gasparro is a food
reporter with the WSJ Chicago bureau and writes about
packaged food companies and consumer tastes. Newman is also a
food reporter with the WSJ corporate bureau, covering
farmers, ranchers, and food companies. 


Download the transcript here.