I think people have a suspicion that there must be some exploitation going on if somebody who's, quote, not doing anything is making money off the rest of us. I mean, middlemen are sort of hidden in plain sight. And so certainly brokers and agents and dealers and salespeople fit the bill. But also people in non-obvious middleman jobs like wedding planners or people who are middle managers in a company Who are transmitting messages and coordinating the efforts of multiple people? These are also middlemen. If we really stop to think about what we do and the role that we play in our own social networks, we are all middlemen. The question really becomes, what value can we
Why would anyone want to hire a middleman, like a wedding planner, especially if you have time to take care of the planning yourself? Marina Krakovsky, author of The Middleman Economy talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about middlemen in the modern economy. Despite predictions that the internet would destroy the need for middlemen, Krakovsky argues they're more valuable than ever though their roles have changed. Krakovsky looks at the different roles middlemen play today and how their value added can justify their existence.