Just-in-time manufacturing began as a way to save space, remove costs and improve efficiency ... for Toyota. The U.S. defense industry has since incorporated this approach. Now, leaders in the defense industry question whether it's to blame for weapons and ammunition shortages. 

This week, we're bringing you a three-part series on the defense industry. Today on the show, we look at how a just-in-time mindset filtered through the military contracting system, and we ask whether bare-bones manufacturing styles are leaving the U.S. in a bind. 

Related Episodes
Are we overpaying for military equipment? (Apple / Spotify)

How to transform a war economy from peacetime (Apple / Spotify)

Toyota Camry, supply-chain hero

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Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war?

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We wrap up our series on the economics of the video game industry with a triple roundup. Today, how the new ban on noncompete contracts could affect the gaming industry, whether young men are slacking off work to play games and the ever-controversial world of loot boxes. 

Related episodes: 
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify) 
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify) 
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify) 
Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees (Apple / Spotify) 

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Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

Employees at video game companies are known for working long hours to meet product launch deadlines. This pressure, known in the industry as crunch, has only gotten more intense as games have grown more complex. Mounting layoffs in the growing industry have only made things worse on the labor front, inspiring some workers to take matters into their own hands.

Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we speak to several workers in the industry about their experiences with crunch and why they feel unionization is the key to preserving their careers.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)  
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)
The boom and bust of esports (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees

The origins of competitive gaming are rooted in college campuses going back to the early 1970s. Now a globally popular industry, esports is at the center of many questions about long-term financial viability. 

Today, we dive deep into the hype surrounding esports and why the luster seems to be rubbing off the industry that was once seen by some as the next NBA.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify) 
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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The boom and bust of esports

Gaming provides entertainment and community for billions of people worldwide. However, video games haven't always been accessible to those with disabilities. But this is changing.

Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we explain how accessibility has become an increasingly important priority for game developers and how advocates pushed them to this point.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)

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Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible

People used to pay one standard price for their favorite games in a one-off transaction. But now, many game companies are offering their games for free, supported by in-game purchases. This is called the live service model.   

Today, the first episode of a week-long series about the video game industry. We investigate the promise and pains of the live service model and explain how it turned the industry upside down. 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

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Can Just-In-Time handle a new era of war?

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