SL-019 Econ 101° — Supply and Demand in a Panicked Market

Welcome to this special episode of Sightlines, part of Good Beer Hunting's continued coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm Bryan Roth. Parts of the country are in some kind of encouraged self-isolation—if not lockdown in some locations—and in many states, bars, restaurants, and breweries have been told by governments to shutter on-site sales and restrict business to takeout or delivery services. Bottom lines are suffering as cash flow dwindles with people sheltering in homes, spending money on extra groceries, and small businesses await help from elected officials to see them through this time. Not all breweries are hurting equally, however, as packaged beer flies off the shelves in stores as drinkers stock up, and kegs sit untapped. All this happened in a matter of days. So when we hear this is not going to be a short blip, the attention of business owners and economists has shifted to what all this means with short-term gains versus long-term solutions. And in this episode, we're going to school to learn more about what this all means, and how and why breweries are eyeing all the scenarios in between. It's not as simple as supply and demand. Our three guests include John Dantzler, CEO and co-founder of New York City's Torch & Crown Brewing Company—his background is in finance having worked for Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Investment Bank before entering the beer world. And also Scott Metzger, general manager of Massachusetts' Wormtown Brewery, and co-founder of San Antonio's Freetail Brewing. Scott's background is in economics, having worked as an economist at Valero Energy Corporation and the University of Texas-San Antonio. But we start with another economist, Michael Uhrich, former chief economist of the Beer Institute, and current founder and chief economist of Seventh point Analytic, a data-driven consulting company. This is Sightlines. Listen in.