The Attention "Mint"

Welcome back to the Expanding Economics podcast! In this episode, we dive into an emerging market, the attention economy. Noelle and Zoya explore how our attention is being traded like a currency by major companies and how that impacts our economy, our wellbeing, and our personal choices. They examine how platforms “mint” attention into metrics, set the exchange rates from views to dollars, and capture seigniorage along the way. From ad auctions that clear in milliseconds to the mental-health externalities of infinite scroll, they map the incentive loops that keep us doomscrolling—and who profits. Finally, they workshop heterodox fixes that shift value away from raw capture toward healthier, pro-social design.