Planet Money recently published a piece titled "The Labor Economics of Alien and Its Lessons for Inequality on Earth." It describes itself as a preview of a new book about monopsony in labor markets. It’s actually a detailed plot summary of the 1979 science fiction movie Alien, followed abruptly by the assertion that income inequality has "exploded", followed by the claim — stated rather than argued — that monopsony is the cause, followed by an admission that labor markets really aren’t monopsonies, followed by a plug for the book. The movie is distraction, offered in the hopes that readers will give up before the incoherent economics.
This is a shame, because Alien has interesting things to say about economics and labor. They're just not the things Planet Money wants it to say.
The monopsony reading doesn't survive contact with the movie
A monopsony is a market with a single buyer — in labor markets, one employer, no alternatives, workers trapped. Planet Money invokes it to explain how the Weyland-Yutani Corporation abuses its crew.
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