Bear Markets & Bad Decisions is a smart, story-driven economics podcast about bubbles, incentives, and the moments in history where humans absolutely should have known better — but didn’t. Hosted by Heather Shell, each episode breaks down real economic events with wit, context, and zero MBA required.
The Richest Men In America Drowned A Town — And Called It An Act of God
In 1889, a dam broke and killed over 2,200 people. The men who owned the dam were some of the wealthiest in American history. They had been warned. They had been asked to fix it. They chose not to — because fixing it would have cost money, and the consequences of failure would fall on someone else.
This is the story of the Johnstown Flood — and the legal defense that followed. A defense that didn't deny the negligence. It simply claimed that no one could have seen it coming. An Act of God.
This video traces the three economic systems that made the disaster inevitable: externalized risk, short-term incentives, and moral hazard. The same patterns that shaped the Gilded Age still shape modern infrastructure failures — from dam inspections to train derailments to financial crises.
Because the deadliest systems aren't always the ones that break. They're the ones where the people making the decisions never have to live with the consequences.
1 Jun 2026
They Knew It Was Making Workers Sick: The Radium Girls
In the 1920s, young women were hired to paint glow-in-the-dark watch dials with radium. They were told it was safe. They were told to lick their brushes to a fine point. They were told radium would put roses in their cheeks. The companies knew the truth. The Radium Girls is the story of corporate negligence, information asymmetry, and a system that protected profits over people — a pattern that repeats from asbestos to tobacco to modern workplace safety failures. This is not just history. It's a warning. Bear Markets & Bad Decisions breaks down the systems, incentives, and patterns behind economic disasters and corporate scandals. Because once you understand the system, everything starts to make sense. #RadiumGirls #CorporateNegligence #WorkplaceSafety #InformationAsymmetry #CorporateCoverUp #IndustrialHistory
25 May 2026
They’re Betting On Outcomes They Control
Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi are exploding in popularity—but how do they actually work, and can they really predict the future?
In this episode of Bear Markets & Bad Decisions, we break down how prediction markets turn real-world events into tradable contracts—and why the biggest risk isn’t whether people are right… but who is placing the bets.
From early speculation in London’s Exchange Alley to academic markets at the University of Iowa, and all the way to modern platforms, this video explores how incentives, insider information, and even control over outcomes can change what these markets are really measuring.
Because when money is tied to an outcome, behavior starts to change.
And sometimes…
people aren’t just betting on the future.
They’re betting on outcomes they can influence.
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