Why You Can't Leave Your Bank, Your Plan, or Your Job
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About this listen
You could leave your bank. You could switch phone carriers. You could take that job offer. So why don't you?
In this episode, we trace how switching costs — the hidden friction that keeps you locked into financial products, tech ecosystems, and even careers — are quietly reshaping your money, your choices, and your life.
We start with a simple question: why have 96 million Americans never switched banks, leaving an estimated $42 billion a year on the table? Then we follow the thread into telecom loyalty penalties, Apple's ecosystem lock-in strategy, and the little-known phenomenon economists call "job lock" — where employer-tied health insurance keeps workers trapped in roles they've outgrown.
Along the way, we uncover a finding that broke our own thesis: what happens when removing switching costs actually makes things worse. This is the episode about the architecture you never agreed to, the costs you can't see, and the difference between choosing to stay and not being able to leave.