Freakonomics Radio18 Jul 2024

597. Why Do Your Eyeglasses Cost $1,000?

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene” markups. Should regulators do something? Can Warby Parker steal market share? And how did Ray-Bans become a luxury brand? (Part one of a two-part series.)

SOURCES:
- Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.
- Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.
- Jessica Glasscock, fashion historian and lecturer at the Parsons School of Design.
- Neil Handley, curator of the British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists.
- Ryan McDevitt, professor of economics at Duke University.
- Cédric Rossi, equity research analyst at Bryan Garnier.
- Tim Wu, professor of law, science and technology at Columbia Law School.

RESOURCES:
- "Leonardo Del Vecchio Dies at 87; Transformed Eyeglass Industry," by Jonathan Kandell (The New York Times, 2022).
- Making a Spectacle: A Fashionable History of Glasses, by Jessica Glasscock (2021).
- "Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal: ‍A Vision for Business," by Lucy Handley (CNBC, 2020).
- "The Roots of Big Tech Run Disturbingly Deep," by Tim Wu and Stuart A. Thompson (The New York Times, 2019).
- "The Spectacular Power of Big Lens," by Sam Knight (The Guardian, 2018).
- The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age, by Tim Wu (2018).
- "Statement of the Federal Trade Commission Concerning the Proposed Acquisition of Luxottica Group S.p.A. by Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d’Optique) S.A.," FTC File No. 171-0060 (2018).
- Cult Eyewear: The World's Enduring Classics, by Neil Handley (2011).
- A Far-Sighted Man, by Luca Goldoni (1991).

EXTRAS:
- "Direct-to-Consumer Mattresses," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2024).
- "Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
- “Are We in a Mattress-Store Bubble?” by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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