Chains of Command: How Franchising Turned Control Without Responsibility Into a Business Model (with Brian Callaci)

When you walk into a McDonald’s, it looks like one company. But legally, the person making your fries probably doesn’t work for McDonald’s at all. Brian Callaci, Chief Economist at the Open Markets Institute and author of Chains of Command, joins Nick and Goldy to explain how franchising became a blueprint for corporate control without responsibility — shifting risk, liability, and labor costs onto franchisees and workers while profits flow upward. Brian Callaci is the chief economist at the Open Markets Institute and author of Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy. Social Media: @briancallaci.bsky.social @brian_callaci briancallaci.com Further reading: Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain Sectoral bargaining FAQ: Collective bargaining, sectoral wage and standards boards, and worker power The Founder (2016) Continental T.V., Inc. v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 433 U.S. 36 (1977) Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust & Monopoly Hearing on Distribution problems affecting small business. Part 1: franchising agreements, March (1965) Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics TikTok: @pitchfork_econ YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer Substack: The Pitch