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Cost of Living·Full Episode

Why get paid every two weeks if you can get paid every day?

Payroll has traditionally been biweekly or monthly in Canada. But how would you like to get paid whenever you need money? Plus, what are the economics of Dungeons and Dragons? And did BlackBerry lose to Apple the same way Betamax lost to VHS?

The Cost of Living for January 16, 2022

CBC Radio ·
From payroll timing, to D20 and Dungeons and Dragons, to BlackBerry versus Apple. (Shutterstock, Andrew Nguyen/CBC, Patrick Morrell/CBC)
Cost of Living27:30Why get paid every two weeks if you can get paid every day? Plus we roll a D20 on the economics of Dungeons and Dragons
  • The Cost of Living ❤s money — how it makes (or breaks) us. 
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Why do we get paid every two weeks, anyway?

Traditionally, Canadians get paid every two or four weeks. For years, payroll systems have existed on this cycle because, well, they had to. It took time to get paperwork done.

But a new market is emerging for getting paid — whenever you want. Work your eight-hour shift and want your money right away? It's yours...if your employer wants it to be.

Jennifer Keene channels Rihanna and says your payroll services provider 🎶better have my money 🎶!!!
Cost of Living9:00Every two weeks is old news. Get paid every day — if you want!

Player rolls nat 1 on economic perception!

Dungeons and Dragons is an entire universe, and like any universe — it's populated and navigated by humans (and dwarves and elves). One of the interesting thing about humans, at least in this game, is that they have economies!

Whether a cleric, a fighter or a thief – what are the economics of "D&D" and what can they tell us about how humans manage their assets?

Andrew Nguyen rolls a D20 to reveal the secrets of the dungeon masters...financially speaking.
Cost of Living6:18Learning about inflation and asset allocation through clerics with magic potions in Dungeons and Dragons

Do you miss your old BlackBerry? It's in a storage tote with the Betamax deck.

Apple and Android smartphones with touchscreens won out over BlackBerry a long time ago.

But the beloved scion of Canada's own Research in Motion died a more "final death" in January, when the servers powering the older models were powered down.

It's not the first time a seemingly dominant and sometimes better product has lost out in the marketplace. Paul Haavardsrud asks — how and why do products win when they go head to head?
Cost of Living9:48BlackBerry is the new Beta – how the (initially) better product can lose out in the end

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