Should Space Be Privatized? With William Megginson

2025-05-31

Should Space Be Privatized? With William Megginson In this episode of 'Questions in Finance,' Kate and Veljko explore the space economy with Bill Megginson, Professor and Price Chair in Finance at the University of Oklahoma. They discuss the history, financing, and future prospects of space exploration, focusing on the pivotal roles played by private enterprises like SpaceX and government entities such as NASA. The conversation highlights the dramatic reduction in launch costs, the rise of satellite technology, and the competition between the US and...

Should Space Be Privatized? With William Megginson

In this episode of 'Questions in Finance,' Kate and Veljko explore the space economy with Bill Megginson, Professor and Price Chair in Finance at the University of Oklahoma. They discuss the history, financing, and future prospects of space exploration, focusing on the pivotal roles played by private enterprises like SpaceX and government entities such as NASA. The conversation highlights the dramatic reduction in launch costs, the rise of satellite technology, and the competition between the US and China. They delve into the financing challenges of space ventures, the impact of venture capital, and the broader economic implications, touching on topics from military applications to the pursuit of knowledge and technological spinoffs. The episode concludes with insights into the future roles of commercial and government sectors in space activities.

Timeline:

00:00 16 Psyche and Quadrillions of Dollars

07:44 Spaceflight Economics

10:19 Today's Guest, Bill Megginson

11:03 Should the Spaceflight Economy be Privatized?

15:02 Dogs. And Cats.

16:17 Basics and Stats of the Space Economy

21:23 A Bit of History

27:17 Costs and Benefits

35:06 Private-sector Efficiency, SpaceX

45:08 From the Outer Space Treaty to Artemis

49:13 The Race to Mars

53:58 Space Force!

59:44 Venture Capital in Space

01:10:55 Space Mining, Technology Transfer

01:19:16 Space Jobs

01:34:00 The Geopolitics of Space

01:41:26 Summarizing

Bibliography:

Megginson, William L. "The Financial Economics of Spaceflight." Available at SSRN 4901992 (2024).

Weinzierl, Matthew. "Space, the final economic frontier." Journal of Economic Perspectives 32, no. 2 (2018): 173-192.

Other Sources:

Bureau of Economic Analysis data on the Space Economy: https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/space-economy

Soundtrack:

The soundtrack is based on "Walk on a Funky Street" by MondayHopes. Thanks for the music and keep up the good work! Use is under the Pixabay Content License.

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