Lucky Journalist of the Year

John Seabrook of The New Yorker. In an article about the economics of rock concert tickets, with an emphasis on scalping, he appears to follow a New Jersey Bruce Springsteen fan who can’t get tickets to a show. All gone in 10 minutes, mostly to resellers. Later, due to government intervention, she is able to buy two, and on the day of the show wins a lottery for seats next to the stage — her dream. A surprise happy ending to the story. Like all of Seabrook’s work it was a pleasure to read but I wonder how Seabrook feels about it. Near the end it briefly mentions a new technology (paperless tickets) that makes scalping impossible. As if the problem was solved while Seabrook was writing about it.

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