Yoda: Not the baby we wanted, but the baby we needed

I have to admit it. I fell for Baby Yoda at first sight. Those big black eyes, the tiny nose, the big ears, the swaddly-looking robe. The absolutely perfect expressions, somewhere between wisdom, vulnerability, naivete and knowingness. My frequent writing colleague Jeff Volkheimer and I just published an article about Baby Yoda, and how it is an example of how market actors use clout to shape markets. Or, in non-academic speak, how power market actors exert their influence by using their own power, and those of others, to bend the market to their will. Disney is a big actor, and Disney+ will disrupt even further the fractured subscription service scene. Baby Yoda is a big weapon in that arsenal, perfectly executed, meme worthy, and the tiny being that seems to unite us all across the world this holiday season.