Robert Smith

speaker

2,515 appearances 7 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 26 Aug

Robert Smith’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 7 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 4.

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Planet Money · The continent nobody owns & everyone benefits from (Summer School) · 26 Aug 2026 podcast

You all agree to pay into a group fund, and then maybe the first month you get to take the money out for the car.

You keep paying.

into this fund and the next month your friend gets the kitchen remodel with his fancy stove.

The interesting thing about Brazil's version of this system is in that country, it doesn't have to be informal.

Banks themselves offer this service.

So that when people pool their money, it isn't just sitting in a coffee can somewhere.

It's in an actual bank account with some measure of accounting for it.

So if you're in Brazil and you go into one of these consorcios

Do you sign a contract?

Are these people necessarily your friends that you're sharing money with, or can it be with total strangers?

So if you sometimes have to wait to get your big chunk of money, why is it popular?

Alex says a traditional loan in Brazil could have an annual interest rate of, say, 25%, but these consortios charge a one-time administrative fee that can range from 10 to 20%.

It's not compound interest, so it ends up being much less expensive.

It can also be indexed for inflation.

I wonder if there is something about this that makes it emotionally better than just borrowing money from a bank.

Is there some sort of feeling that you're in it together?

Are you more likely to pay this because

You know that there's somebody like you who's also paying.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that you get a letter of credit from the bank when it's your turn, not cash.

That is a very smart analysis.

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