Ponzis and Pyramids, the Audio Series

Arthur Miller’s tragic story about washed out salesman, Willie Loman, has many modern applications. We have watched blue collar jobs and entire industries disappear. What about the most basic job description of them all – the door to door salesman?
The question is highly relevant because most of the Main Street Pyramid schemes are disguised as “Direct selling,” also called network marketing. Are the millions solicited to join "network marketing" actually selling products to retail customers? If not, what do they do? Is it possible to make a profit selling soap or vitamins to friends and neighbors? Or are they just recruiting more salespeople? If so, is this really a business opportunity?
Do MLM people really own their "own" businesses or just buying a position on a pyramid? Is the average income of the new people at the bottom justify calling MLM a legitimate "income opportunity?" If 99% always fail, is this really an "opportunity" at all or is it really a financial trap?

To examine these questions, I’ll interview Dr. D. Anthony Miles, a university professor in San Antonio, Texas and an entrepreneurial business owner. We sort our reality from myth and hype. Dr. Miles is a true rarity in business and academia. He lives in both worlds and from the perspective of both scholar and businessperson, he has looked closely and critically at multi-level marketing. In general, the academic world has largely ignored the field of business opportunity fraud and Ponzi schemes. No wonder the schemes are running rampant now. So little is known about them. The interview with Dr. Miles sheds light on this area where so much deception is taken as fact.