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Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers
From world events to everyday decisions, economics explains it all. Platypus Economics makes it clear, useful, and actually fun.
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Podcast · RSS feed
Justin Wolfers
From world events to everyday decisions, economics explains it all. Platypus Economics makes it clear, useful, and actually fun.
Loading the latest episodes…
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51 episodes
Not checked · Oct 9, 2026 · 26:22
Justin Wolfers takes apart a headline that circled the globe: the G7 announcing it will release 100 million barrels of oil it had already promised to release back in March 2026. On this episode of Diving In, producer Augusta Chapman brings him your questions, office-hours style…
Not checked · Oct 8, 2026 · 19:28
Justin Wolfers digs into President Trump's new executive order letting truckers fill up with red diesel — the tax-free fuel normally reserved for farmers, construction crews, and miners — and deferring the 24.4-cent federal highway tax until after the election. The White House…
Not checked · Oct 7, 2026 · 25:03
Trump calls it a massive win: 100 million barrels of emergency oil and fuel released to bring diesel prices down. In this episode of Diving In, Justin Wolfers reads the G7 communique line by line and finds something much smaller — an agreement to finally deliver on a release…
Not checked · Oct 5, 2026 · 23:29
The September jobs report landed weak, and the numbers for July and August got quietly revised downward. Economist Justin Wolfers takes your questions on what that actually means — and why a statistical agency that corrects itself is more trustworthy, not less. Subscribe: on…
Not checked · Oct 4, 2026 · 24:57
What happens when a president wants lower interest rates—but the economy, inflation, and bond markets are all pushing the other way? In this episode of What Next with Mary Harris from Slate, Justin Wolfers explains why the latest fight over interest rates is about much more than…
Not checked · Oct 3, 2026 · 45:32
Justin Wolfers and Bloomberg columnist Stacey Vanek Smith slow down to unpack the one number that quietly shapes your paycheck: labor's share of income. For most of modern history, workers took home about two-thirds of the pie. Today it's down to 53% — and the rest goes to the…
Not checked · Oct 2, 2026 · 18:02
The September jobs report landed with a thud: just 29,000 jobs created, well short of the 80,000–90,000 forecasters expected, with July and August both revised down and unemployment ticking up to 4.2%. In this episode of Diving In, Justin Wolfers walks you through why those…
Not checked · Oct 1, 2026 · 33:05
Every dollar you spend having your money actively managed by someone in a sports car is paying for that sports car. In this Professor Is In episode, Justin Wolfers takes questions after his keynote at Stanford's Initiative for Financial Decision Making and lands on the core…
Not checked · Sep 30, 2026 · 19:03
Most of us wash our hands even though we've never seen a germ. But when it comes to personal finance, hardly anyone "washes their hands" — and the mistakes are expensive. Justin Wolfers, back from a Stanford keynote to finance educators, argues that ignoring sound financial…
Not checked · Sep 28, 2026 · 14:36
AI safety fears are in the news, so Justin Wolfers sits down with producer Augusta to work through the economics — and the ethics — of building guardrails into AI. Using airbags as the analogy, he shows why a "safe" AI, like a car with airbags, works a little less well than one…
Not checked · Sep 26, 2026 · 29:08
The people building the most powerful AI see faster science, better medicines, and explosive economic growth. Others see catastrophe. Justin Wolfers steps into that argument with the one tool that can actually weigh the two: economics. Subscribe: on YouTube 👉…
Not checked · Sep 25, 2026 · 24:14
What's the relationship between journalism and borrowing costs? When a local paper shuts down, something surprising happens: the town starts paying higher interest on its debt. Justin Wolfers sits down with producer Augusta to answer viewer questions about why press freedom…
Not checked · Sep 24, 2026 · 17:37
The White House is floating a temporary ban on U.S. diesel exports, and the pitch sounds simple: keep the diesel here, and prices fall for farmers and truckers. In this episode of Diving In, Justin Wolfers walks through why that story falls apart the moment you follow the…
Not checked · Sep 23, 2026 · 23:43
In this episode of the Professor Is In, Justin Wolfers answers your questions about poverty in America. Justin walks through the official poverty measure ($32,649 for two adults and two kids), the newer supplemental measure ($41,701 for a renting family that adjusts for local…
Not checked · Sep 22, 2026 · 18:59
When the White House pulled the press badges of CNN, MS Now, and Politico, most of us reached for the First Amendment. Justin Wolfers asks a different question: what does a free press actually DO for us? What happens to your wallet when a president gets leverage over the…
Not checked · Sep 21, 2026 · 26:19
Official poverty fell to 10.2% — so why does the better measure show almost no change? The new poverty numbers are out, and the headline looks like good news: official poverty dropped to 10.2%, a third straight annual decline. But Justin Wolfers explains why that single…
Not checked · Sep 19, 2026 · 58:25
The Fed just raised rates unanimously — and Justin Wolfers explains why that 12-0 vote matters more than the rate itself. Joined by Bloomberg Businessweek's Stacey Vanek-Smith on Off The Clock, Justin unpacks what "Silent Kevin" Warsh actually signaled, why the president's dream…
Not checked · Sep 18, 2026 · 18:56
The Fed just raised its target rate by a quarter of a percentage point, the first hike since 2023 — but Justin Wolfers argues the number on the front page isn't the real story. In this episode of The Professor Is In, producer Augusta Chapman brings you audience questions, and…
Not checked · Sep 16, 2026 · 13:24
Understanding The Fed’s Rate Hike Decision | Diving In The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday by a quarter of a percentage point. It’s the first time the Central Bank upped rates since July, 2023. All 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, including Fed…
Not checked · Sep 14, 2026 · 20:07
Why an "infinity percent" tariff on Canada may hurt Americans more than Canadians. The U.S.–Canada trade war just got weirder, and Justin Wolfers walks through what actually changed. After Canada answered Washington's tariffs with a measured, dollar-for-dollar response, the…