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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 · Nov 11, 2026 · 20:22
Jensen Huang’s weekend scandal didn’t just cost Nvidia. It cost you. After reports that the CEO was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, and his admission of an extramarital affair, Nvidia shed hundreds of billions in value while the rest of the market rallied. Justin…
Not checked · Nov 10, 2026 · 18:43
October 2026 CPI inflation is about 4%—here's why it's an estimate, and why it matters. Justin Wolfers unpacks an October inflation report with a missing headline: last year's government shutdown left no October 2025 price reading. He fills that gap using September and November…
Not checked · Nov 9, 2026 · 25:56
Elon Musk’s $474 million in midterm spending looks enormous—until you compare it with what he had riding on the result. On Diving In, Justin Wolfers estimates that Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX holdings lost roughly $70 billion relative to their expected market performance. He flags…
Not checked · Nov 7, 2026 · 22:39
What does the October jobs report mean for your paycheck and your next career move? Your next raise may depend on your alternatives, not just your loyalty. Justin shows how outside offers create bargaining power, why employers can reward good work without waiting for a…
Not checked · Nov 6, 2026 · 16:28
The October jobs report delivered 165,000 new payroll jobs against forecasts of just 60,000. On Diving In, Justin Wolfers explains why that surprise—and upward revisions lifting the three-month average to 137,000—points to an improving labor market. Subscribe: on YouTube 👉…
Not checked · Nov 4, 2026 · 33:49
What did the midterm elections reveal about the economy—and your household budget? Justin Wolfers examines the Democratic sweep through a puzzle: how can the economy grow while people feel so anxious? He contrasts GDP growth of 3.4% at an annual rate with record-low University…
Not checked · Nov 3, 2026 · 26:39
Why did the Fed hold interest rates, and what is it waiting for? Justin Wolfers makes a crucial distinction about the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates: there can be a strong case for delaying a hike, but waiting to see September’s hike in next month’s inflation numbers is a…
Not checked · Oct 31, 2026 · 1:14:32
The economy is growing — so why does your paycheck feel like it's shrinking? GDP is up 3.4%, unemployment is near record lows, the stock market keeps hitting highs — and yet it doesn't feel good. On this Halloween episode of Off the Clock, Justin Wolfers and journalist Stacey…
Not checked · Oct 30, 2026 · 16:19
GDP grew 3.4% last quarter — so why does inflation still hurt? Justin Wolfers untangles it. The last big data dump before the 2026 midterms just landed, and it's a tangle: GDP grew at a 3.4% annualized rate last quarter — faster than forecasters expected — while the Fed's…
Not checked · Oct 29, 2026 · 22:50
Why did the Fed hold interest rates steady when inflation is still above 2%? Inflation is running hot by every measure — PCE at 3.4%, core at 3.0%, and the CPI that tracks your actual cost of living at 3.7% — yet the Federal Reserve just chose to do nothing. Justin Wolfers walks…
Not checked · Oct 27, 2026 · 19:44
President Trump brags that he's brought $21 trillion in new investment into America. Justin Wolfers already debunked that number (the White House's own list only reaches $11.3 trillion), so in this office-hours episode he answers your questions about what that claim would even…
Not checked · Oct 25, 2026 · 50:37
Why do strong economic numbers feel so bad? Justin Wolfers says there are three economies, not one. Unemployment is 4.2%, the stock market is near a record, and GDP is growing — so why does your grocery bill, your rent, and your fill-up tell a different story? In this live…
Not checked · Oct 24, 2026 · 20:14
President Trump says he’s brought $21 trillion of new investment into America since taking office. Sometimes it’s $18 trillion, sometimes $22 trillion. The exact figure isn’t the problem. All of them are wrong, by a lot. In this episode, Justin Wolfers gives you the questions…
Not checked · Oct 23, 2026 · 25:25
Unemployment is low, inflation has cooled, and by most hard numbers the economy is doing okay — yet Americans sound miserable. Consumer sentiment this summer sat at 52, roughly where it was in May 1980, when unemployment was nearly twice as high and inflation was running around…
Not checked · Oct 21, 2026 · 26:50
Tax-free red dye diesel won't make a single extra drop — so who really pays for it? President Trump signed an executive order letting truckers fill up with red dye diesel — the cheaper, untaxed fuel normally reserved for tractors and bulldozers — and the White House says it'll…
Not checked · Oct 17, 2026 · 42:42
Why is inflation rising faster than your wages? It's a cost-push energy shock, not the good kind. Justin Wolfers and Bloomberg's Stacey Vanek Smith dig into the latest inflation report on Off the Clock, and the news isn't fun: prices are climbing 3.7% while wages crawl along at…
Not checked · Oct 16, 2026 · 29:01
Prices rose 3.7% over the past year, core inflation is stuck around 2.6%, and your paycheck is buying less than it used to — yet it feels like everything costs way more than that. Economist Justin Wolfers sits down with producer Augusta Chapman for office-hours-style answers to…
Not checked · Oct 14, 2026 · 15:14
The latest inflation report just dropped, and Justin Wolfers digs into why it's worse than Wall Street expected. Headline inflation came in at an eye-popping 3.7% — well above the Fed's 2% target — and core inflation is stuck above 2.6%. The really worrying part is the latest…
Not checked · Oct 12, 2026 · 19:45
Americans feel almost exactly as gloomy today as they did in 1980 — when inflation was near 14% and unemployment was close to 8%. Today those numbers are a fraction of that, yet consumer sentiment hit an all-time low. Justin Wolfers treats this like a detective case: the…
Not checked · Oct 12, 2026 · 24:34
Why Robert Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics — explained simply. This morning Robert Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Justin Wolfers couldn't wait to explain what they figured out — and why it touches how much you…