Podcast · Business

Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

by Justin Wolfers · English · Business

From world events to everyday decisions, economics explains it all. Platypus Economics makes it clear, useful, and actually fun.

New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 23 min
Latest: 9 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026 · 26 minNew

The G7’s 100 Million Barrel Announcement Changes Nothing | The Professor Is In

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, and Justin explains why a press release dressed up as a deal does nothing to lower the price you pay at the pump.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

8 Oct 2026 · 19 minNew

Trump's Red Diesel Order, Explained | Diving In

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 says it'll save a trucker about $60 a fill-up. But diesel hit a record $6.52 a gallon a few weeks ago, and this order doesn't create a single new drop of it.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉…
7 Oct 2026 · 25 min

This Oil Deal Sounds Huge. Until You Do the Math | Diving In

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 already promised back in March, in exchange for the US dropping a diesel export ban it should never have threatened.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media…
5 Oct 2026 · 23 min

Why the Jobs Report Keeps Changing | The Professor Is In

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 YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
4 Oct 2026 · 25 min

Trump Wants Cheap Money. Why Are Rates Going Up Anyway?

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 one Federal Reserve meeting.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
3 Oct 2026 · 46 min

Why Workers Are Getting Less of What the Economy Produces | Off The Clock

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 people who own the companies, not the ones who show up to work. Then the stakes get bigger.Justin argues that past $100 million, the only thing money buys is power — and in an election decided by 115,000 votes, one billionaire's checkbook could theoretically swing thousands more. The same logic drives the AI question:…
2 Oct 2026 · 18 min

What September's Employment Numbers Really Say | Diving In

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 numbers are disappointing by historical standards — yet why unemployment can still stay low and stable at the same time.Then there's your paycheck. Wage growth has slumped to around 3% — slower than prices — so if you feel like you can't keep up, you're not imagining it. Justin explains what weak wages mean for the Fed,…
1 Oct 2026 · 33 min

Are Your Financial Mistakes Making Someone Else Rich? | The Professor Is In

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 ideas he thinks every personal finance course must teach.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcast Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
30 Sep 2026 · 19 min

Why Good Money Advice Fails to Land | Diving In

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 advice may cost people somewhere between 2% and 10% of their lifetime consumption — putting it in the same neighborhood as the welfare cost of climate change, and dwarfing the 0.1–1% economists usually assign to business cycles.So why won't people listen? Because the public doesn't trust economists: surveys show they rank…
28 Sep 2026 · 15 min

What Airbags Teach Us About Artificial Intelligence | The Professor Is In

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 built with no precautions — and why that tradeoff is worth taking when the downside isn't a fender bender but the electricity grid, a biological weapon, or human extinction.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉…
26 Sep 2026 · 29 min

How Much Should We Spend to Prevent an AI Catastrophe? | Diving In

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 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
25 Sep 2026 · 24 min

How Accountability Shapes National Borrowing Rates | The Professor Is In

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 isn't just a civics-class ideal — it's an economic force that touches your mortgage rate, your government's bond yields, and the whole institutional plumbing that keeps prosperity running. Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉…
24 Sep 2026 · 18 min

Why Trump's Diesel Export Ban Could Raise Gas Prices | Diving In

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 economics past its first sentence.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
23 Sep 2026 · 24 min

What Would It Take to Eliminate Poverty? | The Professor Is In

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 costs and now counts internet and phone as essentials), and why the two disagree about how many people are poor.Justin also digs into the hard questions: is redistribution always a leaky bucket, or can fairness make the pie bigger? Why don't we just end poverty with a universal basic income? Subscribe:on YouTube 👉…
22 Sep 2026 · 19 min

The Economic Cost of Trump's War on The Press | Diving In

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 reporters?Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
21 Sep 2026 · 26 min

What If We Just Gave Poor People Money?

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 statistic hides more than it reveals — and why the broader "supplemental" measure tells a very different story.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comon Apple Podcasts 👉…
19 Sep 2026 · 58 min

The Fed Raised Rates. Here's What It's Fighting. | Off The Clock

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 of 1% interest rates would light a fire under inflation, and why even a government that repays its debts can end up unable to borrow again.Then, Justin and Stacey debate whether "the feelings are the data," and Stacey builds the whole global economy into one bacon cheeseburger.Finally, Justin turns thousands of…
18 Sep 2026 · 19 min

The Hawk Behind The Hike | The Professor Is In

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 Justin explains why the bigger signal was new Fed chair Kevin Warsh convincing markets he's a genuine inflation hawk.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comthe Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcastFollow on Social Media…
16 Sep 2026 · 13 min

Understanding The Fed’s Rate Hike Decision | Diving In

Understanding The Fed’s Rate Hike Decision | Diving InThe 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 Chair Kevin Warsh, voted in favor of a rate hike. Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and founder of Platypus Economics, breaks down the Fed’s decision, and unpacks how it’ll impact your life.Subscribe:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comon Apple…
14 Sep 2026 · 20 min

The Canadian Boycott is About More than Economics | The Professor Is In

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 White House escalated again. They proposed an outright import ban on things like Canadian alcohol, dairy, and auto products. His point: banning a product punishes the American buyers who wanted it most and now can't get it at any price.That’s not the only way Americans are getting hurt. Canadian consumers are boycotting…
12 Sep 2026 · 51 min

The Hidden Link Between Government Debt and Everyday Credit | Off the Clock

Why does the bond market matter more than the stock market for your wallet? Justin Wolfers and Bloomberg Businessweek columnist Stacey Vanek Smith take on August's inflation report, the rising odds the Fed hikes rates, and the one market that quietly sets the price of your car loan, your student loan, and your mortgage.Subscribe — it's the one interest rate that never rockets up on you:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
11 Sep 2026 · 14 min

What August’s Inflation Report Means for You

Inflation is stuck at 3.4% and prices are outrunning your paycheck. Here's what August really showed.The August inflation report just landed, and Justin Wolfers walks you through what it means for your wallet. Plus the all-important burrito price index.Subscribe — it's the one price that isn't rocketing up this month:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
10 Sep 2026 · 18 min

Vote Republican, Get $5,000? | Diving In

Is the promise real, and who actually pays for it?At a midterm campaign rally Wednesday night, President Trump promised every adult American citizen a $5,000 check, but only if Republicans win both the House and the Senate. He's calling them "Trump dividends."Justin Wolfers is here with a reality check, on Diving In.Subscribe — I'll owe you $5,000, and I promise about as much as the President does:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comFollow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers
10 Sep 2026 · 19 min

How Governments Manipulate Statistics Without Lying | Professor Is In

Can you still trust the jobs numbers after Commerce dropped its ban on political interference?In August the Commerce Department quietly crossed out the rules that shielded official statistics from political meddling — meaning reports can now be delayed, buried, reworded, or stripped of their uncertainty. So can you still trust the numbers that shape your paycheck, your mortgage rate, and the price of your groceries? In this episode of The Professor Is In, Justin Wolfers answers the question a whole audience asked: in light of this, why should we believe the latest jobs numbers?Most useful of…
9 Sep 2026 · 21 min

Hidden Ways the Government Manipulates Data | Diving In

How the government can rig official statistics without ever faking a single number. A few sentences vanished from a Commerce Department directive — and almost no one noticed. In this episode of Diving In, Justin Wolfers walks you through what changed on August 19, when the department quietly scrapped its ban on political interference in the science behind America's official statistics. No fabricated numbers required: a report can be delayed, buried, reworded, or stripped of its uncertainty, and under the new rules that's all allowed at the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.…
8 Sep 2026 · 27 min

The U.S. Canada Trade War Casts a Much Longer Shadow | Diving In

Canada just retaliated against President Trump's latest tariffs, and everyone wants to know how big the hit will be. Economist Justin Wolfers walks you through the whole U.S. Canada trade war, and lands on a surprising answer.By the end, you'll understand why this trade war is small on paper, larger in reality, and what Justin would tell both Trump and Carney to do about it.Subscribe — it's the one thing crossing your feed with zero tariffs attached:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.comFollow on Social Media…
5 Sep 2026 · 23 min

Why Tariffs Can't Rebuild American Manufacturing | The Professor Is In

Why did Trump's tariffs fail? It's a competence problem, not just a trade-theory problem.Economist Justin Wolfers answers your questions about why the Trump administration's tariffs earned straight F's on their own stated goals. His argument: the problem isn't only the economics of tariffs — it's chaotic, incoherent implementation. When a policy exists on Monday, is gone by Tuesday, and gets thrown out by a court on Thursday, you'd be crazy to build a 50-year factory around it. Across-the-board tariffs give you no leverage over China, targeting friendly Canada over fentanyl sets no clear…
4 Sep 2026 · 14 min

The Jobs Report Beat Expectations. Will The Fed Care?

The economy added 162,000 jobs in August — far above the 50,000 to 60,000 Wall Street expected — and Justin Wolfers is smiling, because this is genuinely good news. Unemployment sits at a low 4.1%, and we've now had six straight months of job growth, which is what a normal, healthy labor market looks like.But Justin walks you through the asterisks that matter to your paycheck. Nominal wage growth has slipped to 3.1%, the lowest in years, which almost certainly means your real wages are falling as prices climb faster than your paycheck. Justin also explains what this means as the Federal…
2 Sep 2026 · 13 min

The Bond Sell-Off Isn’t the Scary Part | Diving In

Everyone's talking about the bond market, and Justin Wolfers is here to explain what's actually going on — without the panic. In this episode of Diving In, he strips the fancy words away: the bond market is just supply and demand for loans, and right now a lot of people want to borrow. When demand for loans goes up, the price of loans — the interest rate — goes up too.Justin walks through the three forces pushing long-term interest rates higher.Subscribe — it's the one rate that won't rise no matter what the bond market does:on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicson Substack 👉…
2 Sep 2026 · 23 min

Who Actually Paid for the Trade War? | Diving In

Trump’s tariffs were supposed to do five things. So how did they actually score? Justin Wolfers grades the tariff agenda against the administration’s own goals. Did tariffs create leverage? Did the trade deficit fall? Did factories come home? Did America get safer? Did the revenue deliver? The answers: America’s trading partners already charged us around 3% on average before any of this started, so the “ripping us off” story was mostly imaginary. The celebrated Korea deal claimed credit for market access American exporters already had under KORUS — the negotiating equivalent of gifting…

About Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

From world events to everyday decisions, economics explains it all. Platypus Economics makes it clear, useful, and actually fun.

Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers is a English business podcast from Justin Wolfers. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Justin Wolfers
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 23 min
Latest episode: 9 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1523898793

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