Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

26 minutes 39 seconds
The Hidden Feedback Loop Behind Rising Prices | The Professor Is In
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 weak one. Monetary policy works with delays, and a quarter-point move is hard to isolate amid everything else happening in the economy.
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3 November 2026, 8:00 am
1 hour 14 minutes
America's Jekyll-and-Hyde Economy | Off The Clock
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 Vanek Smith dig into the "Jekyll and Hyde economy," where the pie is growing but a bigger slice is going to owners instead of workers.
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31 October 2026, 7:00 am
16 minutes 19 seconds
What the New GDP Report Actually Says | Diving In
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 preferred inflation gauge is still running hot. In this Diving In episode, Justin Wolfers walks you through why both political parties can grab accurate numbers and tell you completely opposite stories.
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30 October 2026, 7:00 am
22 minutes 50 seconds
Did the Midterms Delay a Fed Rate Hike? | Diving In
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 you through what that decision means for your money, and admits up front he's a little puzzled too. Markets put an 85% chance on a rate hike in December, so what the Fed really did was delay a move almost everyone agrees is coming.
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29 October 2026, 12:31 am
19 minutes 44 seconds
The Dilemma Behind Debunking Trump | The Professor Is In
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 mean if it were true.
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27 October 2026, 7:00 am
50 minutes 37 seconds
What Is The State of Your Economy?
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 call-in on NPR's The Middle with Jeremy Hobson, economist Justin Wolfers gives the economy three grades at once: an A if you own stock and a company, a B if you look at the lived reality of regular folks, and a C for how people actually feel — consumer sentiment at the lowest level ever recorded. The puzzle isn't a mystery, he argues: the share of Americans who think economic management is poor beats the share who think it's good by 66 points, an all-time high.
From Justin's conversation with Jeremy Hobson on NPR's The Middle, alongside CNBC's Steve Leisman.
Chapters:
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25 October 2026, 7:00 am
20 minutes 14 seconds
Trump Says $21 Trillion Is Coming. Is It? | Diving In
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 you need to ask to test any huge number.
🎃 Enter our first-ever econ-themed Halloween costume contest by November 1 for a chance to win a limited-edition Gus the Platypus pillow: https://platypuseconomics.com/halloween
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24 October 2026, 7:00 am
25 minutes 25 seconds
Why Americans Don't Believe the Good Economic News | The Professor Is In
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 14%. Justin Wolfers thinks he's cracked the puzzle: the 30-point gap between how you feel and how the economy is actually performing lines up almost exactly with how little Americans trust the people running economic policy right now.
In this office-hours episode, producer Augusta Chapman tries to poke holes in that story, and Justin defends it. Does the gloom cause the distrust, or the other way around? Does sentiment even matter if you keep spending anyway?
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23 October 2026, 1:47 pm
26 minutes 50 seconds
Don’t Be Fooled by Trump’s Diesel Gimmicks | The Professor Is In
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 save truckers about $60 a tank. In this "Professor Is In" episode, Justin Wolfers and producer Augusta Chapman take your questions and show why the tax-free diesel policy creates no new fuel at all. There's only so much diesel in the world, so every gallon truckers gain, farmers lose.
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21 October 2026, 7:00 am
42 minutes 42 seconds
What Halloween Candy Reveals About Inflation | Off the Clock
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 3%, which means the average American — maybe you — is quietly falling behind. Justin walks through the difference between demand-pull inflation (the economy runs hot, prices rise, but your paycheck rises too) and cost-push inflation (energy and tariffs push costs up, prices rise, and nobody hands you a raise). Guess which one we're living through.
Along the way, Justin grades new Fed chair Kevin Warsh (forecasters gave him a shaky report card), explains why computers are suddenly getting pricier again, and announces the first-ever Platypus Economics Halloween costume contest.
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17 October 2026, 7:00 am
29 minutes 1 second
Why Official Inflation Can Seem Too Low | The Professor Is In
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 your questions: why your gut says prices doubled.
Subscribe:
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the Podcast 👉 https://platypuseconomics.com/podcast
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16 October 2026, 7:00 am
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