PE Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

Podcast

Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

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

Website ↗ Last published 3 November 2026 204 posts collected by Sputnik

Said on Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

“What they believed in the 1950s was not just that there was a trade-off, but that it was a menu. You could sit down and say, what do I feel like this year, low inflation or low unemployment? And the problem is it can be a trade-off, but not a menu. If you try to choose moderately high inflation and low unemployment, you might actually end up with really high inflation instead.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 3 Nov 2026 Listen →
“If you've got 100 seats in your restaurant, but 120 people turn up, in the long run you're going to expand the restaurant. But in the short run you've got 120 people at the door and only 100 seats. You may as well jack up your prices. If what is true for the Outback Steakhouse is true for America, then you've just discovered the Phillips curve.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 3 Nov 2026 Listen →
“Some people say, oh, well, most people are fine with unemployment because only 4% of people are unemployed. That's true. But at the microeconomic level, there's always people entering and always people exiting. And by the end of the year, many, many, many more than 4% of the population will have experienced some degree of unemployment.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 31 Oct 2026 Listen →
“We all together, we're in the big kitchen and we bake a great big pie, and that pie we call gross domestic product. … Right now, the share of our national pie got bigger. But the share of that pie that's going to workers is the lowest it's been ever in the United States. I can go back 200 years on that measure.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 25 Oct 2026 Listen →
“There's synthetic rubber tires driving on an asphalt road, oil. Let's say it's hauling wax lips. Those are paraffin wax made of oil… The wrappers on the candy, oil. The dye in the candy, oil… The clothes the driver is wearing, three quarters of the fiber that are used to make clothes is oil. The contact lenses he's wearing, oil… The shampoo he used, oil. The water bottle he's drinking out of, oil. The sandwich he is eating comes from wheat fertilized with fossil fuels. When you start looking into it, the fact that oil is going up by 115% is really alarming. It is everywhere.” — Stacey Vanek Smith, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Stacey Vanek Smith · 17 Oct 2026 Listen →
“The United States on average didn't get poorer and didn't get richer. But people with cars got poorer and people with shares got richer. It's really just a redistribution.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 9 Oct 2026 Listen →
“The very fact that we're willing to put up with pain, economic pain, personal pain, watching our citizens get killed, is signaling to the other side how strong we are. So they can't see how strong we are. The only way we can show them is by letting young men and women die.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 9 Oct 2026 Listen →
“A statistical agency that revises its data is much better than one that doesn't. Just like a person who admits their mistakes is much better than one who doesn't. You might be tempted to say, well, the first print was high and the second print was low. So maybe the truth is in between. That's not right. The first print was based on a small sample. The second print includes all those people and also includes others.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 5 Oct 2026 Listen →
“In 2022, when there were two open jobs for every available worker, you could have eaten a sandwich in your job interview. It probably wouldn't have made that much of a difference.” — Stacey Vanek Smith, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Stacey Vanek Smith · 3 Oct 2026 Listen →
“This AI debate is the debate of our time. I have never in my career gotten to say one economic parameter can make the difference between utopia and dystopia.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 3 Oct 2026 Listen →
“The only thing you can buy with $101 million that you couldn't buy with $99 million is power.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 3 Oct 2026 Listen →
“Manufacturing jobs is basically what rich people think poor people want.” — Justin Wolfers, Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Justin Wolfers · 5 Sep 2026 Listen →

Hosts

Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers is hosted by Justin Wolfers , Betsey Stevenson , Nastaran Tavakoli-Far , Megan Connors , Betsy Stevenson , Samir Benoir and Augusta Chapman .

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  10. 17 Oct 2026

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  11. 16 Oct 2026

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Guests

Stacey Vanek Smith (10 episodes), Stacy Vanick Smith (3 episodes), Lawrence Kotlikoff , Steve Leesman , Stacey Vanek-Smith , Michael Boskin , Jeremy Hobson , Mary Harris , Travis Melvin , Olivia Mitchell , DJ Tolliver , Emily Oster , and 6 more.