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Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers
Think Like an Economist and you’ll see the world more clearly, empowering you to make better decisions at work, at home, and in your community. Leading economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers will take you on a joyous romp through their field as they introduce you to the big ideas in economics, and show how you can apply them to live in your own life. Their signature approach reveals that every decision is an economic decision and this podcast uncovers the economic forces that shape the world around you. Betsey and Justin believe that economics is a superpower, and they want to teach you to fly.
Latest Episodes
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- Today21 min
The Lawyer’s Theory of Trade | Diving In
Donald Trump's trade representative Jamison Greer thinks about trade like a litigator: clients, injuries, bad actors, and remedies. Justin Wolfers takes Greer's own words from his recent interview with The Daily and shows why that worldview rests on muddled thinking about what trade actually is — and why it ends up costing you. In this Diving In episode, Justin lays out the tells and discusses the bottom line. The numbers are blunt: New York Fed research finds roughly 90% of the tariff burden falls on U.S. firms and consumers, and low-income households bear a disproportionate share. Census data shows imports from China fell — but rose nearly one-for-one from the rest of the region. A lot of trade just changed addresses. By the end you'll have a portable BS detector for any trade argument — from Trump, Vance, Greer, or your uncle at Thanksgiving. The Daily Episode With Jamieson Greer: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/podcasts/the-daily/more-trump-tariffs-are-coming.html 🔒 Get 20% off DeleteMe by going to https://joindeleteme.com/WOLFERS and use code WOLFERS to protect your privacy! 🙌 Subscribe on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicsSubscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers One more thing: When I create these videos, I often crunch a few numbers in Stata, with whom I’ve got a paid partnership. Today, I used it to explore our trade relationship with China and the eleven members of ASEAN. Click through here: https://platypuseconomics.com/stata/trading_places_worksheet_6.pdf and you can work through the steps I followed, and build your statistical mastery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 4 days ago21 min
Should Canada answer Trump's tariffs? | The Professor Is In
In this episode of The Professor Is In, Justin Wolfers digs into the latest tariffs on Canada, answering subscriber questions and responding to comments from his earlier Diving In He addresses the suspicious timing of these new tariffs, break down the confusing dairy tariff-rate quota, and argues that total US-Canada dairy trade — about a billion dollars against hundreds of billions in overall trade — isn't worth blowing up either economy over. On whether Canada should retaliate, Justin borrows Joan Robinson's "rocks in the harbour" metaphor: most of a tariff's cost lands on the country imposing it, so matching Trump would mostly hurt Canadians. Finally, Justin discusses the biggest issue: trust. Once a president tears up a deal he signed, the value of his next signature is zero — and that discourages the deep, long-run cross-border investment that has defined North American trade over the past several decades. Canadian Tariffs Diving In: https://omny.fm/shows/platypus-economics/the-biggest-economic-story-nobodys-talking-about-diving-in Subscribe on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicsSubscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 1 weeks ago13 min
The Biggest Economic Story Nobody's Talking About | Diving In
Last summer, Congress passed one of the biggest cuts to food assistance in a generation. SNAP — the program a lot of folks still call food stamps — pays about $188 a month, roughly $6 a day for groceries like milk, eggs, rice, and peanut butter. It's not enough to live on, but it's the thing that lets a parent say yes to fruit this week instead of no. In this Diving In episode, Justin walks you through what actually happened in four parts: what SNAP is and who leans on it, how the cuts ended up tucked inside Trump's 2025 budget law alongside big tax cuts for rich households, what the law actually changed, and what the data show now. The key detail: the new formula dings states for paying the wrong amount but not for wrongly turning eligible families away — a recipe for a slower, more suspicious system. By spring 2026, more than 4 million people had lost benefits, including an estimated 1.5 million children, even as nearly one in four adults still couldn't reliably afford enough food. If your mum, your uncle, or your own household counts on this help, this is the shift that decides whether dinner is the thing that gives when the month runs long. Justin's takeaway: when politicians cut a program, don't just ask how much they saved — ask who lost what. Subscribe on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicsSubscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 1 weeks ago21 min
Why Trump’s New Tariff Is Bigger Than Canada | Diving In
Trump's new 50% tariffs on Canada bypass USMCA — here's what it really means for you. President Trump just hit a limited set of Canadian goods with 50% tariffs, and he did it by dusting off Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — a law last used when Herbert Hoover was in the building. Justin Wolfers walks you through what actually happened, why it's stranger than it sounds, and why the direct cost to the U.S. is smaller than the message behind it. Here's the twist: throughout the earlier trade wars, being compliant with the USMCA free trade agreement was your escape hatch — roughly 90% of Canadian goods came in duty-free. These new proclamations ignore that agreement entirely. Justin's quick-and-dirty math says the tariffs cover a bit more than $20 billion of imports, about 5% of what we buy from Canada — meaning maybe $50 to $150 a year on your household, plus higher prices from American firms that now face less competition. For Canada it's a real hit: close to 1% of GDP. But the bigger story is confidence. If a signed trade deal only holds until the next presidential mood swing, it's not really a rule. Justin argues Canada is the test case — a warning to the roughly 60 countries facing new tariffs any week now: retaliate, and your trade deal may not save you. Subscribe on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomicsSubscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 1 weeks ago19 min
Justin Answers Your Questions on Trump Accounts | The Professor Is In
In this latest episode of The Professor Is In, Justin answers listener questions and responds to comments from his latest episode dispelling the hype around Trump Accounts. Justin argues that Trump accounts are really two policies bundled together. There’s the attention-grabbing $1,000 payment for newborns, which has a genuine “kernel of genius” if the goal is to introduce families to saving, investing, and compound interest. But that piece is temporary. The larger, more durable part is a tax-advantaged wealth-transfer tool that primarily helps upper-middle-class families pass assets to their children. Wolfers connects these accounts to other temporary Trump-era tax promises — on tips, overtime, and Social Security — and contrasts those short-lived populist gestures with more permanent tax cuts for the rich. The result, he argues, is a style of fiscal policy that looks pro-worker on the surface while delivering much larger long-run gains elsewhere. Justin also explains why complexity is not just annoying — but economically harmful. When benefits are routed through a maze of tax rules, account types, and employer provisions, take-up falls. And the people most likely to miss out are often the families who can least afford to, making an already regressive system even more unequal. Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics Subscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Diving Into Trump Accounts: https://omny.fm/shows/platypus-economics/the-truth-about-trump-accounts-read-the-fine-print-diving-in See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 1 weeks ago44 min
What Reese's Cups and Canadian Wildfires Can Teach Us About Economics | Off the Clock
In this episode of Off the Clock, Justin and Stacey break down some of the week’s biggest economic news — letting you know what to actually worry about, what you can safely ignore, and where to find some silver linings. This week they discuss the collapse of the Iran ceasefire and what it might mean for the economy. They also break down the latest inflation numbers, why the relief is probably short lived, and how inflation is starting to show up in less obvious and more surprising ways. Then, in response to the terrible air quality affecting both Ann Arbor and New York, Justin gives Stacey a quick lesson on public goods, before sharing a surprising good news milestone. Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics Subscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 2 weeks ago18 min
The Truth About Trump Accounts (Read the Fine Print) | Diving In
In this episode of Diving In, Justin Wolfers explains why the new Trump Accounts are actually two very different policies jammed into one. First, there’s the headline-grabbing piece: a one-time $1,000 government deposit for babies born in a narrow window between 2025 and 2028, alongside a permanent tax-advantaged savings account that mainly helps families who can afford to keep contributing. The central problem, Justin argues, is that the biggest gains go to households with higher incomes, higher tax rates, and employers able to contribute on their behalf. He also takes apart the White House’s eye-popping projections. Those huge future balances depend on years of private saving, unusually optimistic market assumptions, and nominal dollar figures inflated by time and inflation. In other words: the glossy numbers are technically possible, but deeply misleading for ordinary families trying to judge what this policy really means. Finally, Wolfers asks and answers the practical question: despite these flaws, is a Trump Account still a good choice for you? Depending on your goals, a 529 plan, Roth IRA, or even a standard brokerage account may be a better option. The stakes are high: if you mistake a tax break for populist policy, you miss who really benefits—and make worse choices for your own family’s money. Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics Subscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- 2 weeks ago14 min
Good News on Inflation — With a Very Big Asterisk
The latest CPI report came in better than expected: headline inflation slowed to 3.5% and experienced its largest one-month decline since April 2020. But better-than-expected does not mean problem solved. Falling energy prices were largely responsible for this positive news, and a renewed war with Iran could quickly reverse that progress. As oil prices rise once more, those costs can spread quickly from the gas pump to airfare, shipping, groceries and beyond. In this episode, Justin also investigates what our current rate of inflation (still historically high) means for your paycheck. Wages may be rising, but higher prices can wipe out those gains. That helps explain why many Americans feel like they’re working just as hard without getting ahead. And while today’s numbers have reduced pressure on the Fed for aggressive interest rate hikes, tariffs, geopolitical shocks, and inflation expectations are still in play, making the road back to price stability far from smooth. Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics Subscribe on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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About Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
Think Like an Economist and you’ll see the world more clearly, empowering you to make better decisions at work, at home, and in your community. Leading economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers will take you on a joyous romp through their field as they introduce you to the big ideas in economics, and show how you can apply them to live in your own life. Their signature approach reveals that every decision is an economic decision and this podcast uncovers the economic forces that shape the world around you. Betsey and Justin believe that economics is a superpower, and they want to teach you to fly.
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