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Justin Wolfers

Professor of Public Policy and Economics, University Of Michigan

Verified interview transcripts, podcast appearances, and direct quotes from Justin Wolfers, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at University Of Michigan. AI-verified speaker identity with full-text searchable transcripts.

Recent appearances

  • The American Economy Just Got More Bad News

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Inflation hit 3.7%, and your paycheck didn't keep up. Justin Wolfers digs into why it's worse than Wall Street expected. Headline inflation came in at an eye-popping 3.7% and core inflation is stuck above 2.6%. The really worrying part is prices rose 0.6% in a single month. The engine behind a lot of this is energy, up about 20% since early 2025. You can already feel the first ripples. Airfares are 20% pricier, and heating oil has jumped roughly 40%, which means a genuinely expensive winter if you heat your home with it. Meanwhile wages rose just 3% against 3.7% inflation. Justin also expla…

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  • The Diesel Crisis Just Took an Unexpected Turn

    October 08, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Does Trump's red diesel executive order actually make diesel cheaper? Justin Wolfers digs into President Trump's new executive order letting truckers fill up with red diesel. It's a tax-free fuel normally reserved for farmers, construction crews, and miners. Truckers will still pay the 24.4-cent federal highway , but they can defer it until after the midterms. The White House says it'll save a trucker about $60 a fill-up. But diesel prices keep climbing and can wipe out that $60 savings pretty easily. If truckers take the farmers' fuel without adding any, all you've done is reshuffle the sh…

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  • This Oil Deal Sounds Huge. Until You Do the Math

    October 06, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Why the G7's 100 million-barrel oil release won't lower diesel prices. In this video, Justin Wolfers reads the G7 communique line by line and finds an agreement to finally deliver on a release already promised back in March. Even if every barrel were new (and about 40 million of it is probably just old American commitments), the math is brutal. 100 million barrels is only one single day of global production, spread across four months. That's nothing against a wartime shortfall of roughly 12 million barrels a day through the Strait of Hormuz. The oil release also comes with no named countries…

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  • Justin Wolfers Fact-Checks the Inflation Story on Live TV

    October 04, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Is today's inflation really "inherited"? Justin Wolfers says the real causes are in the White House now. When the Treasury Secretary blames today's 3.4% inflation on the last administration, economist Justin Wolfers politely refuses to carry the water. Inflation was near zero and falling when this White House took office — and since then, tariffs went up, the Strait of Hormuz closed, oil climbed to $60 a barrel, the deficit ballooned, and the bond market pushed interest rates higher. Every one of those, he argues, traces back to current policy choices — and you feel it in your mortgage paymen…

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  • The FTC Is Investigating OpenAI — Here’s Why

    October 01, 2026 · 📺 Prof G Markets

    Ed Elson is joined by Madison Mills to discuss the FTC’s investigation into OpenAI and Anthropic. She also breaks down her reporting on the agentic security breaches involving the companies. Then, Justin Wolfers returns to unpack the latest inflation report and explain what the bond market is signaling about the health of the economy. Finally, Ed shares his take on President Trump’s meeting with AI leaders. Madison Mills is a senior AI reporter at Axios. Justin Wolfers is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan and the founder of Platypus Economics. Timestamp…

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  • Justin Wolfers' Blunt CNN Verdict on the $5,000 Pledge

    September 14, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Why gas and groceries cost more — and whether that $5,000 Trump check is real. Justin Wolfers walks through what's actually driving your cost of living right now: oil and an escalating trade war, now including a tariff fight with Canada. Both are open-ended, and Justin argues they send a worrying signal about whether the White House is focused on the everyday prices you pay. With inflation up 3.4% in August, markets put the odds of another Fed rate hike at roughly 86–87% at the next meeting — and if not then, likely at the one after, still before the midterms. For you, that means higher borr…

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  • Silent Kevin, Angry Canada, and the Iran Sanctions Nobody Believes

    August 29, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers and Stacey Vanek Smith

    On this Fed-heavy episode of Off the Clock, Justin Wolfers and Bloomberg's Stacey Vanek Smith dig into new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's argument for a quieter, less transparent central bank — and why it doesn't hold up. Warsh defended saying less, insisting markets should take their cues from the economy instead of the Fed. Then his speech pushed expected interest rates sharply higher anyway. Justin's point is simple: whether or not the Fed means to guide you, you're listening either way — so it's better to be clear. Stacey pushes back with the real case for silence, which is the tendency for forw…

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  • Economist Justin Wolfers on the psychological sticker shock effect

    August 24, 2026 · 📺 Quest Means Business

    "Prices aren't falling. This is a reality that people who are not presidents face every single day at the store, you can't lie your way out of this one." Economist Justin Wolfers on the psychological sticker shock effect.

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  • Why The Nasdaq Just Hit Correction Territory

    July 29, 2026 · 📺 Prof G Markets

    Ed Elson is joined by Torsten Sløk to break down what's driving the recent tech sell-off, where he thinks markets are headed from here, and which asset classes investors should consider if they're looking to diversify beyond AI. Then, Justin Wolfers returns to discuss President Trump's latest tariff strategy, how it could affect inflation, and what it means for the broader economy. Torsten Sløk is the Chief Economist at Apollo Global Management. Justin Wolfers is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan and the founder of Platypus Economics. Timestamps 00:00…

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  • Justin Wolfers on the economic absurdities of Trump's America | That's Business with Alan Kohler

    July 09, 2026 · 📺 ABC News (Australia)

    Justin Wolfers has spent 25 years in the United States watching the world’s biggest economy from close range - and from the useful distance of an Australian accent that still cuts through the absurdity. A former Reserve Bank economist and now Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Wolfers has become one of America’s sharpest economic communicators. He joins Alan Kohler to talk about the health of the US economy, the chaos of Trump-era policymaking, the folly of tariffs, the importance of immigration, and why the decisions made in Washington still ripple all…

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  • The Latest Jobs Report Is Disappointing…But Still Healthy Says Justin Wolfers

    July 02, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Is a “bad” jobs number is closer to normal than you think? In this 10-minute breakdown, Justin Wolfers explains how to read the latest jobs report without overreacting to a single headline. June payroll growth came in at 57,000, which looks weak by the standards of a few years ago. But those older standards may no longer fit an economy with slower population growth and lower immigration. The labor market may now need only around 60,000 new jobs a month to stay in balance. Justin also discusses what’s really driving the labor market. The answer is not manufacturing, but healthcare and social…

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  • Justin Wolfers on Musk, Inequality, and the Price of American Democracy

    June 14, 2026 · 📺 Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers

    Justin Wolfers argues that Elon Musk's wealth matters less as a symbol of excess and more as a source of influence. His point is blunt: if a relatively small political expenditure can help swing an election, then a trillion-dollar fortune poses a serious challenge to democratic balance. Wolfers puts the scale in perspective with simple arithmetic. What looks like a huge campaign outlay becomes almost nothing relative to Musk's total wealth. That is what makes the issue so unsettling. The concern isn't that someone is rich; it's that their resources are so vast that the normal constraints of d…

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