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Blue Wave Economics | The Professor Is In
What did the midterm elections reveal about the economy—and your household budget? Justin Wolfers examines the Democratic sweep through a puzzle: how can the economy grow while people feel so anxious? He contrasts GDP growth of 3.4% at an a
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
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,
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 foreca
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 ch
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 quest
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 tel
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, Ju
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
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 bulldo
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 cl
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 Cha
The Latest Inflation Report, Explained | Diving In
The latest inflation report just dropped, and Justin Wolfers digs into why it's worse than Wall Street expected. Headline inflation came in at an eye-popping 3.7% — well above the Fed's 2% target — and core inflation is stuck above 2.6%. Th
The Hidden Force Dragging Down Consumer Sentiment | Diving In
Americans feel almost exactly as gloomy today as they did in 1980 — when inflation was near 14% and unemployment was close to 8%. Today those numbers are a fraction of that, yet consumer sentiment hit an all-time low. Justin Wolfers treats
The Nobel-Winning Insight That Made Spending Hard to Predict | Diving In
Why Robert Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics — explained simply. This morning Robert Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics, and Justin Wolfers couldn't wait to explain what they figure
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
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 unti
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 agreem
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 t
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
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 d
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 W
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 Dec
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, ar
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 airb
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. Subs
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
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
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 r
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 p
