Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
@platypuseconomics
“There is no price tag in the economy as tall as gas prices, and that you pass as often.” Visibility matters. Economics isn't just about prices; it's about attention. Gas prices shape how people feel about the economy because they're impossible to ignore.
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Think of an oil shock like a stone tossed in a pond. First splash: gasoline. Then the ripples: airfares, delivery costs, packaging, groceries, construction materials. The ripple...
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A 60-year low in sentiment is a big deal because the baseline is already tough: this survey has lived through recessions, inflation, wars, and financial crises. And yet this is wor...
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"If what you want is rate cuts, here's the thing you don't do. You don't go and bomb a country in the Middle East upsetting global energy markets and pushing prices up across the b...
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Pete Hegseth’s focused on the cost of the bomb. I’m more interested in the size of the economic crater. And that crater may be 10 to 100 times larger. For many families, that...
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Care work is often treated as somehow less "real" than making tangible goods. Nonsense. It's physically demanding, emotionally demanding, and often highly skilled. That's real work, mate. Check out the full analysis here: https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/the-pink-collar-economy-is-here
Why oil? Because worsening war news tends to threaten energy supply. That pushes oil prices up. So rising oil isn’t just about petrol; it’s a signal about geopolitical risk hitting the global economy.
"If we don't have immigration and population growth, the number of people who can pay off that debt just went down." That's the key mechanism.
“He failed to understand the interconnectedness of the world economy.” That was true in the trade war, and it’s true now.
Deficits aren’t inherently good or bad. They’re a tool. The real question is: what problem are they solving? Econ is annoyingly context-dependent like that.
A windfall profits tax sounds great as a one-off. But once investors expect it to happen again, it's no longer a windfall tax—it's just a profits tax. And that can discourage the investment you actually want.
If there’s a water shortage, don’t subsidize showers. If there’s a blackout, don’t make AC cheaper. If there’s an oil shortage, don’t cut gas taxes. Prices are helping signal scarcity. A gas tax holiday weakens that signal right when it matters most.
Debt by itself is a lousy guide. A $500,000 mortgage can be manageable or terrifying depending on salary, rates, and future earnings. Same with countries: the real question isn’t “how much debt?” but “can they carry it?”
A 60-year low in sentiment is a big deal because the baseline is already tough: this survey has lived through recessions, inflation, wars, and financial crises. And yet this is worse. Read the full analysis on Substack: https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/consumer-sentiment-hits-a-record
Kevin Warsh once argued for rates that were too high for the economy, and he now seems politically reluctant to contradict Trump. That's a worrying combo. We'll find out soon enough which one shows up to work.
Le #PQ de #PSPP et l’extrm-droite. 🤷🏻 #NouvelleAlliance #PartiQuébécois #Ethnonationalisme #Xénophobie #Racisme #QuébecSolidaire #QS #PartiLibéral #PLQ #CAQ #PCQ #ÉlectionsQuébec #Canada #Carney #polqc #polcan
Abdul El-Sayed: "I love Judaism and the Jewish People, because i love People. I love Palestinians and their Rights, because i love People. It’s dangerous to equate antisemitism with criticizing a foreign government and its Leaders."
Visitem el Parc de Bombers de Girona per conèixer de prop la seva tasca, els reptes del dia a dia i l’organització d’un servei essencial per a la ciutat.
How do we maintain legitimacy in an era of AI and the fracturing of the information environment? Check out more from @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social's conversation about @weissmann.substack.com's new book, "Liar's Kingdom," in the latest episode of Illegal News.
Secretary of State is the head customer service job of Indiana. Do you agree? Either way I'd love to know your thoughts on our state's elections and how you feel about the direction of our party. Delegates, I'm asking for your support and nomination on June 6 down in Indianapolis.
This one? Yes. Super catchy. Maybe we should be taking a page out of their book and using AI warfare to make our own meaningful resistance videos against the regime. They have some seriously intense depth & detail to their trolling videos.
In the lastest episode of Science of Slink, we're diving into a case study of freestyle with Science of Slink member Sarah! Listen now: pod.link/1691190004 #polenerd #polescience #polepodcast #scienceofslink #slinkthroughstrength
🔵 He should be disqualified on this alone. And her "woo" at the end is everything 🔵🤣
1/ On the 507th day of continuous protest, citizens are marching and demanding the provision of medicines for children with Duchenne. #GeorgiaProtests
The Arsonian Battle Class is heavily armed, careful timing is required to bypass its flak shields & hit the ship while fending off the missile barrage.... A theme in this testing is a need for rebalance. #roguelike #indiedev #spacegame #indiegames #indiegame #IndieGameDev #2dgame
this is a different warbler or warbler type. seen on film for a few days now, but I really don’t know who it is. What do you think? I know that there’s someone out there that knows this bird. #Seattle #Birds
Buying locally-produced food eliminates long-distance transportation costs. Driving a combustion vehicle further to get it may cancel out trucking fuel savings. If possible use an e-assist cargo cycle on a protected cycle network to pick up groceries. Or have them delivered by an electric vehicle.
Jones is still not back hosting, but he sent in a few videos where he sounds pretty dejected: "Trump saying ... Mark Levin is my spirit animal ... If you don't endorse this Israel firster, then you're not MAGA" "Well, guess what, Trump? You're not MAGA anymore. You're make Israel great again"
"We are preparing a major defense package for #Ukraine & a strong step regarding Gripen fighter jets", #Zelensky said, arriving in #Sweden today. 🇸🇪press wrote about plans to provide #Ukraine with Gripen C-D & possible E fighter jets. 🇸🇪 & 🇺🇦 signed a possible agreement on 100–150 ✈️ last year.
<courtesy of @charlotteclymer> Last night, CBS News awarded the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship to Santiago Campos, a high school journalist. ...In accepting, he took the time to condemn the direction of CBS News to much surprise & applause from the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
New Meets Newer in New Freedom - Video Version. November 12th, 2023. Clip from my YouTube video "Steam Into History". #trains #video
As a Jewish American, I’ve been targeted and experienced hate simply because of my faith. Now – more than ever – we need to take a stand to protect all religious communities from hate and violence.
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Dream on ————— With music from Coil And some drawings from over the years Visuals ©️2026 Randall Kaplan #art #drawings #illustration #animation #handdrawn #humanart #darkartist
first time that I have seen Red at the platter birdbath this was late in the day probably his last sip today was 76°. That’s the warmest it’s been this year. #Birds
🥳 A small town in #Oregon is celebrating after officially stopping a large data center from being built in their community‼️ The #LaPineCity Council voted unanimously to reject the proposed project 👏
Curated data helps, but garbage online still shapes AI outputs. #ai #internet #data
kicki8686 antworten Welche Übungen haben bei dir geholfen? #rückbildung #rückbildungsgymnastik Ich bringe gerade meine Videos hierher – falls du neu bist, willkommen! 👋
#ai #stocks #explore #fyp #BreakingNewsUSA Full story: https://jqjo.com/2026-05-13/us/Business/ch/bs/AI股票丑闻:Anthropic和OpenAI的PreStocks因欺诈警告而暴跌/1274867
“The South will not rise again Til it's paid for every sin Strange fruit, hard bargain Till the roots, Southern Gotham I'm the one who still loves your ghost I reanimate your bones With my belief And I'm the one who still loves your ghost I reanimate your bones Cause I'm a true believer”
too mentally ill to work up the wherewithal to go to the show. just mentally ill enough to stay home and learn basslines for the band's songs
👻🎃 Spooktember is almost over, and with Spooktober around the corner, now is a good time to check out The Starwielder Armageddon's Eclipse. My debut Sci-fi Fantasy series takes a darker turn in this installment 😈. #independentauthor #indepedentlypublishedauthor #scififantasybooks
We’re very proud of the work our team does to support a diverse and nuanced portfolio of @tandfresearch.bsky.social journals. For over a decade, we’ve worked with their teams, building a trusted partnership grounded in consistency, flexibility and deep editorial expertise. #PeerReview
🌲 Why do we tell actors to “break a leg”? Because every play has a cast. Woof! 🐶 🎥 Live playing BATMAN ARKHAM CITY on Twitch → twitch.tv/upliftedmax Stay Uplifted 🌲 #ENVTuber #Twitch #TwitchGaming
A banner against racists from Partick Thistle FC (Scotland) supporters: “Little brains. Keep racism out of football.”
No Man's Sky Breach 🚪Breach Expedition 🏴☠️Space Wrecks 🧑🚀Prime System Exploration 🔧Salvage Ship Parts 🪐Survive Gas Giants 💎Atlas Corvettes 🦑Infestations 👻Ghost Starship 🎁New Base Parts 🏗️Improved Ship Building 💪Salvaging Out now, a free update
THE WHOLE CREW 😎 | ROAD TO 10K CLEARS | Code: FJP-B48-R8G | Creator: Soullix #MarioMaker2 #SMM2 #Nintendo #Mario #SuperMarioMaker2
💥 Cargo ship hit by projectile southeast of Ira For daily global news videos, please visit Ranked.News/videos
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Cooking alongside Meghan was such a joy. She shares my passion not only for food, but for feeding the people you love.” - Chef José Andrés #WithLoveMeghan #MeghanSussex #DuchessofSussex
Still even after my Rebrand, I do think this is still hands down my best VTuber Clip
Agent THUNDER’s daily report: ✅ World saved ✅ Mission completed ✅ Good boy status maintained ⚠️ Treat inventory critically low. Remaining objective: Find snacks. 🐶