Justin Wolfers
@justinwolfers.bsky.social
Econ professor at Michigan ● Senior fellow, Brookings ● Intro econ textbook author ● Think Like An Economist podcast ● An economist willing to admit that the glass really is half full.
He said: "Prices are down under Trump.'
Me: "It is quite literally false. There's not a single way you can interpret a word that the man's saying..as being remotely reflective of either what we're seeing in data from all across the country or in people's everyday lives."
Me: "It is quite literally false. There's not a single way you can interpret a word that the man's saying..as being remotely reflective of either what we're seeing in data from all across the country or in people's everyday lives."
November 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
He said: "Prices are down under Trump.'
Me: "It is quite literally false. There's not a single way you can interpret a word that the man's saying..as being remotely reflective of either what we're seeing in data from all across the country or in people's everyday lives."
Me: "It is quite literally false. There's not a single way you can interpret a word that the man's saying..as being remotely reflective of either what we're seeing in data from all across the country or in people's everyday lives."
Remember that insurance is actually a thing you hope never to use, and then read this critique.
November 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Remember that insurance is actually a thing you hope never to use, and then read this critique.
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
It can be hard to do math in your head, while standing up, on national television. Nerve-wracking, too. But even so, in twenty seconds on the air, I did a better job than the President in costing his latest idea and figuring out whether his new idea of a $2,000 rebate check will work. (It won't.)
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
It can be hard to do math in your head, while standing up, on national television. Nerve-wracking, too. But even so, in twenty seconds on the air, I did a better job than the President in costing his latest idea and figuring out whether his new idea of a $2,000 rebate check will work. (It won't.)
"The punters have never felt more dissatisfied with the direction of economic policy than they feel right now."
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM
"The punters have never felt more dissatisfied with the direction of economic policy than they feel right now."
I can’t swear on TV — but my face does it for me. You can probably guess what it just said about the President’s latest nonsense.
November 10, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I can’t swear on TV — but my face does it for me. You can probably guess what it just said about the President’s latest nonsense.
Taxing Americans through tariffs and then returning more to them through rebate checks is...
November 10, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Taxing Americans through tariffs and then returning more to them through rebate checks is...
My favorite thing about this thread is the reply guys who have never encountered Australian-style sarcasm before.
WOLFERS: “.. I can’t tell you why the president lies, but I can tell you that everything he has said about prices being lower is a lie. .. I’m starting to think that he doesn’t actually care about the cost of living.”
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
November 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
My favorite thing about this thread is the reply guys who have never encountered Australian-style sarcasm before.
Dan Quayle mis-spelled potatoe
November 9, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Dan Quayle mis-spelled potatoe
The fact that someone was fooled by a spoof from a website (literally) called the Dunning-Kruger Times has no bearing at all on my confidence that he would definitely have the upper hand in any negotiation with President Xi, or Putin.
With a “WOW!,” President Trump posts a claim about DOGE and “royalties linked to Obamacare” that originated on a satirical website. That site’s own About section reads: “Everything on this website is fiction… If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.”
November 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
The fact that someone was fooled by a spoof from a website (literally) called the Dunning-Kruger Times has no bearing at all on my confidence that he would definitely have the upper hand in any negotiation with President Xi, or Putin.
When prices rise because *demand* is hot, wages usually follow. When prices rise because tariffs raise costs -- a *supply* shock -- there’s no reason paychecks catch up. That’s why tariff inflation hurts a whole heckuva lot more. It's a permanent reduction in living standards.
November 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
When prices rise because *demand* is hot, wages usually follow. When prices rise because tariffs raise costs -- a *supply* shock -- there’s no reason paychecks catch up. That’s why tariff inflation hurts a whole heckuva lot more. It's a permanent reduction in living standards.
There's a little bit of economics underlying Musk's trillion dollar payday. Let's try to make sense of it all by serving up a main course of the Economics of Superstars, with a side of Principal -Agent problems, and a healthy helping of Political Economy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWxM...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWxM...
Elon Musk 'worse for Tesla than any other CEO' after $1 trillion deal | Justin Wolfers
Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan Justin Wolfers tells Times Radio's Fergus Macphee what the unprecedented $1 trillion pay deal Elon Musk has agreed actually…
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
There's a little bit of economics underlying Musk's trillion dollar payday. Let's try to make sense of it all by serving up a main course of the Economics of Superstars, with a side of Principal -Agent problems, and a healthy helping of Political Economy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWxM...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWxM...
I joined my pal @mollyjongfast on her Fast Politics podcast to talk about life without jobs data, Trump’s tariffs, SNAP, and and how torching your own institutions is a bold new strategy for national decline. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzpa...
Justin Wolfers On Trump's No Data No Problems
Economist Justin Wolfers joins host Molly Jong-Fast for a deep dive into the economic consequences of the ongoing government shutdown, lack of reliable labor data, and the Trump administration’s…
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I joined my pal @mollyjongfast on her Fast Politics podcast to talk about life without jobs data, Trump’s tariffs, SNAP, and and how torching your own institutions is a bold new strategy for national decline. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzpa...
The market’s AI run-up yields two plausible stories:
1) A genuine productivity revolution that lifts living standards;
2) A classic overhype that ends like 2000.
Surely the right stance isn’t certainty; it’s humility, diversification, and an eye on the long run.
1) A genuine productivity revolution that lifts living standards;
2) A classic overhype that ends like 2000.
Surely the right stance isn’t certainty; it’s humility, diversification, and an eye on the long run.
November 9, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The market’s AI run-up yields two plausible stories:
1) A genuine productivity revolution that lifts living standards;
2) A classic overhype that ends like 2000.
Surely the right stance isn’t certainty; it’s humility, diversification, and an eye on the long run.
1) A genuine productivity revolution that lifts living standards;
2) A classic overhype that ends like 2000.
Surely the right stance isn’t certainty; it’s humility, diversification, and an eye on the long run.
"isn't that just the conversation we've been having now for years, which is how does someone look the American people in the eye and lie to them? How should you respond as someone in the media? And how should I respond as an economist?"
November 8, 2025 at 10:56 PM
"isn't that just the conversation we've been having now for years, which is how does someone look the American people in the eye and lie to them? How should you respond as someone in the media? And how should I respond as an economist?"
Econ 101 midterm question: Based on what you know about risk pools and adverse selection in healthcare markets, will giving people money instead of giving them money to buy health insurance lead these markets to function more effectively, or will it just lead more people to be uninsured?
November 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Econ 101 midterm question: Based on what you know about risk pools and adverse selection in healthcare markets, will giving people money instead of giving them money to buy health insurance lead these markets to function more effectively, or will it just lead more people to be uninsured?
Let's talk about Trump's tariffs and the constitution. On Slate's What Next podcast.
slate.com/podcasts/wha...
slate.com/podcasts/wha...
November 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Let's talk about Trump's tariffs and the constitution. On Slate's What Next podcast.
slate.com/podcasts/wha...
slate.com/podcasts/wha...
Reposted by Justin Wolfers
WOLFERS: “.. I can’t tell you why the president lies, but I can tell you that everything he has said about prices being lower is a lie. .. I’m starting to think that he doesn’t actually care about the cost of living.”
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
November 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
WOLFERS: “.. I can’t tell you why the president lies, but I can tell you that everything he has said about prices being lower is a lie. .. I’m starting to think that he doesn’t actually care about the cost of living.”
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
@justinwolfers.bsky.social @svdate.bsky.social
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump's tariffs are hurting us in two ways:
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
November 8, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Trump's tariffs are hurting us in two ways:
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
"Mate, if any of those numbers were true, you know, we could all be on yachts right now. It'd be terrific. I don't know why the bloke doesn't just say eleventy gajillion and get on with it. When you're making numbers up, just be transparent about it."
November 8, 2025 at 12:52 PM
"Mate, if any of those numbers were true, you know, we could all be on yachts right now. It'd be terrific. I don't know why the bloke doesn't just say eleventy gajillion and get on with it. When you're making numbers up, just be transparent about it."
If the Supreme Court rules against the President, expect it "move our chaotic trade war that was really chaotic-and-settled, into merely chaotic, back to extremely chaotic again."
November 7, 2025 at 10:56 PM
If the Supreme Court rules against the President, expect it "move our chaotic trade war that was really chaotic-and-settled, into merely chaotic, back to extremely chaotic again."
Every Friday night, as the markets close, a chill runs down my spine. Somewhere in D.C., a comms official is whispering, “Perfect time to announce it.”
November 7, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Every Friday night, as the markets close, a chill runs down my spine. Somewhere in D.C., a comms official is whispering, “Perfect time to announce it.”
In the 2000s, just ten percent of Americans believed the government was doing a poor job on economic policy. Today, that's 64%, higher than at any point in our history, beating the oil shocks, wage and price controls, the great inflation, any major recession, financial crisis or pandemic.
November 7, 2025 at 8:55 PM
In the 2000s, just ten percent of Americans believed the government was doing a poor job on economic policy. Today, that's 64%, higher than at any point in our history, beating the oil shocks, wage and price controls, the great inflation, any major recession, financial crisis or pandemic.
Reposted by Justin Wolfers
Trump’s tariffs have a constitution problem.
Join host Mary Harris and @justinwolfers.bsky.social on What Next for more: slate.com/podcasts/wha...
Join host Mary Harris and @justinwolfers.bsky.social on What Next for more: slate.com/podcasts/wha...
November 7, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Trump’s tariffs have a constitution problem.
Join host Mary Harris and @justinwolfers.bsky.social on What Next for more: slate.com/podcasts/wha...
Join host Mary Harris and @justinwolfers.bsky.social on What Next for more: slate.com/podcasts/wha...
"it's a symptom of a deep and abiding dysfunction that Republicans, despite holding the presidency, the Senate and the House, can't fund the government and can't even get themselves to get together in a room to strike a deal."
November 7, 2025 at 5:46 PM
"it's a symptom of a deep and abiding dysfunction that Republicans, despite holding the presidency, the Senate and the House, can't fund the government and can't even get themselves to get together in a room to strike a deal."