Economics Is Not a Subject — It's a Toolkit | Economics Matters
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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You're about to listen to a conversation I had the other day with Larry Kotlikoff. He's a friend, a fellow economist, and host of the Economics Matters podcast. This was a fun one. Larry encouraged me to look both backwards and forwards, backward at some of the work I'm most proud of, and forward at the growing challenges we face as an economy and a nation. In the process, well, you get two economists together, we philosophized over the role of economics and the duty of economists in helping tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time. This was the kind of conversation that reminded me actually why I fell in love with economics. It's not the models or the math, but the chance to make sense of the lives we actually live.
I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation half as much as I enjoyed having it.
Hello everyone, it's uh Larry Kotlikoff with Economics Matters the podcast. I'm really delighted to have Justin Wolfers with me. Uh Wolfers is Yeah, Justin is a I don't know if it's what Justin is a Star in economics а a budding star. Um I think partly Because of his personality. uh mostly because of his economics and the fact that he has a ton to say uh about lots of different things. Uh and he's got a terrific platform. Uh it's called Platypus. Uh he'll tell us more about it. Uh But it's a substack plat substack uh platform. That job. uh everybody should subscribe to and preferably pay for it. Uh it's worth it. It's one of the really best uh I I learn more in five minutes uh from that than almost any other thing I can uh
jump on to. So he it's terrific. Um And The uh the thing about economists that as everybody knows is that There are people that are good with numbers but don't have the personality to be an actuary. And Justin has the personality He kind of uh defies that rule and he has the personality to be at least a social so uh sociologist, I would say. Perhaps, uh but we'll see. What do you think? Anyway, uh let me give you a quick overview of his bio and then we're gonna have him give fill it in a bit and then Uh we will um Talk about some of his greatest hits in terms of the research, 'cause I want everybody to understand That just in is not just a great commentator on What's going on in the the local, national and global economies.
Whether it's Fed policy or labor markets or China or whatever it is, he can talk about it. But that's commentary, uh, but he's also an extremely serious and
Why does Larry say economics is a toolkit, not a subject?
uh major economist, uh academic economist who's done Outstanding work it's been published in fantastic. The very top journals on many different topics. That's the amazing thing about him. So he's really Um somebody I'm very pl proud to have on on this podcast. So he's a professor of economics and a professor also a professor of Public policy at the University of Michigan. which has always had a uh really terrific economics department and still does, of course. Uh he's also a visiting professor of economics at the University of Sydney. He hails from Australia. That will be obvious in two seconds as as soon as you hear his uh cool accent and you'll we'll you will immediately be relieved that it's not another New Jersey accent.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:23
2
Why does Larry say economics is a toolkit, not a subject?
4:23–39:58
3
How did the evolution of the economics profession shape modern research?
39:58–45:51
4
How have changes in technology and markets reshaped family economics?
45:51–1:22:33
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers
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