# Why the Most Important Economic Story of Our Time Isn't the Tariffs — It's the Institutions

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501/why-the-most-important-economic-story-of-our-time-isn-t-the-tariffs-it-s-the-institutions
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501/why-the-most-important-economic-story-of-our-time-isn-t-the-tariffs-it-s-the-institutions.md
Podcast: [Economics Matters with Laurence Kotlikoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501)
Published: 2026-07-31T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/economics-matters/episodes/Why-the-Most-Important-Economic-Story-of-Our-Time-Isnt-the-Tariffs--Its-the-Institutions-e3mmetn
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e8bfdf7c/podcast/play/123468151/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-29%2F428815926-44100-2-ebcb39b35ed5f.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501/episodes/why-the-most-important-economic-story-of-our-time-isn-t-the-tariffs-it-s-the-institutions
Duration seconds: 4191

## Resource

What if one of the most famous and widely cited findings in modern economics (that money doesn't really make you happier) turned out to simply be wrong? And what does the economist who proved it wrong have to say about where America is heading next? Justin Wolfers is not a typical economist. He's written landmark papers on happiness, divorce, racial discrimination in NBA officiating, corruption in college basketball, gender and wages, prediction markets, and the political economy of elections. He runs one of the most widely read economics Substacks on the internet, co-authored a leading undergraduate economics textbook, and once showed Danny Kahneman data that changed the Nobel laureate's mind on a question he'd spent decades answering. In this episode, Professor Kotlikoff sits down with the University of Michigan professor for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from the science of happiness to the economics of marriage and divorce, the crisis facing young men, the future of American institutions under pressure, and a closing argument for why — despite everything — there has never been a better time to be alive.What You'll Learn What You'll Learn: [00:09:03] Why Gary Becker is the most important economist of the 20th century [00:17:51] The radical idea that economists should tell people what to do [00:20:00] The ice cream story that turned Justin into a behavioral economist [00:34:57] Why your grandmother said "opposites attract" — and why she was wrong [00:37:54] The divorce statistic nobody is talking about [00:40:05] Why the 1950s marriage model was the historical anomaly, not the norm [00:42:01] The Easterlin Paradox — and why it was wrong [00:58:21] The 60/40 gender split in college enrollment [01:01:16] Is there a crisis of masculinity? [01:04:48] W…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501/episodes/why-the-most-important-economic-story-of-our-time-isn-t-the-tariffs-it-s-the-institutions/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/economics-matters-with-laurence-kotlikoff-6614501/why-the-most-important-economic-story-of-our-time-isn-t-the-tariffs-it-s-the-institutions.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.