In this episode of Econ Nerds Live, hosts Matt Hill and Ariel Sloanam delve into the pressing issue of national debt, exploring its implications and the government's options for managing it. Then a news quiz segment, where they test each other's knowledge on current events and economic trends. Then they unveil their new segment: "Not Investment Advice", where they give investment advice. The episode wraps up with discussions male friendships, homesteading and Lego Masters

00:00 - Government Spending and Economic Consequences

10:15 - Transitioning to Current Economic News and Quizzes

Investing Insights: Predictions and Market Trends

23:24 - NOT Investment Advice: Tattoo Removal

30:12 - Consumer Surplus and Deadweight Loss: Male Friendships, Homesteading and Lego Masters

Articles mentioned

All articles for the news quiz can be found at our substack: https://econnerds.substack.com/

Supersonics are back

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2025/06/supersonics-takeoff.html

Male Friendships

https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/male-friendship

Homesteading:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/06/05/i-tried-homesteading/

In this episode of Econ Nerds, hosts Matt Hill and Ariel Slonim discuss the recent legal challenges surrounding tariffs, the economic implications of presidential power over tariffs, and the collective action problems faced by Congress. They explore how uncertainty in tariff policies affects businesses and consumers, and delve into the broader economic concepts at play. The conversation also includes a fun news quiz that highlights various economic principles. Then they try to figure out the pricing strategies of Trader Joe's. Finally, Ariel and Matt debate the best place to get wands.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Anecdotes

03:00 Tariff Pause and Legal Challenges

09:02 Congressional Power and Collective Action Problems

12:10 Impact of Tariffs on Business and Consumers

18:10 News Quiz and Economic Insights

34:26 Understanding Trader Joe's Pricing Strategy

45:39 Consumer Surplus and Deadweight Loss

50:23 Experiential Marketing: The Magic of Harry Potter World

Sign up to our newsletter: https://econnerds.substack.com/

In this inaugural episode of Econ Nerds Live, hosts Matt Hill and Ariel Slonim discuss various economic topics, including the recent decision to stop minting pennies, the impact of AI on jobs, the price fluctuations of Ozempic. They also explore the challenges of innovation and idea generation, the pricing of non-alcoholic beverages, and the economic lessons learned from personal experiences, such as dealing with crows in the backyard.

00:00 - Introduction to Econ Nerds Podcast

01:13 - The Death of the Penny

07:56 - AI and Job Market Changes

09:59 - Video of the Week: Ozempic Pricing Loophole

14:51 - Post of the Week: Scott Sumner on Populism

19:46 - Paper of the Week: Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find, Nicholas Decker summarizes the paper here

22:44 - The Price is right? Price of Mocktails and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

29:48 - Consumer Surplus and Deadweight Loss of the week

33:55 - Archaeology Meets Economics - How to find ancient cities with trade theory

39:20 - The Impact of War on Economies

43:41 - Econ in the Wild: Personal Anecdotes

Other posts mentioned:

• Infinite Scroll on slop: https://www.infinitescroll.us/p/stop-calling-everything-slop?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1543281&post_id=164064724

• Pessimist’s Archive on Apple: https://newsletter.pessimistsarchive.org/p/thinking-different-is-never-popular?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=247795&post_id=162898051