Some thoughts on reading a profile of yourself in your hometown paper
It's not a #humblebrag if you admit it.
The Sydney Morning Herald ran a profile of me this weekend, written by Michael Koziol, and I want to talk about it — partly because it’s a strange and wonderful thing to (metaphorically) open the paper you grew up reading and find your own mug plastered on it, and partly because Michael managed to articulate the Platypus Economics origin story better than I have in two months of trying.
Also, the headline calls me Steve Irwin reincarnated as an economist, and honestly? I’ll be dining out on that for the rest of my life.
Crikey!
The piece starts out describing my first attempts at talking directly to the public:
Okay, maybe I’m lying a little bit here. I do give a 💩. Deeply. I want to impress you, my subscribers. But, not with the performative smartness of the ivory tower: I want to earn your trust with honesty, directness, and analytic insight.
Platypus Economics is a passion project: I want to teach the world economics. To do that, I’ve had to learn a different way of being an economist, so that I can reach folks where they are. (It’s rarely a university seminar room.)
It’s not just radio, television is also “going the way of the horse and buggy” as it contends with the streaming revolution. And Michael captured the part of this story that genuinely keeps me up at night: the liars, spivs, and (ahem) purveyors of misinformation figured this out years before the rest of us.
If you’ve ever wondered what I sound like on the phone, that’s it.
And there’s a big idea that animates Platypus Economics: The answer to bad actors winning the information war isn’t to simply complain, but to show up and compete.
The profile also touches on something I don’t talk about much: the version of this story where the 2024 election goes the other way, and Platypus Economics never exists.
I won’t pretend I’d have been sad about that timeline. But since we’re living in this one, the question that actually confronts me is this: What’s the highest-value thing an economist can do in a world where the truth — and economic truth especially — is trading at a steep discount?
Writing another journal article or op-ed the president will never read didn’t seem like it. Explaining, clearly and honestly and to as many people as possible, what tariffs actually do to manufacturing jobs, what food stamp cuts actually lead to, and what a war actually costs — that seemed closer.
Two months in: Over 80,000 of you on YouTube, nearly 30,000 here on Substack, over 800,000 followers across other social media networks, partnerships with Slate and MeidasTouch, and — in what I believe may be a first for the economics profession — product placement. (Hi, Stata.)
I want you to have a blast with me. Economics really matters. But it can also be joyful, fun, and inspiring, and I want you to join me for those bits too. (The midlife crisis is optional.)
You can read Michael’s full piece at the Sydney Morning Herald (and I’ve posted a pdf for my memory drawer, here).
And if you got here from the article — g’day, welcome, and I hope you take a moment to subscribe below.
Your midlife crisis lets me have morning coffee with you. It's great!
Dude, how cool is that?! Congrats!