Tyler Cowen (/ˈkaʊən/; born January 21, 1962) is an American economist, columnist and blogger. He is a professor at George Mason University, where he holds the Holbert L. Harris chair in the economics department.[2] He hosts the economics blogMarginal Revolution, together with co-author Alex Tabarrok. Cowen and Tabarrok also maintain the website Marginal Revolution University, a venture in online education.
He was ranked at number 72 among the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" in 2011 by Foreign Policy Magazine "for finding markets in everything".[6] In a 2011 poll of experts by The Economist, Cowen was included in the top 36 nominations of "which economists were most influential over the past decade".[7]
The Los Angeles Times has described Cowen as "a man who can talk about Haitian voodoo flags, Iranian cinema, Hong Kong cuisine, Abstract Expressionism, Zairian music and Mexican folk art with seemingly equal facility".[15] One of Cowen's primary research interests is the economics of culture. He has written books on fame (What Price Fame?), art (In Praise of Commercial Culture) and cultural trade (Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures). In Markets and Cultural Voices, he relays how globalization is changing the world of three Mexicanamate painters.[16] Cowen argues that free markets change culture for the better, allowing them to evolve into something more people want. Other books include Public Goods and Market Failures, The Theory of Market Failure, Explorations in the New Monetary Economics, Risk and Business Cycles, Economic Welfare and New Theories of Market Failure.
In 2023, Cowen falsely claimed on his blog[17] that Francis Bacon was a critic of the printing press, including fictional quotations and references he had gotten from ChatGPT.[18]
Booksedit
Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World, with Daniel Gross. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2022, ISBN 978-1250275813, OCLC 1227086238.
Big Business: A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2019. ISBN 978-1250110541, OCLC 1031569569.
Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals. Stripe Press. 2018. ISBN 978-1732265134.
The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream. New York: St. Martins Press. 2017. ISBN 978-1250108692. OCLC 981982936..
The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy (2010)
Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World. Dutton Adult. 2009. ISBN 978-0525951230.
Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. Dutton Adult. 2007. ISBN 978-0525950257.
Good and Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0691120423.
Markets and Cultural Voices: Liberty vs. Power in the Lives of Mexican Amate Painters (Economics, Cognition, and Society). University of Michigan Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0472068890.
Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0691117836.
Cowen has been described as a "libertarian bargainer" who can influence practical policy making,[25] yet he endorsed bank bailouts in his March 2, 2009 column in The New York Times.[26] In a 2007 article entitled "The Paradox of Libertarianism", Cowen argued that libertarians "should embrace a world with growing wealth, growing positive liberty, and yes, growing government. We don't have to favor the growth in government per se, but we do need to recognize that sometimes it is a package deal".[27]
In 2012, David Brooks called Cowen "one of the most influential bloggers on the right", writing that he is among those who "start from broadly libertarian premises but do not apply them in a doctrinaire way".[28]
In an August, 2014 blog post, Cowen wrote: "Just to summarize, I generally favor much more immigration but not open borders, I am a liberal on most but not all social issues, and I am market-oriented on economic issues. On most current foreign policy issues I am genuinely agnostic as to what exactly we should do but skeptical that we are doing the right thing at the moment. I don't like voting for either party or for third parties".[29]
In a 2020 New Year's Day Marginal Revolution post, Cowen outlined a philosophical framework he dubbed "State Capacity Libertarianism". State Capacity Libertarianism differs from libertarianism in that it acknowledges the state's role in funding and executing megaprojects and advocates a non-isolationist foreign policy.[30]
Cowen has described himself as a liberal on most social issues[29] and supports same-sex marriage.[31] After the Supreme Court issued its 2015 holding affirming the right of same-sex marriage, Cowen said that "this is exciting and very positive news. Most of all, it is a breakthrough for those people who can now marry, or exercise the choice not to marry".[32]
In July 2023, Cowen joined "The Growth Commission", a non-partisan group convened by former UK prime minister Liz Truss to promote economic policies that promote growth.[34]
"Underrated/Overrated", where guests are given a quick-fire list of cultural works or academic concepts and asked to say whether they agree with the general critical response received.
The [guest name] Production Function, where guests are asked to describe their personal productivity habits.
In describing the podcast, Cowen repeatedly characterises it as "...the conversation I want to have".[35][36]
Publicationsedit
Selected journal articlesedit
Cowen, Tyler (December 22, 2011). "An Economic and Rational Choice Approach to the Autism Spectrum and Human Neurodiversity". GMU Working Paper in Economics. 11 (58). SSRN 1975809.
Cowen, Tyler (October 7, 2011). "The Microeconomics of Public Choice in Developing Economies: A Case Study of One Mexican Village". The Annual Proceedings of the Wealth and Well-being of Nations. SSRN 1940219.
Cowen, Tyler; Alexander Tabarrok (October 2000). "An Economic Theory of Avant-Garde and Popular Art, or High and Low Culture". Southern Economic Journal. 67 (2): 232–253. doi:10.2307/1061469. JSTOR 1061469.
Cowen, Tyler; Amihai Glazer; Katarina Zajc (2000). "Credibility May Require Discretion, Not Rules" (PDF). Journal of Public Economics. 76 (2): 295–306. doi:10.1016/S0047-2727(99)00051-1.
Cowen, Tyler (August 1997). "Should the Central Bank Target CPI Futures?" (PDF). Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 29 (3): 275–285. doi:10.2307/2953693. JSTOR 2953693.
Cowen, Tyler; Daniel Sutter (1997). "Politics and the Pursuit of Fame" (PDF). Public Choice. 93: 19–35. doi:10.1023/A:1017939531594. S2CID 152467126.
Cowen, T.; Robin Grier (1996). "Do Artists Suffer From A Cost Disease?" (PDF). Rationality and Society. 8 (1): 5–24. doi:10.1177/104346396008001001. S2CID 153392382.
Cowen, Tyler; Amihai Glazer (1996). "More Monitoring Can Induce Less Effort" (PDF). Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 30: 113–123. doi:10.1016/S0167-2681(96)00845-1.
Cowen, Tyler; Alexander Tabarrok (April 1995). "Good Grapes and Bad Lobsters: Applying the Alchian and Allen Theorem" (PDF). Economic Inquiry. 33 (2): 253–256. doi:10.1111/j.1465-7295.1995.tb01860.x.
Cowen, Tyler; Richard Fink (September 1985). "Inconsistent Equilibrium Constructs: The Evenly Rotating Economy of Mises and Rothbard". American Economic Review. 75 (4): 866–869. JSTOR 1821365.
Select articlesedit
Cowen, Tyler (August 11, 2012). "Two Prisms for Looking at China's Problems". New York Times.
Cowen, Tyler (June 16, 2012). "Broken Trust Takes Time to Mend". New York Times.
"What Export-Oriented America Means". The American Interest. May–June 2012. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013.
"Six Rules for Dining Out". The Atlantic. May 2012.
"6 Ideas for the Ash Heap of History". Foreign Policy. November 28, 2011. Archived from the original on August 16, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
"The Inequality That Matters". The American Interest. January–February 2011. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013.
"The Lack of Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth", NYTimes, June 14, 2014]
Referencesedit
^Illing, Sean (June 3, 2017). "9 questions for Tyler Cowen". Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Who is the person who has most influenced the way you think? [...] More proximately, I would cite economics as a discipline and Plato's dialogic method for philosophy
^"Tyler Cowen". Mercatus Center. George Mason University. August 15, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
^"Conversations with Tyler | Listen to Tyler Cowen's Official Podcast". conversationswithtyler.com.
^"Economist Tyler Cowen Launches a Fellowship and Grant Program for Moon Shot Ideas". TechCrunch.com. September 13, 2018.
^"The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers (#72 Tyler Cowan:For finding markets in everything)". Foreign Policy. December 2011. Archived from the original on April 16, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
^"Economics' most influential people". Economist.com. February 1, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
^Rosenwald, Michael S. "Tyler Cowen's appetite for ethnic food – and answers about his life", The Washington Post, May 13, 2010. Accessed November 2, 2017. "Cowen is 48. He grew up in Hillsdale, N.J., an hour's drive from New York."
^"Chess", The Ridgewood News, September 12, 1976. Accessed March 19, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Tyler Cowen, 14, of Hillsdale, a freshman at Pascack Valley High School, trounced Ruth Cardoso of Jersey City, the state's women's chess champion."
^"Interview with the Former "Youngest New Jersey Chess Champion," Tyler Cowen". Kenilworthchessclub.org. September 8, 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
^New Jersey State Champions 1946 – Present New Jersey State Chess Federation, Official Site
^Haidt, Jonathan (March 28, 2016). "Jonathan Haidt on Morality, Politics, Disgust, and Intellectual Diversity on Campus (Ep. 8)" (Interview). Interviewed by Tyler Cowen. Medium. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
^Cowen, Tyler (August 12, 2017). "I'm with the Mormons on this one – how about you?". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
^Cowen, Tyler (October 16, 2018). "Rob Wiblin interviews Tyler on *Stubborn Attachments*". Retrieved October 27, 2018.
^The joy of thinking globally archived 27 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, February 7, 2003, Daniel Akst, Los Angeles Times
^Cowen, Tyler (2009). Markets and Cultural Voices. University of Michigan Press.
^Cowen, Tyler (February 26, 2023). "Who was the most important critic of the printing press in the 17th century?". Marginal REVOLUTION. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023.
^Bustillos, Maria (March 17, 2023). "Just Because ChatBots Can't Think Doesn't Mean They Can't Lie". Retrieved March 17, 2023.
^"Too Few Regulations? No, Just Ineffective Ones".
^"Tyler Cowen Ethnic Dining Guide". Cowen released the guide's 31st edition in 2019.
^III, Douglas Hanks (June 20, 2001). "The Lone Critic". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^Carman, Tim (January 30, 2009). "Tyler Cowen Unleashes the Latest Edition of His Ethnic Dining Guide". Washington City Paper. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
^"Against the social discount rate" by Derek Parfit and Tyler Cowen, in Peter Laslett & James S. Fishkin (eds.) Justice between age groups and generations, Yale University Press: New Haven, 1992, pp. 144–161.[ISBN missing]
^"The Epistemic Problem Does Not Refute Consequentialism" by Tyler Cowen, Utilitas (2006), 18: 383–399, archived 26 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
^Klein, Daniel B. "Mere Libertarianism: Blending Hayek and Rothbard Archived May 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine". Reason Papers. Vol. 27: Fall 2004.
^Cowen, Tyler (March 1, 2009). "Message to Regulators: Bank Fix Needed Quickly". New York Times.
^Brooks, David (November 19, 2012). "The Conservative Future". New York Times. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
^ abCowen, Tyler (August 4, 2014). "Matt Yglesias on Tyler Cowen". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^Cowen, Tyler (January 1, 2020). "What libertarianism has become and will become – State Capacity Libertarianism". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
^Cowen, Tyler (April 9, 2009). "A Bayesian approach to legal gay marriage". Marginal Revolution. Retrieved September 30, 2018.