The irony of our systems working so well -- technological, corporate, and yes, even political -- is that we've become too comfortable: matching to others just like us, producing less, taking fewer risks. But isn't the very point of technology to make our lives more comfortable? Yes... until "we" -- whether an entire class, generation, ethnic group, or country like the U.S. -- become a little too complacent. Or so argues Tyler Cowen in his new book, The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream. We've even outsourced our mobility to immigrants, observes Cowen (who is also a prolific economics blogger, columnist, and professor at George Mason University and director of the Mercatus Center there). Which is great... until you realize we're also giving up so much of that dynamism ourselves. This complacency affects everything from how economies to corporations to individuals grow, and we discuss how in this episode of the a16z Podcast (with Alex Rampell and Sonal Chokshi). "The general problem is that 'veto points' build up in a lot of systems as they grow larger and more bureaucratic." That's why we have NIMBYism (and a bunch of other such -isms). Corporate cash becomes the new stagnant pool (watch out for those mosquitos!). The stability of real estate becomes a trap. Social media (and even some protest) becomes signaling vs. actually doing something. As for culture: Who defines it? And is it time to bring back the individual quest?
For the past 20 years, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok have run the world’s largest economics blog. This is the story of how they publish every day, generate ideas when they’re stuck, and plan to teach millions of people the basics of supply & demand. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:34 Reaching 10,000 visitors 00:01:25 Genesis of Marginal Revolution 00:04:32 Tyler and Alex's best read post 00:07:00 Moments of "wow" 00:09:20 What makes Alex a great textbook writer 00:09:40 How Tyler and Alex are different 00:10:58 Stories vs Reality 00:12:00 Process for editing and improving textbooks 00:15:30 How Tyler and Alex create YouTube videos 00:18:50 Intellectual interest in India 00:20:00 YouTube subtitles dual-learning process (language and economics) 00:21:00 The process of removing ideas 00:22:30 Binding constraints for success of Marginal Revolution 00:26:00 Work habits as a writer 00:28:30 How Tyler and Alex's writing has changed 00:31:50 Tyler's modes of writing 00:32:30 High context vs low context 00:36:15 Imitation and innovation 00:37:34 Writing from conversations 00:39:50 Cold emails 00:44:25 How TV and movies impact Tyler and Alex's writing 00:50:00 What kind of blog posts lead to most inbound 00:52:45 Be interesting and timely 00:54:10 How to tell the difference between Tyler and Alex 00:56:00 Alex's TED talk 00:57:30 The internet 00:59:00 Marginal Revolution as a launching pad 00:59:40 Ego and Writing 01:03:30 What makes Marginal Revolution worthwhile SPEAKER LINKS: Tyler + Alex's newsletter: https://marginalrevolution.com Tyler's website: https://tylercowen.com Alex's website: https://alextabarrok.com Tyler's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Alex's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ATabarrok Alex's website: https://alextabarrok.com WRITE OF PASSAGE: Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage? Click here: https://take.writeofpassage.school/writing-sprints PODCAST INFO: Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv ABOUT THE HOST: I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. How I Write is a podcast by Write of Passage // Production by Adam Soccolich
Tyler Cowen, an economist and writer, talks with me about how AI is changing writing and research. He explains a practical approach to using AI tools while maintaining your own voice and the ways he incorporates LLMs into his daily work. We talk about how people will be writing fewer books in the future and how he believes truly human writing will stand out among AI-generated content. Enjoy! Redeem your free week of Lex Pro at https://lex.page/perell 0:00 Intro 1:00 How Tyler Cowen uses AI everyday 6:06 Hallucinations are rapidly declining now 9:28 Writing authentically with AI 11:34 AI for critiquing your work 17:29 Future of decentralized AI networks 20:34 Why DeepSeek 22:21 How AI changes writing 24:04 Why there will be less books in an AI era 26:34 Video content will rise 28:18 Start writing with AI [LEX AD] 29:18 AI writing a personal biography 30:46 How you can tactically learning about AI 37:12 How AI can help you visualize information 38:31 Creating the perfect AI prompt 42:10 AI's impact in the classroom 46:56 Studying The Bible with AI 49:11 Secrets 50:10 Why social networks are more important now 51:48 Mastering AI prompting 53:58 Mentoring young people 54:49 Would you invest 4 years in a PhD 59:59 Perplexity replaces Google 01:01:09 The different AI tools, explained 01:05:43 The potential of large context windows 01:08:11 AI usage inside companies I also made a website that helps you learn from the best writing of all-time: https://writingexamples.com/ Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell
Tyler Cowen, an economist and writer, talks with me about how AI is changing writing and research. He explains a practical approach to using AI tools while maintaining your own voice and the ways he incorporates LLMs into his daily work. We talk about how people will be writing fewer books in the future and how he believes truly human writing will stand out among AI-generated content. Enjoy! Redeem your free week of Lex Pro at https://lex.page/perell 0:00 Intro 1:00 How Tyler Cowen uses AI everyday 6:06 Hallucinations are rapidly declining now 9:28 Writing authentically with AI 11:34 AI for critiquing your work 17:29 Future of decentralized AI networks 20:34 Why DeepSeek 22:21 How AI changes writing 24:04 Why there will be less books in an AI era 26:34 Video content will rise 28:18 Start writing with AI [LEX AD] 29:18 AI writing a personal biography 30:46 How you can tactically learning about AI 37:12 How AI can help you visualize information 38:31 Creating the perfect AI prompt 42:10 AI's impact in the classroom 46:56 Studying The Bible with AI 49:11 Secrets 50:10 Why social networks are more important now 51:48 Mastering AI prompting 53:58 Mentoring young people 54:49 Would you invest 4 years in a PhD 59:59 Perplexity replaces Google 01:01:09 The different AI tools, explained 01:05:43 The potential of large context windows 01:08:11 AI usage inside companies I also made a website that helps you learn from the best writing of all-time: https://writingexamples.com/ Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell
Tyler Cowen is an economist, writer, and podcaster. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit - ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free - SimpliSafe: https://simplisafe.com/lex and use code LEX to get a free security camera - Public Goods: https://publicgoods.com/lex and use code LEX to get $15 off EPISODE LINKS: Tyler's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Tyler's Blog: https://marginalrevolution.com/ Conversations with Tyler (Podcast): https://conversationswithtyler.com/ Big Business (Book): https://amzn.to/2OBPbaK Tyler's Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Cowen PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 1:50 - Economics 3:42 - Nuclear war 10:29 - The American dream 17:42 - Capitalism: pros and cons 24:16 - Is competition good for the world? 26:19 - Free market 27:24 - Anarchy 29:50 - Ayn Rand 34:31 - The case for big business 38:57 - Clubhouse 44:01 - Loneliness 46:14 - Eric Weinstein and economic growth 50:34 - Communism 53:25 - Putin 58:55 - China 1:03:48 - UBI 1:07:43 - Disagreement with Eric Weinstein 1:11:35 - Money, Bitcoin, and Ethereum 1:19:46 - WallStreetBets 1:23:42 - MIT 1:31:10 - UFO sightings 1:38:29 - Contemporary art is misunderstood 1:45:32 - Mexican food is the best in the world 1:50:22 - Jiro Dreams of Sushi 1:54:25 - Book recommendations 1:56:41 - Advice for young people 2:00:19 - Love 2:06:01 - Mortality 2:07:52 - Meaning of life SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
This is my fourth interview with the pre-eminent infovore Tyler Cowen – and yet I’m always hearing new stuff from him. We talked at the Progress Conference 2024 about why he thinks AI won't drive explosive economic growth, the real bottlenecks on progress, him now writing for AIs instead of humans, and the difficult relationship between being cultured and fostering growth – among many other things. Thanks to the Roots of Progress Institute (with special thanks to Jason Crawford and Heike Larson) for such a wonderful conference, and to @freethink for the videography. Roots of Progress Institute: https://rootsofprogress.org/ 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 * Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen-4 * Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/3RFuS7b * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/48EIEaESY0IGxf02pzIEIN?si=d2S1y6HUQuulAOGKVV7GhQ 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒 * I’m grateful to Tyler for volunteering to say a few words about Jane Street. It's the first time that a guest has participated in the sponsorship. I hope you can see why Tyler and I think so highly of Jane Street. To learn more about their open roles, go to https://janestreet.com/dwarkesh 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 00:00:00 - Economic Growth and AI 00:15:45 - Founder Mode and increasing variance 00:30:19 - Effective Altruism and Progress Studies 00:33:53 - What AI changes for Tyler 00:45:45 - The slow diffusion of innovation 00:50:41 - Stalin's library 00:53:07 - DC vs SF vs EU
This is my fourth interview with the pre-eminent infovore Tyler Cowen – and yet I’m always hearing new stuff from him. We talked at the Progress Conference 2024 about why he thinks AI won't drive explosive economic growth, the real bottlenecks on progress, him now writing for AIs instead of humans, and the difficult relationship between being cultured and fostering growth – among many other things. Thanks to the Roots of Progress Institute (with special thanks to Jason Crawford and Heike Larson) for such a wonderful conference, and to @freethink for the videography. Roots of Progress Institute: https://rootsofprogress.org/ 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 * Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen-4 * Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/3RFuS7b * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/48EIEaESY0IGxf02pzIEIN?si=d2S1y6HUQuulAOGKVV7GhQ 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒 * I’m grateful to Tyler for volunteering to say a few words about Jane Street. It's the first time that a guest has participated in the sponsorship. I hope you can see why Tyler and I think so highly of Jane Street. To learn more about their open roles, go to https://janestreet.com/dwarkesh 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 00:00:00 - Economic Growth and AI 00:15:45 - Founder Mode and increasing variance 00:30:19 - Effective Altruism and Progress Studies 00:33:53 - What AI changes for Tyler 00:45:45 - The slow diffusion of innovation 00:50:41 - Stalin's library 00:53:07 - DC vs SF vs EU
Tyler Cowen is Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and also Director of the Mercatus Center. Episode Website: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3AxN5wr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3KuDICx Follow Tyler Cowen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp 0:00 The Great Reset 2:58 Growth and the cyclical view of history 4:00 Time horizons, growth, and sustainability 5:30 Space travel 8:11 WMDs and end of humanity 10:57 Common sense morality 12:20 China and authoritarianism 13:45 Are big businesses complacent? 17:15 Online education vs university 20:45 Aesthetic decline in West Virginia 23:20 Advice for young people 25:18 Mentors 27:15 Identifying talent 29:50 Can adults change? 31:45 Capacity to change men vs women 33:10 Are effeminate societies better? 35:15 Conservatives and progress 36:50 Biggest mistake in history 39:05 Nuke in my lifetime 40:35 Age and learning 42:45 Pessimistic future 43:50 Optimistic future 46:28 Closing
Tyler Cowen is Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and also Director of the Mercatus Center. Episode Website: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3AxN5wr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3KuDICx Follow Tyler Cowen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp 0:00 The Great Reset 2:58 Growth and the cyclical view of history 4:00 Time horizons, growth, and sustainability 5:30 Space travel 8:11 WMDs and end of humanity 10:57 Common sense morality 12:20 China and authoritarianism 13:45 Are big businesses complacent? 17:15 Online education vs university 20:45 Aesthetic decline in West Virginia 23:20 Advice for young people 25:18 Mentors 27:15 Identifying talent 29:50 Can adults change? 31:45 Capacity to change men vs women 33:10 Are effeminate societies better? 35:15 Conservatives and progress 36:50 Biggest mistake in history 39:05 Nuke in my lifetime 40:35 Age and learning 42:45 Pessimistic future 43:50 Optimistic future 46:28 Closing
It was my great pleasure to speak once again to Tyler Cowen. His most recent book is called Talent, How to Find Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Across the World. We discuss how sex is more pessimistic than he is, why he expects society to collapse permanently, why humility, suits, intelligence, & stimulants are overrated, how he identifies talent, deceit, & ambition, & much much more! Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen-2 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3ft50xG Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3DVtGsO Buy Tyler's Book on Talent: https://amzn.to/3f8cl5s Follow Tyler Cowen: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Follow me: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview 0:53 Did Caplan Change On Education? 2:10 Travel vs. History 4:03 Do Institutions Become Left Wing Over Time? 6:55 What Does Talent Correlate With? 13:53 Humility, Mental Illness, Caffeine, and Suits 19:20 How does Education affect Talent? 25:27 Scouting Talent 34:32 Money, Deceit, and Emergent Ventures 38:09 Building Writing Stamina 40:34 When Does Intelligence Start to Matter? 44:44 Spotting Talent (Counter)signals 54:40 Will Reading Cowen’s Book Help You Win Emergent Ventures? 1:03:45 Existential risks and the Longterm 1:12:10 Cultivating Young Talent 1:15:55 The Lifespans of Public Intellectuals 1:20:29 Risk Aversion in Academia 1:25:47 Is Stagnation Inevitable? 1:32:16 What are Podcasts for?
It was my great pleasure to speak once again to Tyler Cowen. His most recent book is called Talent, How to Find Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Across the World. We discuss how sex is more pessimistic than he is, why he expects society to collapse permanently, why humility, suits, intelligence, & stimulants are overrated, how he identifies talent, deceit, & ambition, & much much more! Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/tyler-cowen-2 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3ft50xG Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3DVtGsO Buy Tyler's Book on Talent: https://amzn.to/3f8cl5s Follow Tyler Cowen: https://twitter.com/tylercowen Follow me: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview 0:53 Did Caplan Change On Education? 2:10 Travel vs. History 4:03 Do Institutions Become Left Wing Over Time? 6:55 What Does Talent Correlate With? 13:53 Humility, Mental Illness, Caffeine, and Suits 19:20 How does Education affect Talent? 25:27 Scouting Talent 34:32 Money, Deceit, and Emergent Ventures 38:09 Building Writing Stamina 40:34 When Does Intelligence Start to Matter? 44:44 Spotting Talent (Counter)signals 54:40 Will Reading Cowen’s Book Help You Win Emergent Ventures? 1:03:45 Existential risks and the Longterm 1:12:10 Cultivating Young Talent 1:15:55 The Lifespans of Public Intellectuals 1:20:29 Risk Aversion in Academia 1:25:47 Is Stagnation Inevitable? 1:32:16 What are Podcasts for?