Inside the Mind of the Inner Economist
"Cult hero" economist and blogger Tyler Cowen on his hot new book, his love of organ meats, effecting "marginal revolutions," and why New Jersey breeds so many libertarians (with a very small l).
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Cowen (8:49:59 AM): that's only good advice for fine restaurants. if something sounds bad, why is it on the menu? it probably tastes pretty good. I wouldn't recommend trying the most disgusting item at Burger King, however.
reason (8:50:33 AM): you could be there all day just figuring out what's actually the worst.
Cowen (8:50:45 AM): sometimes I have the problem that to me the sweetbreads have become the norm. If I want to try something disgusting my attention is directed toward the roast chicken.
mostly I wanted to shake people up and get them out of their comfort zones. the chef does know more than most of us! that's meta-rationality, or humility, one of the fundamental themes of the book: admitting what you don't know.
reason (8:52:06 AM): we'll talk more about the limits of knowledge in just a second. first, explain why you're such a lousy tipper. you counsel your readers not to go above 15 percent.
Cowen (8:52:51 AM): give the money away to somebody who really needs it. send it to Haiti! Any waiter working in the U.S. is doing pretty well in the broad scheme of things.
reason (8:53:55 AM): you write of the limits of applying economics to everything. at one point you even call out a couple of fellow economists for being caricatures of utility-maximizing drones applying supply and demand, etc. to every aspect of human life. where do you draw the line in applying econ principles to human activity?
Cowen (8:55:10 AM): economics—properly understood—applies to human choices quite generally. It even seems to apply to other animals, at least mammals. Gordon Tullock wrote a great book on the economics of insect societies. the problem is when people think that everything boils down to money, or buying and selling. I'm still very influenced by [Ludwig von] Mises's notion of economics as a general "logic of choice." [James] Buchanan and Tullock, my colleagues, have promoted much the same.
reason (8:55:55 AM): you love mises but didn't name your book "the inner praxeologist"...
Cowen (8:56:26 AM): my publisher advised against that idea.
reason (8:56:44 AM): besides buchanan and tullock, the creators of the public choice school of thought, who are your heroes in economic thought?
Cowen (8:57:21 AM): Thomas Schelling is a big one. also Adam Smith and his integration of economics, psychology, and a notion of moral sentiments. Milton Friedman on policy. Hayek. He "got" the dynamic virtues of capitalism better than just about anybody. We've yet to fully absorb those insights. It's a long list.
reason (8:59:28 AM): what's the role of human emotion in understanding economics? i agree that mises was on to something when he referred to humans as "choosers"--that our ability to choose is one basic thing that defines us. but we don't do that rationally. or not just rationally.
we're hardwired to have extreme emotional responses. can economic science deal with that?
Cowen (9:00:49 AM): Human emotion is paramount in life and choice. I think of my book, in part, as "economics for the emotional." I'm very influenced by the French moralists, Schopenhauer, and Adam Smith on this point. That's a neglected strand of Western thought among economists and I'd like to bring it back. Schelling has it in his writings, though perhaps not very self consciously. Thomas Schelling that is, not the German Idealist Schelling.
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Cowen advises not to tip more than 15% AND to order the organ meats? Livin' dangerous.
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THE DIRTY JERZ REPRESENT
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"Given that this is reason, perhaps you pay him to smoke pot!"
Now that's below the belt! -
reason (8:55:55 AM): you love mises but didn't name your book "the inner praxeologist"...
Cowen (8:56:26 AM): my publisher advised against that idea.
Ah, economics humor.. -
Good interview! Nothing much to say beyond that.
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I grew up in, and am in, NJ right now. I can tell you there are not very many libertarians here, Big, small or half-small "L".
If there were, I wouldn't need to ask permissionf from the town or state every time I cut down a tree, dig a hole in my yard and I could pump my own gas.
The NJLP is essentially moribund, the NJ Republican Party is a rubber-room where NJ Democrats send their more disagreeable members.
The real conservatives are in the Conservative party, that has even less relevance than the LP does.
Libertarians in NJ? Nope, not here. -
Cowen advises not to tip more than 15% AND to order the organ meats? Livin' dangerous
Yes, he left out the third part of that, which is "never eat at the same restaurant twice." -
Fun interview.
Any reference to Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers is AWESOME!!!!! -
Oh VM. You lose some cool points for calling him Richmond instead of Richman.
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*bites self on taint to Egyptian Reggae
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Notice the New Jersey libertarians they name fled at the soonest possible chance for better areas and DC.
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Nick, were you ever into Exodus?
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Bama, northern virginia and New Hampshire have more libertarians....the reasons? Mises Institute, George Mason and the Free State Project.
Enjoyed the interview. -
"Cowen advises not to tip more than 15% AND to order the organ meats? Livin' dangerous."
Not at all (at least with respect to the latter action). Weston Price's landmark studies found organ meats to be far more nutritious than other types of meat. -
Jason C,
Then you lose cool points too.
they were just called "The Modern Lovers" on that record. -
SIV is just the ol' Roadrunner.
This is, after all, the modern world.
:) -
Hey, I was just correcting the spelling of the name. I knew they were just Modern Lovers (there is no "The". The Modern Lovers is the name of the record). I do believe I win "pedant of the day".
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Jeez, how do they write so fast? Freaky
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Very nice interview!
Nick must have moved if there is grass to be cut.
What does paying for sex have to do with love?
Jeff -
THE DIRTY JERZ REPRESENT
Word up! -
There are no libertarians in NJ because we all have left. Another Jersey free-market guy: check out anxietycenter.com
