About Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen is an American economist, author and public intellectual. He is the Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and chairman of its Mercatus Center, and he is best known for Marginal Revolution, the economics blog he has written with Alex Tabarrok since 2003, and for the interview podcast Conversations with Tyler.
Cowen grew up in Hillsdale, New Jersey, and at fifteen became the youngest New Jersey state chess champion. He earned a BS in economics from George Mason in 1983 and a PhD in economics from Harvard in 1987, where he was mentored by Thomas Schelling. He returned to George Mason soon afterward and has taught there for his entire career. His early research dealt with welfare economics, public goods and the economics of culture.
He has written many books for general readers. In Praise of Commercial Culture argued that markets help art flourish, and Creative Destruction argued that globalization increases cultural diversity rather than flattening it. The Great Stagnation (2011) proposed that slowing US growth reflected the exhaustion of easy gains such as cheap land and mass education, and Average Is Over (2013) predicted that automation would widen inequality. Stubborn Attachments (2018) made a philosophical case for long-term economic growth as a moral priority, and Talent (2022), written with Daniel Gross, is about spotting exceptional people. In a 2020 blog post he coined "state capacity libertarianism" for a view that pairs markets with a strong, competent state.
Marginal Revolution, launched in August 2003, offers daily commentary on economics, culture, politics and global development, along with notes on new research and book reviews. Since 2015 Cowen has hosted Conversations with Tyler, produced by the Mercatus Center. In 2018 he founded Emergent Ventures, a fellowship and grant program, and in 2020 he co-founded Fast Grants to fund COVID-19 research. He wrote a Bloomberg Opinion column for about eight years and has written a regular column for The Free Press since April 2025.
What Tyler Cowen is known for
- The Marginal Revolution blog, with Alex Tabarrok
- The podcast Conversations with Tyler
- The Great Stagnation and Average Is Over
- Emergent Ventures and Fast Grants
- Coining "state capacity libertarianism"
Works by Tyler Cowen
1 essay to practice
More notable works
Marginal Revolution (opens in a new tab)
Blog · 2003
His daily economics and culture blog, co-written with Alex Tabarrok.
The Great Stagnation
Book · 2011
Argues that US growth slowed because the economy had used up the low-hanging fruit of modern history.
Average Is Over
Book · 2013
Predicts that intelligent machines will reshape work and widen the gap between top earners and everyone else.
Stubborn Attachments
Book · 2018
A short philosophical defense of sustained economic growth as a guide for policy and morality.
Talent
Book · 2022
Written with Daniel Gross, a guide to identifying energizers, creatives and winners.
In Praise of Commercial Culture
Book
Argues that market economies support artistic creativity by widening audiences and opportunities.
Tyler Cowen’s writing style
Cowen's writing style is characterized by rapid analysis of multiple perspectives, drawing connections across disciplines. He excels at asking provocative questions and finding overlooked angles on familiar topics.
- Numbered propositions
- He often lays out an argument as a numbered list of compact claims, as in his post defining state capacity libertarianism through a series of propositions.
- Dense, compressed sentences
- Posts pack a claim, a caveat and a reference into one line, assuming a reader who will follow the link or fill in the reasoning.
- Wry self-awareness
- He undercuts his own coinages with dry humor, calling state capacity libertarianism an "entirely non-sticky name."
- Wide-ranging references
- Economics, history, food, travel and culture sit side by side, and arguments often turn on an example from an unexpected field.
- Opinion with hedges
- He states firm views but signals how confident he is, often with brief first-person qualifiers and parenthetical caveats.
How to write like Tyler Cowen
Write often and keep it short. Cowen's blog style rewards a clear claim in the first sentence, followed by the minimum reasoning needed and a pointer to further reading. When an argument has several parts, number them; a list of tight propositions is easier to discuss and dispute than a long paragraph.
Read widely and let unrelated fields collide, using an example from food, chess or history to illuminate an economic idea. State your view directly, mark how confident you are, and don't over-explain. A dry, self-deprecating aside can make a big claim easier to take seriously.
The quickest way to absorb these habits is to retype one of Tyler Cowen’s essays above, word for word, then write a paragraph of your own in the same voice. New to this? Read what copywork is and how to do it.
Frequently asked questions about Tyler Cowen
- Who is Tyler Cowen?
- Tyler Cowen is an economist at George Mason University, where he holds the Holbert L. Harris chair and chairs the Mercatus Center. He co-writes the blog Marginal Revolution, hosts the podcast Conversations with Tyler, and has written books including The Great Stagnation, Average Is Over and Stubborn Attachments. He also founded the grant program Emergent Ventures.
- What is Marginal Revolution?
- Marginal Revolution is an economics blog that Tyler Cowen and fellow George Mason economist Alex Tabarrok launched in August 2003. It publishes frequent short posts on economics, culture, politics, development and new research, and is known for long-running features such as "markets in everything," which highlights unexpected uses of markets.
- What books has Tyler Cowen written?
- Cowen's books include In Praise of Commercial Culture, Creative Destruction, Discover Your Inner Economist (2007), The Great Stagnation (2011), An Economist Gets Lunch (2012), Average Is Over (2013), The Complacent Class (2017), Stubborn Attachments (2018), Big Business (2019) and Talent (2022, with Daniel Gross). He also co-wrote the textbook Modern Principles of Economics.
- What is Tyler Cowen's podcast?
- His podcast is Conversations with Tyler, which he has hosted since 2015 and which is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. It features long-form interviews with economists, writers, scientists and other thinkers; featured guests on its site include Malcolm Gladwell, Margaret Atwood and Patrick Collison.
- What is Tyler Cowen's writing style?
- Cowen writes compressed, fast-moving prose. Blog posts often state a claim in the first line, add a brief caveat or link, and stop. Longer arguments are frequently set out as numbered propositions. He mixes economics with food, travel, history and culture, signals his confidence with brief qualifiers, and uses dry, self-deprecating humor.