Thread by @eriktorenberg

Some of my favorite takeaways & quotes from Tyler Cowen's interviews (ongoing thread) 👇

If you take a time period of like about 100 yrs, and you have the American economy grow one percentage point lower over that time period, we would today have the national wealth of Mexico, not the United States.

Compounded growth is our gift that keeps on giving

Why should we value prioritize growth (but not at expense of human rights/environment)?

Wealthier societies have better living standards across almost every metric: Just compare Cuba v Singapore to see.

We should value future lives too, & economic growth makes them better off.

Keep in mind, this isn't just money we're talking about here.

It's leisure time, the ability to maintain your health, your ability to control your time,

Ppl who have higher living standards, live longer lives, suffer less pain, recover better from trauma, etc

Redistribution can be a one-off effect where economic growth compounds & ppl don't fully appreciate it

When we redistribute in a way that sacrifices economic growth, we're also redistributing resources away from our future children

The good kind of redistribution expands growth

What are genuine public goods the government should provide?

Support for basic science, a basic social welfare state or safety net, obviously, foreign policy, then there are particular instances where governments have done good, but the presumption should be in favor of liberty

Other than, say climate change issues, I'd deregulate most of our economy, I would have much more freedom to build in SF or NYC, I would have radical reforms to K -12 education w/ much greater choice, much more experimentation. I would never send people to jail for doing drugs.

"I'm worried that we're slipping into a new consensus, where the professional class is so oriented toward the left that they're emphasizing the public goods component of those arguments & deemphasizing the importance of entrepreneurship & private innovation, but you need both."

How to boost economic growth rate in US?

- Commit to free trade
- Support more scientific research
- Deregulate housing
- Deregulate all economic activity (except finance /environment)

Why is religion is positive force for economic growth?

We're wired to think about the short-term. Religions, among other things, encourage people to have more kids and more generally be more long-term oriented. Like the Mormons.

Tyler's a pro-religious non-believer himself.

US Healthcare doesn't even make you healthier

If you look at data, knee operations, back operations, etc They seem to have zero marginal product

We spend too much on the health care of older people and not enough on younger people

It takes too long to get a new drug approved.

What would need to be true for you to believe that we're no longer in the great stagnation?

"So if driverless cars are truly up and running for fifty percent of the American population and you don't have to sit at the wheel that day. I will say the great stagnation is over."

Advice on advice:

When you give advice you've got to realize they're probably not going to listen. You're a placebo

Means you should think abt advice from a meta angle: i.e. should you encourage them to follow their instinct or not? If not, what need of theirs can you appeal to

"I think in a relationship you should neither be a maximizer nor a satisficer. If you're a maximizer the other person thinks you're taking advantage of them. If you're a satisficer, they'll think you're taking them for granted. Your focus should be to grow with that person."

Litmus tests for friendship:

Do I enjoy spending time w/ that person? is there mutual loyalty, common interests? are we evolving together?

Paradoxically, approaching friendship in a casual way can lead to real depth, whereas being too deliberate can lead to it seeming forced.

Immigration:

We should have open borders w/ any country that has a more generous welfare state than we do, b/c then those people will not be coming for welfare, they'll be coming to work.

We've done a good job assimilating immigrants, better than anyone else, & should do more.

"Erik let me redefine your (NBA-obsessed) childhood for you.

You spent your childhood obsessing over evaluating talent, & strategy, & NBA was the vessel you chose.

And now as a VC you evaluate talent & strategy. Maybe your early yrs were perfect prep—can I talk you into that?"

"If Tyrone came back, he'd write some pessimistic book. Like what if I wrote the best Marxist book? I think it'd be pretty good. Like better than the books Marxists are writing. Maybe it'll be the last book I'll write. B/c after that, everyone's confused. Your agent abandons you"

"Recognition is positive sum. One of the biggest gains of the internet not measured in GDP is how many new niches it creates where you can become great at something recognizable

Without the internet, there's barely any spheres you can do that. There's like, high school football"