Tyler Cowen | Civilization as Crusonia Plant, Stubborn Attachments and Future Discounting

“If your view is that the future per se matters as much as the present, then you are led to maximizing sustainable economic growth.”

In this episode, we are joined by Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University. Cowen writes the "Economic Scene" column for The New York Times and since 2016 has been a regular opinion columnist at Bloomberg Opinion.

Here Cowen speaks about his book Stubborn attachments and argues that our reason and common sense can help free us of the faulty ideas that hold us back as people and as a society and makes the contemporary moral case for economic growth as well as provide inspiration and optimism about our future possibilities.

Session Summary: Tyler Cowen, George Mason University | Stubborn Attachments - Foresight Institute

Music:

Intractable by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize. 

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