dagblog - Comments for "The imaginary Tyler Cowen"

I think Steve Denning at

EmmaZahn — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:57:32 +0000

In reply to Thanks.If every other

I think Steve Denning at Forbes is more on your side.

http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/2011/05/31/americas-hottest-economist-tyler-cowen-the-great-stagnation/

Thanks.If every other

Flavius — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:54:33 +0000

In reply to http://www.businessweek.com/m

Thanks.

If every other economist in the world was wiped out by the neutron bomb Cowen would be the world's leading economist. Not before.

http://www.businessweek.com/m

EmmaZahn — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:43:55 +0000

In reply to Tyler Cowen + an economist=s

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231066695798.htm?ch...

Tyler Cowen + an economist=s

Flavius — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:29:52 +0000

In reply to Driver + cell phone =

Tyler Cowen + an economist=s one economist

:-D

EmmaZahn — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:36:56 +0000

In reply to Driver + cell phone =

:-D

Driver + cell phone =

Donal — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:35:14 +0000

In reply to Driverless cars! How often

Driver + cell phone = driverless car

Driverless cars! How often

EmmaZahn — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:22:00 +0000

In reply to The imaginary Tyler Cowen

Driverless cars! How often stalled in traffic did I dream of them? Every single time.

If you haven't already read, Yglesias clarifies the regulatory dilemma:

"the idea of autonomously piloted robot cars which could have enormous benefits if they became widespread. There are, however, a lot of regulatory barriers to this. As long as the highways are full of human-piloted cars people are naturally reluctant to let untested autocars cruise the streets. But by the same token, it’s difficult to know how autocars can prove their safety and reliability if we don’t let them on the road. At earlier stages of human development we tended to take a “life is cheap” attitude to discovery and technology (compare the casualty rate of Columbus’ voyages to NASA) that facilitated progress at the cost of a lot of death and destruction. These days, we’ve got things pretty good and tend to be risk-averse."

and offers a somewhat Solomon-esque and progressively questionable solution: "let Mikey do it".

"Letting someone else work out the kinks of new systems is often a great solution to a thorny problem. And the more China, India, etc. catch up to the size of our market the more things will be developed in those markets that we can copy."

Oy. That is what one of the best and brightest of young progressives considers a viable solution. Nevermind the loss of secondary benefits that result from innovation. What a waste. As a society, we really should be able to come up with a better than t