TPerson

Tyler Cowen

Economist at George Mason University; Marginal Revolution blog and the Conversations with Tyler podcast.

• Tyler Cowen is an American economist, the Holbert L.
• Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and chairman of its Mercatus Center.
• He has written Marginal Revolution with Alex Tabarrok from August 2003 and hosts the interview podcast Conversations with Tyler.
• His books include The Great Stagnation (2011), Average Is Over (2013) and Stubborn Attachments (2018).
• He founded the Emergent Ventures grant program in 2018 and Fast Grants with Patrick Collison and Patrick Hsu in 2020.

Key facts

Born

21 January 1962; grew up in Hillsdale, New Jersey1

Chess

At 15, the youngest New Jersey state chess champion1

Studied

BS in economics, George Mason University, 1983; PhD in economics, Harvard, 1987, mentored by Thomas Schelling1

George Mason University

Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics; chairman of the Mercatus Center1

Marginal Revolution

Launched the blog with Alex Tabarrok in August 20031

Conversations with Tyler

Long-form interview podcast, produced by the Mercatus Center, from 20153

Emergent Ventures

Founded the fellowship and grant program at Mercatus in 2018, with a $1 million grant from the Thiel Foundation1

Fast Grants

Spun off from Emergent Ventures in 2020 with Patrick Collison and Patrick Hsu to fund COVID-19 research; over $50 million raised, 260 grants1

Books

In Praise of Commercial Culture (2000), The Great Stagnation (2011), Average Is Over (2013), The Complacent Class (2017), Stubborn Attachments (2018)1

31 Oct 2026Last checked against its sources today

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