Economist Tyler Cowen talks about the value of despair

In this episode of Technotopia I talk to Tyler Cowen, a professor of Economics at George Mason University and an editor at one of my favorite sites, MarginalRevolution. Cowen is one of the smartest people I’ve spoken and to and his assessments of the global economic future is at once uplifting – the continued rise of the pleasant suburb – and scary – the unclear position of the U.S. on the global stage.

My favorite part of the interview was when I asked him how to counter the despair many are feeling for the future. Cowen was adamant: despair, in some measure, helps us all grow and change. Despair, he said, can help.

Technotopia is a podcast by John Biggs about a better future. You can subscribe in Stitcher, RSS, or iTunes and listen the MP3 here.