Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen is Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. With colleague Alex Tabarrok, Cowen is coauthor of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution and cofounder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University.

A dedicated writer and communicator of economic ideas who has written extensively on the economics of culture, Cowen is the author of several books and is widely published in academic journals and the popular media. Malcom Gladwell described Cowen’s latest book, The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream, as “brilliant.” The book explores why the change that drives America forward has stopped. He writes a column for Bloomberg View; has contributed extensively to national publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Money; and serves on the advisory boards of both Wilson Quarterly and American Interest. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, Ethics, and Philosophy and Public Affairs.

Cowen is host of Conversations with Tyler, a podcast series that invites today's deepest thinkers to discuss their work, the world, and everything in between. Past guests include Jeffrey Sachs, Ezra Klein, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek profiled Cowen as “America’s Hottest Economist” after his e-book, The Great Stagnation, appeared twice on the New York Times e-book bestseller list. Columnist David Brooks declared it “the most debated nonfiction book so far this year.” Foreign Policy named Cowen as one of 2011’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” and an Economist survey counted him as one of the most influential economists of the last decade.

Cowen's blog was named in the Top Financial Blogs of 2011 by TIME and in the Best Economics Blogs of 2010 by The Wall Street Journal.

Cowen has been recognized as the George Mason University Economic Alumnus of the Year (2011), and the George Mason University College of Humanities and Social Sciences Alumnus of the Year (2012).

Cowen graduated from George Mason University with a BS in economics and received his PhD in economics from Harvard University.