Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,

bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.

Learn more at mercatis.org.

And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates,

visit ConversationsWithT Tyler.com.

Okay, welcome everybody.

Today is March 18, 2020.

This is a special edition of Econ Talk to be released more or less simultaneously with

conversations with Tyler.

And that's because my guest or co-conspirator in this conversation is long time Econ Talk

guest Tyler Cowan of George Mason University. We're streaming this live on the YouTube channel

of the Mercatus Center of George Mason.

And in general, I try not to do timely episodes, but somehow something felt different this week.

For one, I felt an urge to connect with my audience as we all are hunkering down, sheltering,

and play self-quarantine, self-isolating. I'm releasing Econ Talk episodes every Monday,

and they were recorded weeks and weeks ago, which is the way I like to do it,

because there's nothing particularly timely, usually, in what I release.

But this seemed that there was a lot to talk and think about.

And Tyler, you are a self-described infavor. You're such a creative thinker.

I want to try to learn from you about where we are, and to share my thoughts

when possible about where I think we are, and to try to learn from each other,

and hope that that's of some value to those you're listening out there.

...