Mittwoch, 20. Mai 2009

Alex Tabarrok on TED about how ideas trump crises

The "dismal science" truly shines in this optimistic talk, as economist Alex Tabarrok argues free trade and globalization are shaping our once-divided world into a community of idea-sharing more healthy, happy and prosperous than anyone's predictions.







Perhaps the appeal of economics in the blogosphere was not pre-ordained from its representation in the bestseller lists (the Freakonomics phenomenon notwithstanding). But economists have taken the internet by storm, and Alex Tabarrok is one of the hottest -- along with co-author Tyler Cowen, their blog marginalrevolution.com is one of the most popular on the web, generating a forest of links and kudos from the mainstream press, including the Wall Street Journal.

Tabarrok's fascinations include the intersection among economics, law and public policy -- examining questions such as how race and poverty affect the outcome of jury trials. Tabarrok is also the Director of Research for the Independent Institute, an assistant editor for theIndependent Review, and an Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University.

"Marginal Revolution was one of the first of its ilk in 2003 because “we saw there was a scarcity of excellent economics blogs and thought we could make our mark,” Cowen says. And they have: It often ranks first or second among economics blogs on Schiff’s Web site, along with Freakonomics."

richmondfed.org

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