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Conversations with tyler is produced by the mercatus center at george mason university, bridging the gap between academic ideas and real world problems. Garrett has a new book coming out called ten % less democracy, why you should trust delits a little more and the masses a little less. The opening question comes completely from left field: Let's say we had a government that were just strict run by its bondholdersh what would the biases and that arrangement be? And how good or bad would it be at solving which problems?

Why is Garett Jones willing to write books about risky topics like the case for reducing democratic accountability? Is it the iconoclastic Mason econ culture? Supportive colleagues like Tyler? Those help, but what ultimately gives Garett peace of mind is that he’ll never have to go hungry because he has a broad and deep knowledge of econometric tools. It’s a skillset he recommends to all research economists precisely so they can take bigger risks in their careers—or at least be well-prepared to shape policy in an unelected position at a central bank.

Garett joined Tyler to discuss his book 10% Less Democracy, including why America shouldn’t be run by bondholders, what single reform would most effectively achieve more limited democracy, how markets shape cognitive skills, the three important P’s of the repeated prisoner’s dilemma, why French cuisine is still underrated, Buchanan vs. Tullock, Larry David vs. Seinfeld, the biggest mistake in Twitter macroeconomics, the biggest challenges facing the Mormon church, what studying to be a sommelier taught him about economics, the Garett Jones vision of America, and more.

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Recorded January 10th, 2020 Other ways to connect

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