People don't want to be that lone shepherd any more. They want to be in the city. My mother grew up on a farm, successful farm, in southern illinois and she would shudder at the thought of going back to that farm. She beat a path to chicago as soon as she got out of college. And and they never look back.
Edmund Phelps of Columbia University, Nobel Laureate in economics, and author of Mass Flourishing talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in the book. Phelps argues that human flourishing requires challenges, struggles, and success and goes beyond material prosperity. He argues that in recent decades, policy has discouraged innovation and mass flourishing resulting in a slow-down in growth rates. Phelps emphasizes the non-material benefits of economic growth and the importance of small innovations over big inventions as key to that growth.