Conversations with Tyler

John Cochrane on Economic Puzzles and Habits of Mind

Mar 10, 2021

John Cochrane, a finance economist and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the intertwining of his gliding passion and economic theories. He tackles intriguing puzzles like real interest rate disparities, the ongoing viability of Bitcoin, and his insights on health-status insurance. Cochrane dives into the complexities of government debt and inflation, critiques economic forecasting, and shares personal stories about his influential parents. His unique mindset seeks simplicity and logic in diverse fields, making for a captivating conversation.

58:32

Creator website

Episode guests

John Cochrane

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Navigating Financial Market Paradoxes

12min

Debt, Inflation, and the Value of Cryptocurrency

12min

Exploring Time Consistent Health Insurance Concepts

3min

Navigating Genetic Information and Insurance

5min

Navigating the Skies: The World of Gliding

5min

Legacy of Thought: A Familial Influence

4min

From Tuscan Delicacies to Economic Ideologies

15min

What unites John Cochrane the finance economist and “grumpy” policy blogger with John Cochrane the accomplished glider pilot? For John, the answer is that each derives from the same habit of mind which seeks to reduce things down to a few fundamental principles and a simple logical structure. And thus, piloting a glider can be understood as an application of optimal portfolio theory, and all of monetary policy can be made to fit within the structure of a single equation.

John joined Tyler to apply that habit of mind to a number of puzzles, including why real interest rates don’t equalize across countries, what explains why high trading volumes and active management persist in finance, how the pandemic has affected his opinion of habit formation theories, his fiscal theory of price level and inflation, the danger of a US sovereign debt crisis, why he thinks Bitcoin will eventually die, his idea for health-status insurance, becoming a national gliding champion, how a Renaissance historian for a father and a book translator for a mother shaped him intellectually, what’s causing the leftward drift in economics, the need to increase competition among universities, how he became libertarian, the benefits of blogging, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded January 4th, 2021 Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow John on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts

Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.