Economics Made the World Great – and Can Make It Even Better

This week our friends at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University hosted their Annual Dinner here in Washington, D.C., and it was an elegant and well-produced affair. Instead of a single keynote speaker, the event featured an on-stage conservation between Mercatus Director Tyler Cowen and Kai Ryssdal, host of public radio’s Marketplace. This format was an extension of the series of public events at which Cowen interviews intriguing public figures, known as “Conservations with Tyler”.

Before Tyler and Kai could get to discussing their first seven jobs, though, Mercatus Executive Director Dan Rothschild introduced the following short video, featuring George Mason economics professor Don Boudreaux.

In only two minutes, it references a lot of themes that friends of CEI like to talk about, from how human beings first started to experience real material comfort and wealth to the (for many) surprising truth about human florishing in the modern world. It’s good for starting conversations with people who take a more gloomy look at modern life.