Alex Tabarrok
Alex Tabarrok
Alexander Taghi Tabarrokis a Canadian-American economist and co-author, with Tyler Cowen, of the economics blog Marginal Revolution. Tabarrok and Cowen have also ventured into online education with Marginal Revolution University...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionEconomist
CountryCanada
Alex Tabarrok quotes about
giving people leaving
The first thing you learn when you're blogging is that people are one click away from leaving you. So you've got to get to the point, you can't waste people's time, you've got to give them some value for their limited attention span.
bullshit taxes
A Bet is a Tax on Bullshit
thinking ideas trying
Democracy is an experimental system. I like it when states try out new ideas. I think we ought to expand, not contract, our federalist system.
art hard-work want
Capitalists work hard to produce what consumers want. Artists who work too hard to produce what consumers want are often accused of selling out. Thus, even the languages of capitalism and art conflict: a firm that has 'sold out' has succeeded, but an artist that has 'sold out' has failed.
jobs college feet
College has been oversold. It has been oversold to students who end up dropping out or graduating with degrees that don't help them very much in the job market. It also has been oversold to the taxpayers, who foot the bill for subsidies that do nothing to encourage innovation and economic growth.
cancer littles india
It would be really great if I discovered a cure for cancer, but it would only be a little bit less great if my neighbor did. So I am pretty happy when my neighbor becomes wealthier, better educated and more innovative. I feel the same about China and India.
simple way thrive
The only way to thrive is to innovate. It's that simple.
giving choices want
I encourage everyone I know to sign an organ donor card, but if someone doesn't want to sign, that's his or her choice. If someone isn't willing to give an organ, however, why should that person be allowed to receive an organ?
hero mean self
Hollywood wants its heroes to be virtuous, but it defines virtue in a way that excludes any action that is self-interested. If virtue means putting others ahead of self, then it's clear that most people, let alone most capitalists, aren't very virtuous.
thinking mind television
I think modern television shows, with their intricate plots, are stimulating our minds. This is one reason IQs have been going up.
complex feed forms people simpler
People get used to more complex forms of entertainment, and they become bored by simpler forms. Television has become more complex in order to feed our demand.
despite government held india meant millions people remember
A lot of people say that India has been held back by its democracy. But let's remember that, despite being a poor country, India's democracy meant that its government never let millions of people starve.
almost intricate involved modern reason watch
Television is much more complex, brain-challenging and involved than it used to be. It's almost impossible to watch a television show from 15 years ago; it's just too boring. I think modern television shows, with their intricate plots, are stimulating our minds. This is one reason IQs have been going up.
bad creating importance leaving less people population realize
People used to think that more population was bad for growth. In this view, people are stomachs - they eat, leaving less for everyone else. But once we realize the importance of ideas in the economy, people become brain - they innovate, creating more for everyone else.