Cult Hero & George Mason Economist Tyler Cowen

From a profile of George Mason economist Tyler Cowen in New York Magazine:

Not so long ago, economists not named Milton Friedman mostly kept to themselves, impressing each other with their inscrutable theories. Now they’re the pop stars of academia. Spurred on by Freakonomics, the 2005 best seller by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, economists realized that, if only they can learn to communicate normally, they have the tools to explain people’s lives to them. Like, why won’t my teenage daughter wash the dishes?

Among this new crowd of economists, Cowen, a 45-year-old professor at George Mason University just outside D.C., is a cult hero, insofar as he co-runs an influential blog called marginalrevolution.com. You don’t need to be an economist to enjoy it.

Tyler has a new book "Discover Your Inner Economist," his blog Marginal Revolution gets more than 10,000 visits daily, his Ethnic Dining Guide for D.C. is in its 23 edition, and he was a member of my Ph.D. dissertation committee at George Mason!