Eduardo Porter calls me on the phone

Here is what I had to say:

Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, argues that the very definitions of labor and capital are arbitrary. Instead, he looks around the world to find the relatively scarce factors of production and finds two: natural resources, which are dwindling, and good ideas, which can reach larger markets than ever before.

If you possess one of those, then you will reap most of the rewards of growth. If you don’t, you will not.

There you go, you can tell I studied with Ludwig Lachmann.  The article is interesting throughout.  Here is a slightly earlier post, “Joseph Nocera calls me on the phone.”