Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2025-12-23
Books mentioned on Conversations with Tyler 2025 Retrospective
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Tyler Cowen recommended The English and their history by Robert Tombs and Margaret Thatcher : Herself Alone by Charles Moore, and discussed Mastering 'Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect by Joshua D. Angrist and others, Economics Rules by Dani Rodrik, Misbehaving by Richard H. Thaler, Hive Mind by Garett Jones, The Midas Paradox by Scott B. Sumner, Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers' Edition by Ashlee Vance, The American People by Larry Kramer, The seventh day, and The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The English and their history
The English and Their History by Robert Tombs is a comprehensive historical volume that chronicles the evolution of English identity, politics, and culture over centuries.
Recommended“The best was the Robert Tombs book about English history. Since that blog post, so many people have come to me and said, "Can you recommend to me other books like the Robert Tombs book?" Which is a sign it really hit people in a good way. That was probably the clear winner for best book of that year, and”
Where to get it
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Mastering 'Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect
Discussed“Mastering Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect by Angrist and Steffen Pischke. COWEN: An incredible achievement, but it's not a book in the sense that you read it, right?”
Where to get it
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Economics Rules
Economics Rules by Dani Rodrik is a book that examines the strengths, limitations, and proper applications of economic models in understanding real-world policy and human behavior.
Discussed“Dani Rodrik, Economics Rules, CWT guest. COWEN: Mercantilism, to me, looks worse than it did 10 years ago, now that I have to live under it.”
Where to get it
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Misbehaving
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard H.
Discussed“Richard Thaler, Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, speaking of Cass Sunstein. COWEN: There should be more books about economics and economists, and that was a good one.”
Where to get it
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Hive Mind
Hive Mind by Garett Jones is a provocative nonfiction book that explores how national intelligence averages shape the economic, political, and social success of nations.
Discussed“Garett Jones, The Hive Mind. COWEN: Garett's my colleague. That book is still cited a lot in places like The Economist. It's held up very well, and I think it's become a seminal work. I'm glad I picked it.”
Where to get it
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The Midas Paradox
Discussed“Scott Sumner, The Midas Paradox. COWEN: I think Scott is correct that the biggest problem in the Great Depression was the deflationary pressures. Andrew Ross Sorkin and I talked about that in our episode from this year. A very thorough book that Scott worked on for something like 20 years.”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance is a comprehensive biography examining the life, career, and turbulent relationships of the high-profile entrepreneur.
Discussed“Ashlee Vance's book on Elon Musk. COWEN: All the more important, right? Elon is her main force, to say the least.”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers' Edition
Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance is a comprehensive biographical account chronicling the life, career, and entrepreneurial ventures of Elon Musk across companies like Tesla and SpaceX.
Discussed“Ashlee Vance's book on Elon Musk. COWEN: All the more important, right? Elon is her main force, to say the least.”
Where to get it
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Margaret Thatcher : Herself Alone
Margaret Thatcher: Herself Alone by Charles Moore is the final volume of the definitive, deeply researched biographical trilogy examining the life, political rise, and polarizing premiership of Britain's first female prime minister.
Recommended“You also really like Charles Moore's book, a biography of Margaret Thatcher. It's called Margaret Thatcher: At Her Zenith: In London, Washington and Moscow, volume 2 of the biography. COWEN: One of the best biographies of the last 10 years. For many people, it's too detailed, to be clear, but just quality of book, it's unbelievable.”
Where to get it
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The American People
Discussed“Larry Kramer, The American People. COWEN: Has not stuck with me.”
Where to get it
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The seventh day
Discussed“The Seventh Day by Yu Hua. COWEN: Has not stuck with me. The Widower is a great book, the one from Singapore.”
Where to get it
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The Meursault Investigation
Discussed“Daoud from France, from Algeria. The retelling of Camus has become a classic book. HOLMES: The Meursault Investigation. COWEN: Yes.”
Where to get it
