Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2026-07-08
Tyler Cowen & Joel Mokyr: books mentioned on Conversations with Tyler
Joel Mokyr on Clans, Corporations, and a Culture of Growth
Joel Mokyr co-won the 2025 economics Nobel for exploring the question that traces back to the beginning of economics: how did sustained economic growth suddenly become normal? For nearly all of human history, cleverness didn't compound.
Tyler Cowen discussed Two Paths to Prosperity by Avner Greif and others and Trust by Francis Fukuyama. Joel Mokyr discussed Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 2, History of Scientific Thought by Joseph Needham and others, The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich, and The Condition of the Working-Class in England by Friedrich Engels.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Two Paths to Prosperity
Two Paths to Prosperity by Avner Greif, Joel Mokyr, and Guido Tabellini is an academic study comparing the historical economic developments and institutional trajectories of Europe and China between the years 1000 and 2000.
Discussed“He has a wonderful new book out called Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in Europe and China, 1000–2000”
Where to get it
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Trust
Trust by Francis Fukuyama is a seminal sociological and economic exploration of how social capital and foundational cultural trust create the bedrock for national prosperity, institutional stability, and complex corporate structures.
Discussed“I recall, in the 1990s, reading Francis Fukuyama’s book Trust.”
Where to get it
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Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 2, History of Scientific Thought
Science and Civilisation in China is a monumental multi-volume scholarly work by Joseph Needham, with contributions from Ling Wang, that explores the history of science and technology in Chinese civilization.
Discussed“Somebody actually went out and looked at Joseph Needham’s many volumes on Chinese technology and science, or Science and Civilisation [in China], as he called it”
Where to get it
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The WEIRDest People in the World
The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich is an anthropological and psychological exploration of how Western populations became psychologically unique compared to the rest of the world.
Discussed“That’s essentially the tenor of Joe Henrich’s book called The WEIRDest People, in which he points this out.”
Where to get it
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The Condition of the Working-Class in England
Discussed“The most famous book about that was, of course, Friedrich Engels’ Condition of the Working-Class in England, which was largely plagiarized from a whole bunch of doctors living in the Midlands”
Where to get it
