TYLER COWEN--
Economic's Renaissance Man

By Karen Louden Allanach
Some subjects of study, despite their value, fail to reach relevance with the average person. Physics, anything with the prefix "bio," and even economics can, like vitamins, be good for you but a hard pill to swallow.

Tyler Cowen, B.S. Economics '83, has found a way to bring his subject to the average person--by fusing economics with popular culture, something he is passionate about and something that is part of our daily experience.

Cowen, who has been a George Mason economics professor for 10 years, continues to take on new challenges to expand the world of economics, both inside and outside the academic doors.

Cowen is director of three economics-based centers at George Mason. They include The James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy, an academic organization devoted to the study of the social sciences; Center for the Study of Public Choice, a world-renowned center for scholarship; and the Mercatus Center, an organization that integrates scholarly research, talent development, and outreach efforts to decision-makers.

Beyond academics, Cowen is known in economics circles for the unexpected twist he brings to the subject area. Popular culture--encompassing art, music, books, and movies--is Cowen's forte. "It's the most interesting way we communicate," he says.

Although he teaches traditional economics in the classroom, the professor takes another route with his books by merging economics with popular culture interests.

Cowen has two books on the subject, In Praise of Commercial Culture (Harvard University Press, 1998) and Faustian Bargains: Modern Culture and the Economics of Fame, due out this year.

The new book deals with celebrity, "a vital aspect of contemporary culture," according to Cowen.

"My book is a defense of the commercial world of celebrity and fame," Cowen says. "Despite its many imperfections, the modern world of fame draws forth a diverse array of performances in the arts, sciences, business, and entertainment. Fans and consumers use fame as a cheap and cost-effective way of rewarding their servants, the performers."

In his book, Cowen examines Michael Jordan and his endorsements, Mother Teresa, the O.J. Simpson trial, the rise of celebrity scientist Stephen Hawking, and celebrity businessmen like Bill Gates, among others.

"Economists are legendary for being uninteresting--accountants without the personality," jokes Cowen's colleague David Levy, associate professor of economics at Mason. "Tyler ruins that reputation." However, Cowen's effort to jazz up economics is not to draw a mass audience, but to satisfy his own passions. And he doesn't just talk pop culture--he absorbs it like a sponge. "I've never been bored," he says. "It feeds on itself."

Ask Cowen what his favorite music is and he'll give you a list that ranges from Beethoven to the Beatles to less-known Jamaican dance-hall artist Buju Banton. His favorite authors range from Proust to Plato, artists from Velazquez to Warhol, and on his ethnic dining guide (accessible through his website at www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/Tyler/index.html), Cowen covers a world tour of restaurants in the Washington metropolitan area.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1983, Cowen went on to earn a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1987. He also spent time at Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany. After Harvard, Cowen taught at University of California, Irvine, from 1987 to 1989. Then it was back to Virginia.

What drew the New Jersey native back east is George Mason's progressive attitude and the innovative economics program. "We have a very good graduate program here--best in the region," Cowen says. "We are the cutting edge in specialized areas like public choice and Austrian economics."

As an undergraduate, his economics teachers encouraged him to publish articles, which started his career on the right foot. Now a teacher himself, he wants his students to do the same. His challenge is to encourage his students to become good, critical thinkers, he says.

"George Mason gives you the chance to do things you couldn't do in a lot of places," he says. "They're willing to give things a try."

Richard Fink, a member of George Mason's Board of Visitors and former Mason professor of economics, taught Cowen. Simply, he calls Cowen brilliant--a true scholar. "He's the brightest student I ever had," Fink says.

Fink founded the Center for Market Processes at Rutgers University. When Fink and his center migrated south to George Mason in the early 1980s, Cowen and a number of other students followed to continue to be a part of the unique center that combined a number of schools of economic thought. Since that time, George Mason has gained a tremendous reputation for its economics programs, especially in Europe and Asia, Fink says.

Part of George Mason's reputation as a leader in economics comes from the caliber of its students and faculty, Fink says. "George Mason is lucky to have Tyler, and he is lucky to be at Mason because it does have that open environment."

Cowen is also the author of dozens of articles, and has cowritten other books including Risk and Business Cycles: New and Old Austrian Perspectives (Routledge Press, 1998) and Explorations in the New Monetary Economics (Basil Blackwell Press, with Randall Krosner, 1994). His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Times Literary Supplement.

For now, Cowen says he has no grand plans for the future, except maybe to visit India next year. With two directorships, a teaching gig, and another book to write--this one on the globalization of culture--Cowen has emerged with a successful career at his alma mater. "That's a big enough plan for me."