Conversations with Tyler: Mark Zuckerberg Interviews Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen on the Nature and Causes of Progress (Bonus)

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways The rate of progress in the U.S. has slowedBetween 1920-1970, productivity growth in the U.S. hovered between 1.7-1.9%/year. Nowadays, most economists think it’s much lower (~0.4%).“If you have a growth rate that’s 1% lower, over the course of a bit more than a century, you could have been 3x richer with the higher growth rate. That’s a difference between the U.S. today and Mexico.” – Tyler CowenOverall, the U.S. is spending more for the same (or worse) results:The average life expectancy has increased by ~a quarter of a year every year over the past centuryBut, we use to spend a few percentage points of our GDP on healthcare. Now, we spend 18%!Despite directing more money towards funding science in the second half of the 20th century, doing so only resulted in similar returns (compared to the first half of the 20th century)“The notion that people have lost the ability to imagine a future much different and much better than what they know, to me, is one of the most worrying aspects of where we are now” – Tyler CowenOn the increasing costs of rent, healthcare, and education:“If these problems continue at the rate they’re going at, it’s quite hard for me to imagine how we could do enough good to overcome the increases in costs… It’s hard for me to imagine more important problems over the next decade.” – Mark Zuckerberg

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org



Subscribe to the Conversations with Tyler Podcast

Over the past year Mark Zuckerberg has held a series of interviews themed around technology and society. This conversation with Tyler and Patrick is the last in that series, and covers why they think the study of progress is so important, including how it could affect biomedical research, the founding of new universities and foundations, building things fast, housing and healthcare affordability, the next four years of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and more.

Follow Mark on Facebook

Follow Patrick on Twitter

Follow Tyler on Twitter

More CWT goodness:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Email