Tyler Cowen's Idea #7: Prosperity Matters

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- [Tyler] Now what are
the key macro ideas?

We're still on like two words,
so the biggie here,

"prosperity matters."

Sounds trivial, but a lot
of people actually deny it,

though I'm not sure
they really mean what they're saying.

They'll say something like,

"Oh, you know, life was much better
back in 1910," or back wherever.

But I think there's a lot
of evidence from economics.

It can't tell you ethically
that a wealthier country

is better than a poorer country,

but it can tell you that most
of the things people want,

they get more of it
in wealthier countries.

And I don't just mean money --
if you look at health,

infant mortality, the ability
to choose a career you want,

women's rights, minority rights,
political liberty, democracy,

civil liberties...
air conditioning! Right?

You can't live
without air conditioning.

These are all correlated
with prosperity.

And I know correlated
doesn't mean cause.

The causation runs both ways,
and it runs through third

and other variables.

But the simple point
that prosperity is very important.

There's a lot we want to do.

You have to actually pay the bills.

There is a budget constraint,

and the way you meet
that budget constraint

is to be a wealthy nation.

People will have different goals
in politics and with their lives,

but basically the wealthier nations

do a better job
of meeting those goals.

And you can look
at other economic evidence.

Again, this is not
a final ethical judgement,

but the simple question
if people, say, are leaving Syria

because life in Syria has
become too difficult --

where is it ideally they want
to go when they have the choice?

For the most part, they prefer
to go to wealthier nations.

So in Europe,
the attraction was Germany,

one of the wealthier nations.

For migrants in general --
Canada, Australia, United States,

United Kingdom, Switzerland --
wealthy, relatively free countries,

of course, are where
people want to be.

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