Two things are indisputably true of Tyler Cowen: he has an interesting mind, and he has an economist’s mind.
This struck me as I was reading Chapter 4 of Create Your Own Economy, titled ‘IM, Cell Phones, and Facebook’. It’s a quirky (and occasionally funny) chapter about how our choice of communication platform impacts our communications.
On one level it’s the “medium is the message” thesis. But, since he’s a behavioral economist, Cowen frames his argument as competition between competing frames of reference.
We choose to send or receive messages in particular ways, in part, to determine which kinds of framing effects will influence our thoughts and emotions. The greater the number of media we have to choose from, the more likely this process will suit our tastes.
Though economists often discuss framing effects in the context of bias or irrationality, Cowen focuses on the potential benefits of competition between mediums. “Facebook,” he writes, “has made me friendlier… It is a framing effect that I have chosen to keep, and to my advantage.”
Framing effects may not be the simplest lense through which to view his basic point: greater choice in our communications is a good thing. But it’s an interesting lense. And an economist’s lense.
beyond the times 