New York City Supporter and Friend Reception

Restlessness, ambition, and innovation are key American traits. But today, argues renowned economist and New York Times best-selling author Tyler Cowen, Americans are working harder than ever to avoid change. In The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream, Cowen documents how Americans are becoming more insulated, comfortable, and—despite Donald Trump’s surprise win—accepting of the status quo. They now move less, start fewer businesses, marry people more like themselves, and increasingly shop using algorithms that wall them off from the unfamiliar.

America, warns Cowen, risks becoming more segregated and unequal and forfeiting its global dominance in innovation. Please join the Mercatus Center and Manhattan Institute for a conversation with professor Cowen and Howard Husock, MI vice president for research and publications. Attendees will receive a complimentary copy of The Complacent Class, and a book signing will follow the discussion.

For questions, please contact Caitlyn Schmidt at cschmidt@mercatus.gmu.edu or (703) 993-4925.