After graduating in 1983 with a B.S. from George Mason, in 1987 Cowen received his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard, where he was mentored by 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics winner, game theorist, and Harvard professor Thomas Schelling. Marginal Revolution: Thomas Schelling, new Nobel Laureate

Cowen's primary research interest is the economics of culture. He has written books on fame (What Price Fame?), art (In Praise of Commercial Culture), and cultural trade (Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World's Cultures). In Markets and Cultural Voices, he relays how globalization is changing the world of three Mexican amate painters. Cowen argues that free markets change culture for the better, allowing them to evolve into something more people want. Other books include Public Goods and Market Failures, The Theory of Market Failure, Explorations in the New Monetary Economics, Risk and Business Cycles, Economic Welfare, and New Theories of Market Failure.

Recent Books

Cowen's latest book, Create Your Own Economy: The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World (ISBN 978-0-525-95123-0) was released in July 2009 and received favorable reviews from critics including Matthew Yglesias and Tim Harford. His previous book Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist was published in 2007.

New York Times columns

Cowen's New York Times columns cover a wide range of issues, including such topical issues as the 2008 financial crisis, " Too Few Regulations? No, Just Ineffective Ones."

Dining guide

His dining guide for the D.C. area, "Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide", was reprinted in the Food section of The Washington Post.

Cowen has been classified as a "libertarian bargainer" - someone of libertarian ideals who is not so radical that he cannot influence the "currently powerful". This puts him closer to Friedrich Hayek than an anarcho-capitalist such as Murray Rothbard or an anti-establishmentarian like Ludwig von Mises. In a 2007 article entitled " The Paradox of Libertarianism," Cowen argued that libertarians "should embrace a world with growing wealth, growing positive liberty, and yes, growing government. We don’t have to favor the growth in government per se, but we do need to recognize that sometimes it is a package deal." His argument was subsequently criticized by Bryan Caplan, EconLog, Worst Advice to Libertarians Ever?, Bryan Caplan: Library of Economics and Liberty Justin Raimondo, Libertarianism and the Great Divide- by Justin Raimondo Christopher Westley, The Real Libertarian Paradox by Christopher Westley and Doug MacKenzie. Tyler's Paradox - Mises Economics Blog Cowen endorsed bailouts in a March 2, 2009 column in the New York Times.