I’ve just finished reading Tyler Cowen’s latest book, Talent, which he co-wrote with Daniel Gross. Takeaways below:

• The book contains a lot of the wit and pragmatism I’ve come to expect from Cowen’s books, and the topic is certainly one that deserves more attention. In my opinion, undiscovered and underutilized talent is currently the biggest single drag on economic growth.
• However, I suspect much of this book will need to be revisited in the next year or two as AI continues to reshape the way we work and collaborate together. Given that the book was written in 2022, one can forgive the fact that there is almost no mention of AI or the impact it will have. Cowen seems to have recognized this deficiency in recent years, and my understanding is that he will remediate this in his forthcoming book on mentorship.
• It is hard for any book on a topic this broad and unwieldy to avoid devolving into platitudes. I would give Cowen and Gross a B- on this front. Their central insight boils down to a contrarian approach to hiring, in which one looks not for the best talent but for the best value, which often lies in undiscovered or marginalized talent. This is brilliant as a hiring strategy, but its hardly a novel insight to anyone familiar with Cowen’s other work. This is the same fundamental insight as Cowen outlines in my favorite book of his, Discover Your Inner Economist, which essentially advocates for a contrarian view of everything–a paradigm-shifting suggestion for me in 2009 but one that I have now broadly assimilated.
• By far the most interesting part of the book are the proposed interview questions. I would have enjoyed an appendix full of them, but again, I’m sure this is something GPT or Claude should be doing for us now.

I’ll probably read everything Cowen ever writes–I simply believe he is that important and original of a thinker. This is not his best work, but it’s hard to know how much to discount my opinion given my familiarity with his other work. Recommended for those directly involved in hiring decisions and those looking to differentiate themselves as a candidate in interviews. Beyond that, probably a pass.

Rating: 6/10