Luis Garicano on Spain, Europe, and the Future of Work
Conversations with Tyler
8,528 views
Luis Garicano has one of the more unusual résumés in economics: trained at the University of Chicago Booth School under Gary Becker, Kevin Murphy, and Sherwin Rosen, he left academia for a stint as a member of the European Parliament before returning to research, now at the London School of Economics for a second time. His new book, Messy Jobs, co-authored with Jin Li and Yanhui Wu, argues that AI won't cause mass unemployment for a surprising reason: it will make jobs messier, not simpler, and messiness is precisely what AI struggles with.
Tyler and Luis start their conversation with Spain — housing, NIMBYism, and the productivity crisis; Spanish literature and why the Civil War still looms so large; and what Chicago taught Luis about party discipline in European politics. Then to the EU's unanimity problem, capital markets, and Denmark's flexicurity model; a round of overrated-versus-underrated on Rosalía, Penélope Cruz, and Sgt. Pepper's; and finally into Messy Jobs — why retraining programs fail, whether AI's leisure dividend has arrived, and whether Spain could ever achieve AI sovereignty.
Recorded July 28th, 2026.
Transcript and links: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ep...
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - On Spain’s housing and political paralysis
00:12:44 - On Spanish literature and the Civil War
00:19:57 - On Basque and Catalan public finance
00:22:29 - On party discipline and political selection
00:25:56 - On the EU’s unanimity problem
00:33:28 - On flexicurity and European labor rigidity
00:35:19 - Overrated vs. underrated
00:38:50 - On the future of Spanish language
00:41:08 - On why AI won’t cause mass unemployment
00:56:40 - On what’s next
Episode Credits
Host: Tyler Cowen
Lead Producer: Jeff Holmes
Producer: Kendra Strawderman
Video Editor: Jaycob Noe
Audio Editor: Sydney Gordon
Transcript Editor: Mary Horan
Head of Production: Dallas Floer
10 Comments
I work on YouTube thumbnails and video editing professionally, so your deep dive with Luis Garicano on the future of work, European capital markets, and how AI is changing the job landscape really sparked an idea for a different layout. What is the easiest way for me to send the finished design over so you can see it?
Luis Garicano on Spain, Europe, and the Future of Work
Conversations with Tyler
8,528 views
Luis Garicano has one of the more unusual résumés in economics: trained at the University of Chicago Booth School under Gary Becker, Kevin Murphy, and Sherwin Rosen, he left academia for a stint as a member of the European Parliament before returning to research, now at the London School of Economics for a second time. His new book, Messy Jobs, co-authored with Jin Li and Yanhui Wu, argues that AI won't cause mass unemployment for a surprising reason: it will make jobs messier, not simpler, and messiness is precisely what AI struggles with.
Tyler and Luis start their conversation with Spain — housing, NIMBYism, and the productivity crisis; Spanish literature and why the Civil War still looms so large; and what Chicago taught Luis about party discipline in European politics. Then to the EU's unanimity problem, capital markets, and Denmark's flexicurity model; a round of overrated-versus-underrated on Rosalía, Penélope Cruz, and Sgt. Pepper's; and finally into Messy Jobs — why retraining programs fail, whether AI's leisure dividend has arrived, and whether Spain could ever achieve AI sovereignty.
Recorded July 28th, 2026.
Transcript and links: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ep...
Stay connected:
Follow us on X, IG, and Facebook: @cowenconvos
Twitter: cowenconvos
Facebook: cowenconvos
Instagram: cowenconvos
Sign up for our newsletter: https://mercatus.tfaforms.net/5060931
Join us on Discord: Discord: discord
https://conversationswithtyler.com
https://mercatus.org
Timestamps
00:00:00 - On Spain’s housing and political paralysis
00:12:44 - On Spanish literature and the Civil War
00:19:57 - On Basque and Catalan public finance
00:22:29 - On party discipline and political selection
00:25:56 - On the EU’s unanimity problem
00:33:28 - On flexicurity and European labor rigidity
00:35:19 - Overrated vs. underrated
00:38:50 - On the future of Spanish language
00:41:08 - On why AI won’t cause mass unemployment
00:56:40 - On what’s next
Episode Credits
Host: Tyler Cowen
Lead Producer: Jeff Holmes
Producer: Kendra Strawderman
Video Editor: Jaycob Noe
Audio Editor: Sydney Gordon
Transcript Editor: Mary Horan
Head of Production: Dallas Floer