Archive - The Permanent Problem

Richard Reeves on the Troubles of Boys and Men

Over the past half-century, societies around the world have made great strides in elevating the status of women and expanding their educational and…

Apr 9 •

1:00:55

March 2024

Virginia Postrel on the Future and Its Changing Enemies

What determines our visions of the future, and how those visions change over time? How is politics shaped by conflicting visions of the future? What did…

Mar 7 •

1:02:12

February 2024

Thoughts on Edmund Phelps and Mass Flourishing

In these essays I have used various turns of phrase to describe success in dealing with the permanent problem. Following Keynes, I refer frequently to…

Feb 20 •

James Pethokoukis on Up Wing vs. Down Wing

"We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." Peter Thiel's famous complaint hearkens back to the middle of the 20th century, when high…

Feb 6 •

1:05:39

January 2024

Robin Hanson on Declining Fertility

Since we’ve both been writing a lot about the topic recently, Robin Hanson invited me to sit down and chat with him about the global fertility decline…

Jan 24 •

Weird Scenes from a Shrinking Planet (Part 2)

I set out to write an essay on falling fertility and the implications of population decline — but one essay turned into two, and now two have turned…

Jan 22 •

Weird Scenes from a Shrinking Planet (Part 1)

In my last essay I returned to the subject of the global fertility collapse, the unexpected and underappreciated trend that in my view confronts us with…

Jan 16 •

Depopulation and Decadence

“I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken.” I’ve always loved that line from Oliver Cromwell, even if I…

Jan 10 •

Interview with Tyler Cowen

The Permanent Problem Podcast #1

Jan 4 •

1:09:34

November 2023

Productivity Growth: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

If you care about innovation and material progress, you learn to care about productivity growth — because it functions as our best available statistical…

Nov 28, 2023 •

October 2023

Coming attractions

Having published by 40th essay on this site last week, I’m taking another month-long break to recharge and make plans for a bit of a makeover. First…

Oct 17, 2023 •

Speculations on an arc of history

Over the course of the past year, I’ve written over three dozen essays that all focus on a single, fundamental question: if we’re so rich, why aren’t we…

Oct 10, 2023 •

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