Tyler Cowen

The notion that American culture is experiencing corruption and decline is false, argues Tyler Cowen in the following viewpoint. In truth, Cowen maintains, Western culture has been steadily improving for the past thousand years. The many impressive creations of contemporary culture, he contends, include cinema, rock ’n roll, pop art, jazz, and a brand-new artistic medium: the World Wide Web. Technological and economic progress hold great potential for further cultural innovation, Cowen writes, and those who are pessimistic about popular culture merely fear change. Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, is the author of the book In Praise of Commercial Culture.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What does Cowen assert about the state of literacy and reading in America?
2. How are new or newly deregulated technologies likely to induce further...