# What an economist eats for lunch (in 2026), with Tyler Cowen

An episode of [The Economics Show](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1746352576), 6 Feb 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/664394a442f6710013618119/e/6984d9dbe3a23197cb3c22a6/media.mp3

If you want to understand food – and eat better – economics is a good place to start. How do immigration patterns shape a country’s cuisine? How do labour laws make our working lunches worse? And why do strip malls serve such good grub? To find out, Soumaya Keynes talks to Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center think-tank. Cowen has written about food for more than two decades, including in his 2012 book An Economist Gets Lunch. Read Soumaya’s columns here: https://www.ft.com/soumaya-keynes Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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