Luis Garicano on Spain, Europe, and the Future of Work

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