… is from page 135 of my colleague Tyler Cowen’s brilliant 2002 book, Creative Destruction (original emphasis):
Critics of cross-cultural exchange face an awkward question. If diversity at any point in time is desirable, why is intertemporal diversity not desirable as well? Intertemporal diversity, like intratemporal diversity, contributes to experimentation and to whatever intrinsic value variety may possess.
DBx: Many critics of trade, especially on the political left, bemoan those consequences of globalization that make different regions look more alike (e.g., Athens, Greece, has McDonald’s restaurants as does Athens, Georgia). But as Tyler points out, globalization makes any one place more diverse over time. The latter diversity is no less important than is the former.
