Hope You Like 'GTA,' Because That's Pretty Much What Your Future Looks Like

“[Tyler Cowen’s new book] describes a future largely stripped of middling jobs and broad prosperity…. Young men will struggle in a labour market that rewards conscientiousness over muscle. With incomes squeezed, many Americans will head to the sort of cheap, sun-baked sprawling exurbs that give the farmers’-market-and-bike-lanes set heartburn. Many will accept rotten public services in exchange for low taxes. This may sound a bit grim, but it reflects real-world trends: 60% of employers already check the credit ratings of job candidates; young male unemployment is high and migrants have been flooding to low-tax, low-service Texas for years. The left is sure that inequality is a recipe for riots. Mr Cowen doubts it. The have-nots will be too engrossed in video games to light real petrol bombs.”

“There’s a good chance you’ve heard: ‘Grand Theft Auto V,’ the latest installment of the storied video game franchise, took in over $1 billion in its first week. That’s more than any movie released this year, with the exception of ‘Iron Man 3’ (which happens to be the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time). At this rate, ‘GTA V’” could be a nontrivial contributor to the U.S. gross domestic product.”