Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Expanding production on the intensive margin means getting more grain out of land already cultivated, expanding it on the extensive margin means getting more grain by bringing new land into cultivation. In economics, the intensive margin means writing new articles — new enough, at least, to get published — on subjects that smart people have been writing articles about for most of the past century. … The extensive margin, in contrast, is the application of the existing tools of economics, including mathematics where needed, to new subjects.” (07/29/25)