Here are Professor Robert Bloomfield’s prepared remarks for his closing opinion piece for this week’s show:

Today’s guest on Metanomics was blogger, book author and economics Professor Tyler Cowen. I’d like to state for the record, I find Tyler’s career an inspiration, as is the entire economics department of George Mason University. The department has had great success with a constellation of blogs addressing a range of topics, from traditional to just this side of bizarre. But above all, they are innovating, they are exploring off the beaten path, searching for the future of their industry – which is, of course, higher education in economics.

I wanted to close the show today with a few remarks about the Age of Exploration, as seen through the lens of one of the most fundamental concepts in economics: opportunity costs, which are the costs of the alternatives you aren’t pursuing.

Rough economic times like these are excellent for exploration. Some of you are unemployed. More of you are probably underemployed. It may sound counter-intuitive, but now is a time for exploration, because your opportunity costs are low.

There is a second meaning to the age of exploration. The very young – by which I mean the 20-somethings – are filled with energy, ambition and creativity. But exploration is very expensive for them, because they get so much value from the pursuit of traditional credentials, like degrees from George Mason or Cornell. But if you are listening to this, you are probably in the 35-60 range. Many of you could be devoting far more of your time exploring new opportunities – again, the opportunity costs are lower for you.

This goes double if you are an academic with tenure. The whole point of tenure is to enable you to take risks. If that’s not what you are doing, you are failing your institution, and the society that is probably paying your salary through taxes or donations.

One more word on credentials. The people with the most prestigious plaques on their wall also face a higher cost of failure—they like their reputations and don’t want to mess them up. I know many of you feel that you won’t be taken seriously if you try something new, unless you have the fancy letters after your name from the fancy institution, or a fancy job. Well, there is some truth to that. But you also have less to lose.

Finally, let me emphasize that exploration is a delight and a privilege that not everyone can pursue…but it is also your duty. Exploration is a social good. Explore to the extent your opportunity costs allow. We’re counting on you to help pull us out of troubled times, and give us new ways when we get to the other side.