Story elements

At least one of the examples Tyler Cowen gives—the first example he gives—is really a story element. "A stranger came to town" is not a story but an element you find in a lot of stories. It's a useful thing to the person making a story because an alienated figure upsets normal social conventions. Orphans were a popular elements of stories in the 18th and 19th centuries for the same reasons. Putting a single person into the midst of a bunch of married people or starting someone in a couple and then having her lover/husband suddenly leave her are both useful elements.

Some things that can be story tags can also be story elements in different cases. A story that can be described as a quest story is one in which the quest predominates. But you can also have a story in which a quest is an element. Cowen identifies far more story tags than story elements (and that is telling) but many of his tags could also be elements. Animal House is not a journey story but it includes a journey.