124. Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power

Economist Daron Acemoglu likes to tackle big questions. He tells Steve how colonialism still affects us today, who benefits from new technology, and why democracy wasn’t always a sure thing.

• SOURCE:
  • Daron Acemoglu, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• RESOURCES:
  • Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson (2023).
  • "Economists Pin More Blame on Tech for Rising Inequality," by Steve Lohr (The New York Times, 2022).
  • "America’s Slow-Motion Wage Crisis: Four Decades of Slow and Unequal Growth," by John Schmitt, Elise Gould, and Josh Bivens (Economic Policy Institute, 2018).
  • "Why Mental Health Advocates Use the Words 'Died by Suicide,'" by Nicole Spector (NBC News, 2018).
  • "A Machine That Made Stockings Helped Kick Off the Industrial Revolution," by Sarah Laskow (Atlas Obscura, 2017).
  • "The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation," by Claire Cain Miller (The New York Times, 2016).
  • Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (2012).
  • "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson (American Economic Review, 2001).
  • "Learning about Others' Actions and the Investment Accelerator," by Daron Acemoglu (The Economic Journal, 1993).
  • "A Friedman Doctrine — The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits," by Milton Friedman (The New York Times, 1970).

• EXTRAS:
  • "'My God, This Is a Transformative Power,'" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
  • "New Technologies Always Scare Us. Is A.I. Any Different?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Max Tegmark on Why Superhuman Artificial Intelligence Won’t be Our Slave," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • "How to Prevent Another Great Depression," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
  • "Is Income Inequality Inevitable?" by Freakonomics Radio (2017).