Power and progress our thousand-year struggle over technology and prosperity
Artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies won't guarantee a rising standard of living for workers, according to this lucid manifesto. MIT economists Acemoglu and Johnson explore historical instances of new technology failing to pay off for workers: improved agricultural practices and...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
PublicAffairs,
2023.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | Artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies won't guarantee a rising standard of living for workers, according to this lucid manifesto. MIT economists Acemoglu and Johnson explore historical instances of new technology failing to pay off for workers: improved agricultural practices and equipment in medieval Europe conferred few benefits on peasants while lords and churchmen expropriated the increased output; the first century of the Industrial Revolution brought no income gain to laborers; recent advances in digital technology have yielded stagnant working-class wages while tech moguls make fortunes. But another path of broadly shared prosperity is possible, the authors contend, citing the post-WWII era when strong unions, government regulations, and relatively enlightened corporate management ensured that workplace automation, rather than deskilling and discarding workers, improved their marginal productivity and wages and created plenty of higher-skilled jobs. Acemoglu and Johnson give an incisive analysis of the economics of labor and technology, along with a trenchant critique of the "techno-optimism" of corporate visionaries, though their own ideas about what a truly worker-friendly artificial intelligence might look like remain hazy. Still, this is a stimulating call for social and political action to ensure the rising tide of innovation lifts all boats. |
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| Physical Description: | vii, 546 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 475-516) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781541702530 1541702530 |
| Author Notes: | SIMON JOHNSON who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on the gaps in prosperity between nations and research on how institutions affect economic progress is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Sloan School at MIT, where he is also head of the Global Economics and Management group. Previously chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, he has worked on global economic crises and recoveries for thirty years. Johnson has published more than 300 high-impact pieces in leading publications such as The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal , The Atlantic , and Financial Times . He is author (with Jon Gruber) of Jump-Starting America , and (with James Kwak) of White House Burning and the national bestseller 13 Bankers . He works with entrepreneurs, elected officials, and civil society organizations around the world. |
