The widely held idea that democracy and markets could or would flourish everywhere has run aground. Public confidence in political and economic liberalism has waned since the triumphalism of the 1990s. What practical steps can political leaders and policymakers take to restore public trust in governments’ ability to manage markets as a source of collective prosperity?
In tonight's lecture, MIT's Daron Acemoglu argues that modern market economies have focused excessively on automation and cost-cutting. What we need is not more innovation for eliminating jobs or intensifying surveillance, but a renewed focus on creating new tasks, providing better decision-making tools and granting greater autonomy to workers. Good jobs, which pay high wages and deploy worker skills, are not only critical for productivity growth, but also essential for re-creating democratic citizenship.
Meet our speakers and chair
Daron Acemoglu (@DAcemogluMIT) is Institute Professor at MIT and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society, the British Academy of Sciences, and the American Academic of Arts and Sciences, among other learned societies. A New York Times bestselling author, he is the author of six books, including Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity (with Simon Johnson), Why Nations Fail: Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (joint with James A. Robinson), and Introduction to Modern Economic Growth. The winner of numerous academic prizes, his research and writings span the fields of political economy, economic development, economic growth, technological change, inequality, labor economics and economics of networks. He received his MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics.
Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations, and Director of the Phelan US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House.
More about this event
The Phelan United States Centre (@LSE_US) at LSE is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America.
This event is part of 'The Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity', a conference which will examine the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies.
This event is free and open to all LSE staff and students, but registration is required. Tickets will be allocated using a random ballot.
Twitter hashtag for this event: #LSEFutureofCapitalism
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