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Daron Acemoglu

Daron Acemoglu

Writing for PS since 2012
79 commentaries

Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, is a co-author (with James A. Robinson) of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty (Profile, 2019) and a co-author (with Simon Johnson) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023).

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  1. The Trump Threat to Democracy Has Only Grown
    acemoglu77_Victor J. Blue-PoolGetty Images Victor J. Blue-Pool/Getty Images

    The Trump Threat to Democracy Has Only Grown

    Aug 30, 2024 Daron Acemoglu sees five reasons to believe that the former president would do far more damage if given another term.

  2. The AI Safety Debate Is All Wrong
    acemoglu75_Moor StudioGetty Images_AIregulation Moor Studio/Getty Images

    The AI Safety Debate Is All Wrong

    Aug 5, 2024 Daron Acemoglu thinks the inordinate attention on sci-fi doomsday scenarios is distracting from more immediate risks.

  3. The Starmer Model
    acemoglu76_ HENRY NICHOLLSAFP via Getty Images_starmer HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

    The Starmer Model

    Jul 9, 2024 Daron Acemoglu thinks the UK Labour Party’s victory holds lessons for centrist and center-left parties elsewhere.

  4. If Democracy Isn’t Pro-Worker, It Will Die
    acemoglu74_ REMKO DE WAALANPAFP via Getty Images_geertwilders Remko de Waalanp/AFP via Getty Images

    If Democracy Isn’t Pro-Worker, It Will Die

    Jun 20, 2024 Daron Acemoglu argues that populists are making inroads because industrialized economies aren't delivering what was promised.

  5. Don’t Believe the AI Hype
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    Don’t Believe the AI Hype

    May 21, 2024 Daron Acemoglu finds nothing to support widely cited assessments of the technology’s near-term potential.

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  1. yi15_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_chinababy Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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    China Shuts Down Its International-Adoption Machine

    Yi Fuxian welcomes the government's apparent recognition that a severe demographic crisis looms.
  2. anelson1_MARCO LONGARIAfpAFP via Getty Images_senegalelection Marco Longaria/AFP via Getty Images
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    From the Year of Elections to the Year of Governance

    Adam Nelson & Kristen Sample highlight five major challenges reformist governments must confront to minimize populist threats.
  3. berglof39_LUIS TATOAFP via Getty Images_africarenewableenergy Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images
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    Africa’s Path to Green Prosperity

    Erik Berglöf highlights the potential that a young population and abundant renewable-energy resources represent.
  4. ghosh80_MUNIR UZ ZAMANAFP via Getty Images_plasticpollution Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images
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    Saving the Planet from Plastics

    Jayati Ghosh explains why recycling alone is not enough to mitigate the health and climate effects of overproduction.
  5. bp trump harris debate Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
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    What Harris and Trump Will Do

    With less than two months to go until the US presidential election, the candidates’ opposing worldviews, objectives, and priorities – and their implications for international relations, the economy, and democracy – have come into sharper focus. While it is impossible to know exactly what a leader will do once in office, the contours of both a Donald Trump and a Kamala Harris presidency are remarkably well defined.

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    The Big Picture

    PS editors
  7. op_drochon4_LUDOVIC MARINPOOLAFP via Getty Images_macron Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    Macron’s Trial by Fire

    Hugo Drochon

    Since the start of the Olympic Summer Games in Paris, Emmanuel Macron has reclaimed the initiative and confronted a political situation that is in many ways unprecedented for a French president. Not only has the center held, but the country may have a return to political stability in its sights.

     reflects on the French president's efforts to maintain control after a painful election season.
  8. velasco151_SAUL LOEBAFP via Getty Images_harris Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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    Kamala Harris’s Liberal Patriotism

    Andrés Velasco & Daniel Brieba explain why the Democratic US presidential candidate's appeal to love of country is good politics.
  9. fofack27_ BENSON IBEABUCHIAFP via Getty Images_nigeriaprotests Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP via Getty Images
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    Confronting Africa’s Cost-of-Living Crisis

    Hippolyte Fofack urges governments to rethink constraints on public spending and increase investment in human capital.

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