The Financial Issues Forum Presents Daron Acemoglu on “Power and Progress”

Featured Events | Dec 04, 2023 | Gabelli School of Business

Daron Acemoglu, Ph.D., was the guest speaker during the December 1, 2023 Financial Issues Forum, a virtual event hosted by Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business Center for Global Security Analysis, the Museum of American Finance, and the CFA Society New York. His intriguing presentation focused on the premise behind his recently released book “Power and Progress: Our Thousand Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity,” which argues that progress depends upon the choices we make about technology. Acemoglu firmly believes that new ways of organizing production and communication can either serve the narrow interests of an elite or become the foundation for widespread prosperity. Acemoglu grounded his talk in history—from the wealth generated by technological improvements in agriculture during the European Middle Ages, which generated great wealth for the nobility while peasants remained on the edge of starvation to the first 100 years of industrialization in England, which made company owners rich, but ultimately delivered stagnant incomes for working people. He noted that throughout the world today, digital technologies and artificial intelligence undermine jobs and democracy through excessive automation, massive data collection, and intrusive surveillance, but that it does not have to be this way. Click here to watch the full presentation.