Book review: "Power and Progress" - by Noah Smith

In which Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson fail to convince me that innovation needs to be steered away from automation.

“Do not be fooled by the monumental technological achievements of humankind.” — Acemoglu and Johnson It’s hardly surprising that Power and Progress made it onto practically every list of the most important business books of 2023. First, there’s the unrivaled pedigree of the authors themselves. To call Daron Acemoglu a powerhouse in the world of economics would be a ludicrous understatement: Acemoglu is also the main proponent of the institutional explanation for national development, through his famous book Why Nations Fail and its sequel, The Narrow Corridor (both with James Robinson). If…

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