What’s more intense than leading the IMF during a financial crisis? For Simon Johnson, it was co-authoring a book with fellow economist (and past guest) Daron Acemoglu. Written in six months, their book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, argues that widespread prosperity is not the natural consequence of technological progress, but instead only happens when there is a conscious effort to bend the direction and gains from technological advances away from the elite.
Tyler and Simon discuss the ideas in the book and on Simon’s earlier work on finance and banking, including at what size a US bank is small enough to fail, the future of deposit insurance, when we’ll see a central bank digital currency, his top proposal for reforming the IMF, how quickly the Industrial Revolution led to widespread prosperity, whether AI will boost wages, how he changed his mind on the Middle Ages, the key difference in outlook between him and Daron, how he thinks institutions affect growth, how to fix northern England's economic climate, whether the UK should join NAFTA, improving science policy, the Simon Johnson production function, whether MBAs are overrated, the importance of communication, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded March 21st, 2023
Other ways to connect
Dave Rubin on Digital Media, Crowdfunding, and Comedy (Live)
Atul Gawande on Priorities, Big and Small
Ben Sasse on the Space between Nebraska and Neverland (Live at Mason)
Edward Luce on The Retreat of Western Liberalism (Live)
Jill Lepore on Traveling through Time
Tyler Cowen and Steve Davies talk Theresa May, Brexit, and Europe (Live)
Raj Chetty on Teachers, Social Mobility, and How to Find Answers to Big Questions
Garry Kasparov on AI, Chess, and the Future of Creativity
Patrick Collison has a Few Questions for Tyler (Live at Stripe)
Malcolm Gladwell Wants to Make the World Safe for Mediocrity (Live at Mason)
*The Complacent Class* with Katherine Mangu-Ward (Live at Mason)
Rabbi David Wolpe on Leadership, Religion, and Identity (Live at Sixth & I)
Chef Mark Miller on Food as the Ultimate Intellectual Exploration
Jhumpa Lahiri on Writing, Translation, and Crossing Between Cultures (Live at Mason)
Joseph Henrich on WEIRD Societies and Life Among Two Strange Tribes (Live at Mason)
Fuchsia Dunlop on Chinese Food, Culture, and Travel
Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence (Live at Mason)
Ezra Klein on Media, Politics, and Models of the World
Margalit Fox on Life, Death, and the Best Job in Journalism
Michael Orthofer on Why Fiction Matters
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
In the Great Khan’s Tent
Visualize Meditations
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast