Press
An AI challenge only humans can solve
In their new book, “Power and Progress,” Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson ask whether the benefits of AI will be shared widely or feed inequality.
May 17, 2023
Faculty
Simon Johnson
Support Staff
Get in Touch
Title
About
Academic Groups
Academic Area
Centers & Initiatives
SIMON JOHNSON is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is head of the Global Economics and Management group. In 2007-08 he was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and he currently co-chairs the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council. In February 2021, Johnson joined the board of directors of Fannie Mae.
Johnson’s most recent book, with Daron Acemoglu, Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, explores the history and economics of major technological transformations up to and including the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence.
His previous book, with Jonathan Gruber, Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream, explained how to create millions of good new jobs around the U.S., through renewed public investment in research and development. This proposal attracted bipartisan support.
Johnson was previously a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., a cofounder of BaselineScenario.com, a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Economic Advisors, and a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. From July 2014 to early 2017, Johnson was a member of the Financial Research Advisory Committee of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Research (OFR), within which he chaired the Global Vulnerabilities Working Group.
“The Quiet Coup” received over a million views when it appeared in The Atlantic in early 2009. His book 13 Bankers: the Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (with James Kwak), was an immediate bestseller and has become one of the mostly highly regarded books on the financial crisis. Their follow-up book on U.S. fiscal policy, White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters for You, won praise across the political spectrum. Johnson’s academic research papers on long-term economic development, corporate finance, political economy, and public health are widely cited.
“For his articulate and outspoken support for public policies to end too-big-to-fail”, Johnson was named a Main Street Hero by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) in 2013.
IMPORTANT: For any media or appointment requests to Professor Johnson please be sure to copy Michelle Fiorenza: fiorenza@mit.edu
Honors
Johnson wins Jamieson Prize
Publications
"Design and Implementation of the Price Cap on Russian Oil Export."
Simon Johnson, Łukasz Rachel, and Catherine Wolfram. Journal of Comparative Economics. Forthcoming.
"The Design and Implementation of the Price Cap on Russian Oil."
Johnson, Simon, Łukasz Rachel, and Catherine Wolfram. VoxEU, August 19, 2023.
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.
Acemoglu, Daron and Simon Johnson. New York, NY: PublicAffairs/Hachette Book Group, 2023.
"Place-based Productivity and Costs in Science."
Gruber, Jonathan, Simon Johnson, and Enrico Moretti, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6638-21. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, September 2022.
"Transitioning out of the Coronavirus Lockdown: A Framework for Zone-Based Social Distancing."
Friedman, Eric, John Friedman, Simon Johnson, and Adam Landsberg, MIT Sloan Working Paper 6097-20. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, April 2020.
Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream.
Gruber, Jonathan, and Simon Johnson. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2019.
Recent Insights
Ideas Made to Matter
It’s not too late to rechart the course of technology
In their new book, MIT’s Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson argue that society’s powerful gatekeepers need to stop being mesmerized by tech billionaires.
May 16, 2023
Media Highlights
Press
Source:
Project Syndicate (Opinion Piece) (Registration Required)
Great power competition today
"The recent BRICS summit in South Africa marks the start of a new phase of Great Power competition."
Press
Source:
Project Syndicate (Opinion Piece) (Registration Required)
Why are Russian oil products still being sold in America?
"US sanctions specify that once Russian crude oil is transported to a third country that product is no longer considered of Russian origin."
Press
Source:
WBUR | Here and Now (Audio)
'Power and Progress': How technology should lead to shared economic grow...
Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson look at how technology has too often benefited the elite few and not the masses.
Press
Source:
The Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)
'Power and Progress' review: Technology and the new leviathan
Simon Johnson and Daron Acemoglu have written a long, eloquent book arguing that technological progress is a decidedly mixed bag.
Executive Education
Executive Education Course
Economics for Business
This eight-week online program offers you the opportunity to explore macroeconomics from a business perspective, guided by renowned economist Professor Roberto Rigobon.
- Oct 4-Dec 5, 2023
- Apr 10-Jun 11, 2024
Executive Education Course
Making AI Work: Machine Intelligence for Business and Society
Over six weeks, you’ll explore the technical and strategic considerations for robust, beneficial, and responsible AI deployment. You’ll examine the various stages of a proprietary ML Deployment Framework and unlock new opportunities by investigating the key challenges and their related impact. Guided by leading experts and MIT academics, you’ll build a toolkit for addressing these challenges within your own organization and context.
- Nov 15, 2023-Jan 23, 2024
- Jun 5-Jul 23, 2024
- Aug 14-Oct 1, 2024
- Mar 13-Apr 30, 2024
- Nov 20, 2024-Jan 28, 2025