Speaking

The Future of Liberal Democracy: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity

The fall of the Soviet Union was supposed to be the beginning of a liberal democratic triumph. A generation later, many of us are asking what went wrong. In this vital, wide-ranging keynote, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu offers a look into the history of democracy—and a new vision for a politics of shared prosperity.

Liberal democracy delivered extraordinary progress, Daron says, but somewhere along the way, it stopped keeping its promises. Drawing on economics, history, and political theory, he traces how a college-educated elite became politically dominant and culturally detached from the rest of society, deepening inequality while accelerating the very crises liberalism was built to prevent. Digital technology accelerated the rupture, and the political backlash we’re living through today is the result.

But Daron doesn’t stop at the diagnosis. He lays out a concrete vision for what he calls working-class liberalism: a politics that restores shared prosperity, empowers communities, and makes room for a genuine range of values and views. For audiences navigating a moment of political turmoil, this talk offers both a clear account of how we got here and a serious, optimistic framework for what comes next.

Power and Progress: How We Can Use AI and Innovation for Everyone’s Good

Technology is advancing faster than ever before. New innovations are bringing rapid changes in the way we learn, work, and live. How can these technologies be used for widespread prosperity?

Drawing on his book Power and Progress, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu offers a clear-eyed and optimistic roadmap for the challenges ahead. And he gives audiences five ways to implement AI successfully into the workplace and ensure that everyone benefits.

Daron offers a blueprint for using technology to benefit humanity, both on the large scale of policy and democracy, and on the smaller scale of the workplace. He shows us what we can learn from the history of technology, and proves that we can choose right now to turn today’s technological advances into tools that will benefit us all. This talk is a must-listen for anyone interested in innovation, AI, and the future of work.

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Why are some nations extremely rich while others remain cripplingly poor? And why is the gap between the two widening? If we know why nations are poor, we can help them. And if we know what propels great societies into the future, we can move towards that future today. What separates the haves from the have-nots, Daron Acemoglu argues in this revolutionary keynote, has nothing to do with geography or natural resources, as is commonly believed.

Instead, nations live or die on the soundness of their institutions, the fairness of their laws, and the transparency of their governments. Drawing on powerful examples from America to Mexico to Sierra Leone to Singapore, Daron shows us that, with strong institutions in place, individuals (and nations) are given the incentive and the opportunities to achieve and innovate.