Daron Acemoglu

A professor of Applied Economics at MIT, Daron Acemoglu was twice named one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, as well as the 2019 winner of the Kiel Institute’s Global Economy Prize. In the words of The New York Times Magazine, he is “as hot as economists get.” He has received the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal for being a top economist under 40, the Nemmers Prize in Economics, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, and an Andrew Carnegie fellowship. Recently, Acemoglu published (with Harvard’s James Robinson) The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty: the highly anticipated follow-up to their landmark text, Why Nations Fail. It’s a vital, big-picture assessment of how liberty flourishes in select states, yet devolves into authoritarianism or even anarchy in others—and how liberty can keep thriving, in spite of new, global threats. The Narrow Corridor was named one of both the Financial Timesand Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2019. Called “A work of staggering ambition...Smart and timely,” by Newsweek, and “Another outstanding, insightful book by Acemoglu and Robinson,” by Nobel Laureate Peter Diamond, The Narrow Corridor is an essential exploration of liberty for today’s age. Acemoglu is also the co-author, with Robinson, of The New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty—a major work of historical, political, and cultural heft that comes along only once every few years. Today, Acemoglu’s expertise stretches across the full spectrum of macroeconomics, with a focus on the role of institutions in political and economic growth. He is the author of five books, including Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor. Acemoglu has also written for mainstream magazines such as Esquire and Foreign Policy, is a regular speaker for banks, think tanks, corporations, and other major institutions across the globe, and has received high-profile attention in The New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist, and many more. He also co-edits academic publications, such as The Journal of Economic Growth. Acemoglu has received numerous awards and prizes, including the Carnegie Fellowship, the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize, and the Global Economy Prize. He was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize, and the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award.