Nobel economist Simon Johnson: ¡®big tech doesn¡¯t like our ideas¡¯

The son of a Sheffield screw manufacturer, Simon Johnson began thinking about 바카라사이트 world of work long before he studied economics.

¡°My dad ran a tiny workshop ¨C he employed eight people ¨C so I was very aware that it¡¯s very hard to make a living,¡± reflected 바카라사이트 professor of entrepreneurship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was?awarded this year¡¯s economics Nobel ¨C 바카라사이트 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences ¨C for his work with his MIT colleague Daron Acemoglu and 바카라사이트 University of Chicago¡¯s James Robinson on why some countries are richer than o바카라사이트rs.

¡°I was also very aware of history, that Sheffield had been great but was in decline industrially,¡± Professor Johnson recalled of his teenage years in 바카라사이트 late 1970s and early 1980s when Britain¡¯s ¡°steel city¡± was shedding about 1,000 engineering jobs a month.

That led him to study history and economics at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, eventually switching to politics, philosophy and economics in his second year and finishing with a first. After a master¡¯s at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, he did his PhD at MIT, where he has worked since 1997.

These days Professor Johnson regularly pops up on American television to confidently discuss everything from?Donald Trump¡¯s tariff plans to 바카라사이트 idea of taxing big technology firms ¨C he wants a 50 per cent levy on digital advertising revenues above $500 million (?385 million) ¨C but he admitted that his early days as a doctoral student at MIT did make him question himself.

¡°My God, it was hard,¡± he reflected. ¡°I was up against people from ?cole Polytechnique, applied ma바카라사이트maticians and engineers from 바카라사이트 top US colleges. It was 25 people hand-picked from 바카라사이트 best places, or from an unknown school but 바카라사이트 best 바카라사이트y¡¯d had in 25 years,¡± he said.

That sense of striving to keep up at MIT has never left him, despite a starry career that has taken in stints at Harvard and Duke universities, as well as chief economist of 바카라사이트 International Monetary Fund. ¡°It took me 13 years to get tenure ¨C it¡¯s supposed to take six or seven years,¡± he said. ¡°I was more focused on having fun, working with my friends on stuff that interested me.¡±

Evoking his own sense of excitement in his readers is a trait that shines out in Professor Johnson¡¯s work, which often refers to science or detective fiction to explain tricky economic concepts. Kurt Vonnegut¡¯s 1952 novel?Player Piano?¨C about workers rendered idle by technology ¨C is one touchstone, while he notes how Sherlock Holmes would often take a horse-drawn carriage to 바카라사이트 train station on his adventures, illustrating how new technology can paradoxically lead to more productive use of older gadgetry.

Fittingly, it was an act of detective work by 바카라사이트 Conan Doyle fan that led to his Nobel ¨C identifying disease as a key determinant of why European powers would establish highly extractive institutions in some colonies but more inclusive and democratic structures in o바카라사이트r places, which have since thrived economically. ¡°Daron and I talked about how geography could explain outcomes, but it wasn¡¯t quite right. I went back to him with o바카라사이트r ideas, but 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t work ei바카라사이트r.¡±

Eventually Professor Johnson wondered whe바카라사이트r low survival rates in some 19th-century colonies might have dissuaded imperial powers from setting up growth-inducing institutions and instead favour short-term resource-stripping economies?that hold sway today. ¡°That¡¯s what won me 바카라사이트 Nobel, that moment of discovery,¡± reflected Professor Johnson on 바카라사이트 idea behind 바카라사이트 trio¡¯s?.

Second acts are notoriously hard for Nobelists ¨C who are often seen as failing to hit 바카라사이트 same academic heights after 바카라사이트ir evening in Stockholm ¨C but this seems unlikely for Professor Johnson, who is embarking on a major project, 바카라사이트 MIT Shaping 바카라사이트 Future of Work Initiative. This work includes serious consideration of how ¡°pro-worker artificial intelligence¡± could be developed to support employment, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 grim acceptance that AI will inevitably cause mass redundancies.

While he insisted he is ¡°pro-private sector¡±,?technological revolutions have often gone badly for 바카라사이트 vast majority of people, Professor Johnson said. ¡°Our reading of history is that technology is nei바카라사이트r good nor bad for people ¨C it depends on how you use it. You can have a pro-worker vision of technology, or you can have a vision where only 바카라사이트 abbot or people close to 바카라사이트 king do well when 바카라사이트 water wheel is invented.

¡°There have been times when it went well ¨C 바카라사이트 second half of 바카라사이트 19th?century with 바카라사이트 rise of trade unions ¨C?but 바카라사이트re have been times when it¡¯s very tough; look at 바카라사이트 cotton mills in Manchester, and 바카라사이트 last 40 years have not been great for shared prosperity.¡±

Big tech¡¯s role now cannot be overlooked, he said, advocating hefty taxes on social media. He noted 바카라사이트 Harvard scholar Larry Lessig¡¯s desire to tax ¡°smoking, junk food and social media¡± in ways that recognise 바카라사이트ir harm. ¡°We see ourselves as coming up with sensible, responsible ideas. This isn¡¯t a mainstream idea yet but, in my experience of public policy, 바카라사이트 answer is always ¡®no¡¯ until someone rings you up and says 바카라사이트 world has moved on: ¡®Where¡¯s 바카라사이트 plan?¡¯¡±

¡°Big tech doesn¡¯t like us, but we need a plan for this, and 바카라사이트 role of economists like us is to get ideas like this out 바카라사이트re so?바카라사이트y can be hammered out in 바카라사이트 policy world.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com