"Most critics of President Donald Trump view him as the ultimate threat to American democracy. But to Nobel prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, Trump's merely a fever, the result of an infection that's been brewing for years before he rode down the golden escalator to announce his presidency. The MIT economist has spent decades studying the origins of economic and political decay, specializing in how institutions foster inclusive growth-or succumb to extractive systems."
"He warned the country is headed down a grim path and outlined two shifts relative to AI development he sees as critical to avoiding deeper decline: cracking down on economic inequality and tempering job destruction. "If we go down this path of destroying jobs [and] creating more inequality, U.S. democracy is not going to survive," he told Fortune."
"One: The proliferation of economic inequality According to Acemoglu, AI-driven job displacement could be catastrophic and further entrench inequality. He notes the U.S. is currently seeing unprecedented levels of wealth inequality, and traditional policy has failed to close the gap. "We may need wealth taxes because anything else we do today is still going to lead to this huge wealth gap that exists in this country.""
Daron Acemoglu views President Trump as a symptom of long-running institutional decline rather than the root cause. He emphasizes decades of research on how political and economic institutions determine prosperity and produce either inclusive growth or extractive systems. Acemoglu warns that AI-driven job destruction combined with unprecedented wealth inequality could further erode democratic stability. He calls for two major shifts: policies to reduce economic inequality, potentially including wealth taxes, and measures to temper job losses from technological change. Absent these changes, Acemoglu predicts a grim trajectory for U.S. democracy and social cohesion.
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