Power and Progress
Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity
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Narrated by:
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Malcolm Hillgartner
About this listen
Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson overturn conventional wisdom about how economies work--revealing the untold story of who wins and who loses the rewards of prosperity--in a work that fundamentally transforms how we look at and understand the world.
Throughout history, technological change — whether it takes the form of agricultural improvements in the Middle Ages, the Industrial Revolution, or today’s artificial intelligence — has been viewed as a main driver of prosperity, working in the public interest. The reality, though, is that technology is shaped by what powerful people want and believe, generating riches, social respect, cultural prominence, and further political voice for those already powerful. For most of the rest of us, there is the illusion of progress.
Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson debunk modern techno-optimism through a dazzling, original account of how technological choices have changed the course of history. From vivid stories of how the economic surplus of the Middle Ages was appropriated by an ecclesiastical elite to build cathedrals while the peasants starved, to the making of vast fortunes from digital technologies today as millions are pushed towards poverty, we see how the path of technology is determined and who influences its trajectory.
To achieve the true potential of innovation, we need to ensure technology is creating new jobs and opportunities rather than marginalizing most people, through automated work and political passivity. We need to use the tremendous digital advances of the last half century to create useful and empowering tools, and seize back control from a small elite of hubristic, messianic tech leaders pursuing
their own interests.
With their breakthrough economic theory and manifesto for building a better society, Acemoglu and Johnson provide the understanding and vision to reimagine and reshape the path of technology and create true shared prosperity.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson (P)2023 PublicAffairsListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In no more than the blink of an eye, a naïve optimism about technology’s liberating potential has given way to a dystopian obsession with biased algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and job-displacing robots. System Error exposes the root of our current predicament - how big tech’s relentless focus on optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination, erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we get- and outlines steps we can take to change course, renew our democracy, and save ourselves.
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Excellent on tech. Weak on political speech.
- By Kindle Customer on 11-05-21
By: Rob Reich, and others
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The Socialist Temptation
- By: Iain Murray
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Just 30 years ago, socialism seemed utterly discredited. An economic, moral, and political failure, socialism had rightly been thrown on the ash heap of history after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately, bad ideas never truly go away — and socialism has come back with a vengeance. A generation of young people who don’t remember the misery that socialism inflicted on Russia and Eastern Europe is embracing it all over again.
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Full Of Important Insights
- By Ralph Alderson on 12-17-20
By: Iain Murray
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Age of Discovery
- Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance
- By: Ian Goldin, Chris Kutarna
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Age of Discovery explores a world on the brink of a new Renaissance and asks: how do we share more widely the benefits of unprecedented progress? How do we endure the inevitable tumult generated by accelerating change? How do we each thrive through this tangled, uncertain time? From gains in health, education, wealth and technology to crises of conflict, disease and mass migration, the similarities between today's world and that of the 15th century are both striking and prophetic: we have been here before.
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A monotonous text disguised as casual reading.
- By Rob on 07-29-16
By: Ian Goldin, and others
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Adrift
- America in 100 Charts
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Scott Galloway
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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We are only just beginning to reckon with our post-pandemic future. As political extremism intensifies, the great resignation affects businesses everywhere, and supply chain issues crush bottom lines, we’re faced with daunting questions—is our democracy under threat? How will Big Tech change our lives? What does job security look like for me? America is on the brink of massive change—change that will disrupt the workings of our economy and drastically impact the financial backbone of our nation: the middle class.
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Quick & Informative
- By W. Carillion on 10-06-22
By: Scott Galloway
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The Impulse Society
- America in the Age of Instant Gratification
- By: Paul Roberts
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Robert digs down to the economic roots of the problem, shows how it has metastisized to affect every facet of our lives and our ability to navigate the future. In clear, cogent prose that mixes illuminating analysis and vibrant reporting, Roberts not only tells the fascinating story of how the impulse society came to be, but shows how, perhaps, a healthier society may still be possible.
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A Must-Listen for Millenials
- By Doug - Audible on 03-31-15
By: Paul Roberts
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Jump-Starting America
- How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream
- By: Jonathan Gruber, Simon Johnson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
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Performance
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The untold story of how America once created the most successful economy the world has ever seen and how we can do it again.
By: Jonathan Gruber, and others
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The Great Reversal
- How America Gave Up on Free Markets
- By: Thomas Philippon
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Why are cellphone plans so much more expensive in the United States than in Europe? It seems a simple question. But the search for an answer took Thomas Philippon on an unexpected journey through some of the most complex and hotly debated issues in modern economics. Ultimately, he reached a surprising conclusion: American markets, once a model for the world, are giving up on healthy competition.
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Eye-opening, but better as a book - a must-READ
- By Ash on 11-29-19
By: Thomas Philippon
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No Ordinary Disruption
- The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends
- By: Richard Dobbs, James Manyika, Jonathan Woetzel
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In No Ordinary Disruption, the directors of the McKinsey Global Institute, the flagship think tank of the world's leading consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, dive deeply behind current headlines to analyze the key forces transforming the global economy over the next two decades - and most importantly, to explain what business and government leaders need to do to reset their intuitions and take advantage of the disruptions ahead.
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Good performance, so-so content
- By Vignesh Krishnan on 08-28-16
By: Richard Dobbs, and others
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Red Flags
- Why Xi's China Is in Jeopardy
- By: George Magnus
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the past four decades, China's remarkable transformation has garnered admiration but also sparked concern. George Magnus draws on his intimate knowledge of this dynamic nation to uncover the origins of its ascent and show why the economic traps it faces at home and the political challenges it faces abroad pose a serious threat to its continued rise.
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A pessimistic vision with western liberal bias
- By Jeronimo L. Jimenez on 10-23-20
By: George Magnus
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The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
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Few forests, but lots of trees
- By Steve Pagano on 10-05-15
By: Francis Fukuyama
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What listeners say about Power and Progress
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Wade A. Oliver
- 10-14-24
Worth your time
Great read…and these two just won the Nobel Prize in economics so certainly worth your time
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- George N. Nikolaou
- 12-29-24
Great insights and analysis, little thought on solutions
I wish the authors spent more time contemplating solutions to the issues they are raising. The articulation of the issues is indeed compelling
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- Ricardo Ernst
- 07-23-23
A different take on Technology’s impact
In the style of Acemoglu an interesting view of the role of technology on the progress of society. A cynical but realistic perspective: who benefits from technology developments? You might not agree 100 % with their view but it is still very interesting.
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- Pam
- 06-04-23
Technology fatalist
Interesting anecdotes but lacking a powerful insight. Machine is the enemy of the uneducated so redirect technology from automation?
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- Artem
- 10-13-23
Not as great as "why nations fail", but not bad
I read why nations fail a few times and it's really an eye opener especially with brief history into how dictatorships form.
So I had hoped for something approaching that. Instead we got somewhat biased and sometimes plain wrong content.
For example when authors attempted to explain the nature of machine learning they went along the lines of "oh you throw a bunch of data into this machine and it gives you some mostly substandard results". When in reality it's more like a mock up of biological neurons with some differences but a lot of similarities. If biological neurons are like birds, then artificial neurons are like planes. They work in a very similar fashion.
That was never mentioned and uneducated reader will be mislead about the technical nature of ML.
'
Next comes deep mind Alpha go zero. The most fascinating thing about it was that it was one of first AI systems that had a much broader capability than any system before. It went from "narrow AI" quite a few steps towards "general AI".
Not only it was able to play Go, but it managed to also master countless other tasks - something no other system was ever able to do. All previous systems could only be made for a single purpose. Like chess engines. Or NPC agent or ECU in a car. These could only do one thing. Alpha go zero could do many things.
Obviously still VERY far from true general purpose, but nevertheless less that was it's defining feature.
Instead authors chose to spend time talking how narrow Alpha go is -if that's not misleading than what is?
Because I'm very familiar with these two subjects I was able to spot these mistakes. But with that I couldn't help but be more skeptical towards the rest of the content, which I wasn't familiar with and could learn a great deal.
However it's still a great book that draws inspiration from Yuval Noah Harari books and Daron Acemoglu previous Why Nations Fail book.
It's still a world class book. Just take with a grain of salt and it will provide a lot of food for thought.
Another note: as a left leaning centrist techno-optimist it was a bit of a challenge to take it, but I still did it and enjoyed challenging my views. But for someone right leaning book could be extremely hard to swallow unless you're ready to listen to another side.
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- Rob Riester
- 08-10-24
Recommended but..
Great book. I definitely would recommend. Only issue is that the second half was like propaganda for the Democratic Party. The authors fail to mention any of the benefits tech has provided- only the negatives
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- Anonymous User
- 09-14-23
Good historical read
Not bad from a historical perspective, albeit with a Liberal slant. Overall worth a read or listen.
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- jhar14
- 10-09-23
Critical Read
This is a critical read and I highly recommend this, for anyone, wanting to learn more about the future of technology and its affect on we the people.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-13-24
Intelligent arguments that take into account very modern events and AI
It’s nice to read something that is talking about the most pressing social issues at this time period. The author has an interesting, worthwhile take on it all.
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- Timothy M. Laseter
- 10-20-23
Thought Provoking
Some questionable underlying assumptions about people but addressing a critical issue. Provided new insights if not compelling answers.
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