Why Did the Working Class Abandon the Left? With Nobel Economist Daron Acemoglu
Intelligence SquaredShow Notes
Liberal democracy was once a radical force. It challenged monarchies, expanded political rights and, at its most successful, helped deliver rising wages and shared prosperity. So how did it become associated with an establishment that growing numbers of voters have turned against?
In this episode, researcher and author Carl Miller speaks with Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu about his new book What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity.
Acemoglu traces the decline of liberalism through the collapse of its traditional working-class coalition, rising inequality and the transition from an industrial to a digital economy. He argues that automation has broken the old link between business growth and rising wages – and warns that AI could accelerate this divide by eliminating jobs without creating shared prosperity.
So can liberal democracy reinvent itself before it is too late? Acemoglu makes the case for what he calls ‘working-class liberalism’: a new politics focused on economic opportunity, community and rebuilding trust with voters who have abandoned the centre left.
Daron Acemoglu is Institute Professor of Economics at MIT and was awarded the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. His latest book is What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity.
Carl Miller is a Senior Fellow at Demos and founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM). He is the co-writer and host of the investigative podcast Kill List and is the author of The Death of the Gods: the New Global Power Grab.
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