Daron Acemoğlu

Daron Acemoğlu is Institute Professor at MIT and the 2024 Nobel Laureate in Economics (shared with Simon Johnson and James Robinson). His research focuses on the role of political and economic institutions in determining long-run economic growth. His landmark 2012 book "Why Nations Fail" (co-authored with James Robinson) argues that the fundamental cause of prosperity versus poverty is the nature of a country's institutions — specifically whether they are "extractive" (concentrating power and wealth) or "inclusive" (providing broad access to economic opportunity and political participation). This framework contrasts with geographic, cultural, or resource-based explanations for development differences. His earlier academic papers — including "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development" (2001, with Johnson and Robinson) — are among the most cited in economics. Acemoğlu has also written extensively on labor economics, automation and the future of work, technology and inequality, and the political economy of artificial intelligence. His prolific output makes him one of the most influential economists of his generation.