Power and Progress: 8 key ideas
The core ideas of Power and Progress, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 8
Technology does not automatically help everyone
Acemoglu and Johnson argue that new technology does not automatically raise wages or improve lives.
Who benefits depends on choices about how technology is designed and used, and on the balance of power in society.
- IDEA 2 OF 8
The productivity bandwagon is a myth
Many assume that rising productivity naturally lifts wages.
The authors call this the productivity bandwagon and argue that it only works when workers have the power to share in gains.
- IDEA 3 OF 8
Powerful visions can mislead
The authors describe a vision oligarchy, a small group whose ideas about technology dominate.
They use the example of Ferdinand de Lesseps, whose success with the Suez Canal led to failure in Panama.
- IDEA 4 OF 8
Medieval progress helped elites
The authors show how improvements in medieval farming increased output but did not make peasants better off.
Landowners and the church captured most of the gains. Better tools did not mean better lives.
- IDEA 5 OF 8
Early industrialisation hurt workers
During the early Industrial Revolution, the authors argue, many workers faced worse conditions for decades.
Gains came only after workers organised and won political rights. Progress was won through struggle, not handed out by machines.
- IDEA 6 OF 8
Some automation adds little
The authors describe so-so automation, technology that replaces workers without greatly boosting productivity.
Such automation, they argue, reduces jobs without much benefit. Self-checkout machines are one example they discuss, where costs shift to customers.
- IDEA 7 OF 8
Countervailing power shares gains
The authors argue that unions, democracy and regulation can balance the power of business.
This countervailing power helps ensure that technology benefits many people. Without it, gains flow upward. Power shapes outcomes.
- IDEA 8 OF 8
AI should be directed wisely
The authors argue that artificial intelligence could either help workers or replace them.
They call for policies that steer technology towards creating new tasks and supporting human skills. Choices made now matter.
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