"Two bestselling authors 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies won't guarantee a rising standard of living for workers, according to this lucid manifesto. MIT economists Acemoglu and Johnson explore historical instances of new technology failing to pay off for workers: improved agricultural practices and equipment in medieval Europe conferred few benefits on peasants while lords and churchmen expropriated the increased output; the first century of the Industrial Revolution brought no income gain to laborers; recent advances in digital technology have yielded stagnant working-class wages while tech moguls make fortunes. But another path of broadly shared prosperity is possible, the authors contend, citing the post-WWII era when strong unions, government regulations, and relatively enlightened corporate management ensured that workplace automation, rather than de-skilling and discarding workers, improved their marginal productivity and wages and created plenty of higher-skilled jobs. Acemoglu and Johnson give an incisive analysis of the economics of labor and technology, along with a trenchant critique of the "techno-optimism" of corporate visionaries, though their own ideas about what a truly worker-friendly artificial intelligence might look like remain hazy. Still, this is a stimulating call for social and political action to ensure the rising tide of innovation lifts all boats.