Daron Acemoglu
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How ‘big-picture thinking’ can solve big questions today.
Intro
Daron Acemoglu is an esteemed economist and author, currently serving as the Killian Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His main areas of research include political economy, economic development and growth, network economics, human capital and technological innovation.1 Much of his work studies the political, economic and social origins of the differences in economic development across societies. He has also explored the institutional and political evolution of nations and the role that technology plays in shaping economic growth. Acemoglu’s track-record of addressing conventional economic principles in a highly original and astute fashion makes him one of the best regarded thought leaders in the field.
Acemoglu is probably best known for his book - Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (co-authored with James Robinson),2 which made the New York Times Bestseller List in 2012. His other books include: Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (also with James Robinson)3, which was awarded the Woodrow Wilson and the William Riker prizes, Introduction to Modern Economic Growth and Principles of Economics (co-authored with David Laibson and John List)4 and The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty (with James Robinson)5.
The most common reason why nations fail today is because they have extractive institutions2
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
