\From Daron Acemoglu, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics and co-author of Why Nations Fail, comes this ambitious and comprehensive examination of the most important event in world politics of the last hundred years: the rise and fall of liberal democracy."A very important work, and essential reading." -Thomas Piketty, New York Times bestselling author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century.* “Daron Acemoglu is one of the brightest and most prescient thinkers I know. His genius lies in his ability to look at extremely complex problems and get straight to the heart of things. This book is a feat that has left me feeling more optimistic about the future than I have in a long time.”\- Steven Levitt, New York Times bestselling author of Freanomics.*
The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 raised hopes that we were one step closer to the triumph of liberalism. Many predicted that we would soon live in functioning liberal democracies. Sustained economic growth would benefit all segments of society, and war would become a relic of the past. A generation later, one can't help but wonder: What happened? Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu argues thisThis valuable book argues that liberal democracy flourished when it sought to fulfill its fundamental promises of shared prosperity, democratic governance, and the freedom to seek knowledge. But liberalism, a philosophy built to challenge authority, has never adapted to being the ruling establishment. It has also been unable to deal with the economic and social disruptions brought about by digital technologies. Worse still, in the post-industrial economy, liberalism has turned its back on its fundamental promises. With the dominance of a segment of the elitePolitically educated and disconnected from the rest of society, these elites sowed the seeds of widespread inequality, while intensifying their efforts to reshape mass culture and values. Using the broad interdisciplinary perspective that has earned him widespread acclaim, Acemoglu documents the extraordinary and unprecedented progress achieved by liberalism, and recounts how liberal democratic institutions have descended into crisis over the past few decades. Given the rapid technological developments and changes in regulatory environments,In global political history and economics, Acemoglu clearly shows the successes and failures of our most important political system. He envisions a new path forward, called labor liberalism: a philosophy that prioritizes shared prosperity, empowers communities, and accommodates a broad spectrum of values and opinions.
