2024-10-14 11:42:00
The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded on Monday to Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu and British-Americans Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for their research on understanding wealth inequalities between nations.
The researchers, all three based in the United States, were distinguished “for their studies on institutions and how they affect prosperity”, explained the jury.
“Reducing the huge income differences between countries is one of the biggest challenges of our time. The winners have shown the importance of institutions in achieving this,” said Jakob Svensson, chairman of the economics prize committee, cited in a press release.
By examining the different political and economic systems introduced by European colonizers around the world, the three men demonstrated the link between the nature of political institutions and prosperity, the jury explained.
“Societies where the rule of law is poor and institutions exploit the population do not generate growth and positive change,” he stressed.
However, there is no miracle recipe.
“A lot of this poverty is unfortunately the result of long-standing institutional arrangements, politically and economically. So there are very significant obstacles to overcome,” said winner Simon Johnson in an interview with the Nobel Foundation.
Democracy, “substantial gain”
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(lr) Portraits of the Nobel Prize winners in economics, the American-Turkish Daron Acemoglu, and the British-Americans Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, October 14, 2024 in Stockholm |
“Countries that democratize, starting from a non-democratic regime, ultimately develop eight or nine years faster than non-democratic regimes. This is a substantial gain,” he said. Mr. Acemoglu, interviewed when the award was announced. But “democracy is not a panacea” and its introduction is “very difficult”, he added.
For Jan Teorell, professor of political science and member of the Nobel committee, “Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson showed that a large part of the income gap (between rich and poor countries) is due to differences in economic institutions and policies of society.
The jury takes up the work of the winners on the city of Nogales, divided between the United States and Mexico, where residents on the American side tend to be better off, to explain this difference.
The American economic system offers people north of the border more choices in education and occupation, and their membership in the American political system gives them broad political rights.
In contrast, south of the border, residents live in more difficult economic conditions and the Mexican political system limits their ability to influence the evolution of the law, it is explained.
The research of the three winners “is in favor of democracy”, explained Mr. Acemoglu, whose name frequently came up in the experts’ predictions.
At 57, this political economy specialist has taught since 1993 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, in the eastern United States, where Simon Johnson, 61, also works. The two men also published the book “Power and Progress” last year.
The third winner, James A. Robinson, 64, is a professor at the University of Chicago (northern United States). In 2012, he co-wrote with Mr. Acemoglu the book “Prosperity, power and poverty: why some countries succeed better than others.”
They emphasize the need for inclusive political and economic frameworks and the essential role of economic institutions in ensuring long-term growth.
Economic impact of AI
More recently, Mr. Acemoglu has focused on the economic impact of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), also at the heart of the work of Nobel Prize winners in physics and chemistry this year.
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Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences Hans Ellegren (c), Jakob Svensson (l) and Jan Teorell of the Nobel Assembly at a press conference after the announcement of the 2024 prize winners Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson on October 14, 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden |
Awarded since 1901, the Nobels recognize people who have worked for “the benefit of humanity”, in accordance with the wishes of their creator, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).
The only one not to have been provided for in Alfred Nobel’s will, the economics prize was created by the Swedish Central Bank “in memory” of the inventor. It was added in 1969 to the five traditional awards (medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace), earning him the nickname of “false Nobel” among his detractors.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Economics went to the American Claudia Goldin for her work on the evolution of women’s place in the job market and their income.
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