Why the Left Lost the Working Class (with Daron Acemoglu)
About this episode
Daron Acemoglu discusses the crisis in American politics and the importance of shared prosperity in liberal democracy.
This week on the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu joins Preet to discuss his latest book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. Acemoglu explains why he thinks American politics is in crisis and why a return to the foundational principles of liberalism—with shared prosperity at the forefront—is the best solution. They also discuss the Democratic socialist movement, the reasons for its rise, and whether “socialism” is even the right term to describe it. Then, Preet and Acemoglu turn to AI and its potential to become a pro-worker tool. After the interview, Preet answers listener questions about FEMA emergency funding and whether the attorney general should be an elected position. In the bonus for Insiders, Acemoglu defines some of the key terms from his book and explains how concepts like liberalism can have different meanings. Join the Insider community for access to bonus content from Stay Tuned and weekly episodes of the Insider podcast hosted by Preet and Joyce Vance. Visit staytuned.substack.com to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work. Photo by Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty…
People in this episode
Host: Preet Bharara
Guest: Daron Acemoglu
Topics covered
- working class
- liberal democracy
- political crisis
- Democratic socialism
- AI and labor
- shared prosperity
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: FEMA
Books & works: What Happened to Liberal Democracy?
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