David Autor

Ford Professor of Economics, MIT
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David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, is one of the leading labor economists in the world. He is an internationally recognized authority on how technological change, globalization, and trade agreements affect labor markets. Autor also researches the causes of inequality and its remedies, including the effects of education and disabilities.
David's latest book, The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines, is on why the United States lags behind other industrialized countries in sharing the benefits of innovation with workers and how we can remedy the problem. The book argues that we must foster institutional innovations that complement technological change.
Technology. David is best known for his work on how computerization both replaces and complements human labor. He warns against the tendency to exaggerate how much machines will replace humans and proposes ways to deal creatively with the disruptions they cause. He has focused on how automating some of a worker’s tasks can actually improve their economic value because the human half of the partnership now needs greater skills. To meet this challenge we need strong and creative institutions, and especially, education that gives workers the decision-making capabilities they need in an automated economy.
Globalization. David Autor is also an expert on how globalization in general and China’s very rapid rise in particular have affected U.S. labor markets, which has in fact been disastrous for low-skilled workers in manufacturing. Globalization increases the size of a country’s economic pie, but it also makes some of its slices smaller. Autor has clear suggestions for offsetting globalization’s dislocations while continuing to enjoy its benefits.
Credentials. These are just some of David Autor’s positions and achievements.
  • Ford Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Associate Department Head, MIT Economics Department
  • Co-director, School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative, MIT
  • National Bureau of Economic Research
  • Director, Disability Research Center
  • Faculty research associate, Aging programs
  • Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Cambridge: Research Affiliate
  • Fellow, Econometric Society
  • Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Fellow, Society of Labor Economists

Topics

Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The Past and Future of Workplace Automation

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Lessons from the China Shock: Economic and Political Consequences of China’s Rise for the United States

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Videos

The Unexpected Compression: Competition at Work in the Low Wage Economy
David Autor
"The Work of the Future Where Will It Come From" | Hogan Distinguished Lecture
David Autor
Will automation take away all our jobs? | TEDxCambridge
David Autor
Why Are There Still So Many Jobs?
David Autor
The Future of Work: What Jobs Disappear?
David Autor
Male Unemployment | LSE Growth Commission
David Autor

Articles

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3 Questions: Shaping the future of work in an age of AI
MIT News
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AI Could Actually Help Rebuild The Middle Class
Noema Magazine
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The generative AI productivity boom is coming, just don’t try to guess when
The Hill
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NOMIS Award: Creating new sparks in science
Science Magazine
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Welcome to a golden age for workers
The Economist
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Video and Written Remarks: HUMA Testimony - AI and the Future of Work
Shaping the Future of Work | MIT
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Policy Insight 123: Can we Have Pro-Worker AI? Choosing a path of machines in service of minds
CEPR
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David Autor: 'We have a real design choice about how we deploy AI'
Financial Times
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The Optimist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence and Work
New York Times
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ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.
MIT Technology Review
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The Unexpected Compression: Competition at Work in the Low Wage Labor Market
National Bureau of Economic Research
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Anticipating a Boom
The Wall Street Journal
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Good News: There’s a Labor Shortage
The New York Times
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Escalators of Opportunity, MIT Study Finds
Bloomberg
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The changing world of work
MIT News
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Economists on the Run
Foreign Policy
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How to Make Sure Robots Help Us, Not Replace Us
Bloomberg
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David Autor, the academic voice of the American worker
The Economist
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Interview with David Autor
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
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The Trade-Offs of Free Trade
MIT Technology Review
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Be Calm, Robots Aren’t About to Take Your Job
The Wall Street Journal
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Inequality among the “99 percent”
MIT News
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An inclusive future? Technology, new dynamics, and policy challenges
Brookings
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Robocalypse Now? Central Bankers Argue Whether Automation Will Kill Jobs
The New York Times
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Skills, education, and the rise of earnings inequality among the “other 99 percent”
Science
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The China Shock: Learning form Labor Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade
National Bureau of Economic Research
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Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation
American Economic Association

Podcasts

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Economics
World Economy
Future of Work
Artificial Intelligence
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