Join your fellow Boston area-based MIT Sloan Alumni for an evening with Simon Johnson where we will interrogate our assumptions about the relationship between technological progress and shared well-being. This session hopes to inspire a dialogue on the future of technology, economic inequality, and the role of policy in ensuring innovation benefits everyone.

Snacks and insights provided, bring your curiosity and questions.

Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he leads the Global Economics and Management group and co-directs the Stone Center Initiative. In 2024, he was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, alongside Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, for groundbreaking research on how institutions are formed and shape prosperity.

He has served in key global policy roles, including as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (2007–08), co-chair of the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council, and vice chair of the board of Fannie Mae (2021–25). He is also a Research Associate at the NBER and a Fellow at CEPR. His widely read Atlantic article “The Quiet Coup” and bestselling book 13 Bankers established him as one of the most influential voices on the financial crisis and systemic risk.

Johnson is the coauthor of Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (with Daron Acemoglu), which examines the economic impact of technological change from the Industrial Revolution to Artificial Intelligence, and has been translated into 20 languages. His earlier book, Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream (with Jonathan Gruber), helped shape bipartisan legislation behind the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. His academic work, books, and policy leadership continue to inform debates on innovation, growth, and financial stability worldwide.