Harnessing Technology for Inclusive Prosperity: Growth, Work, and Inequality in the Digital Era

Transformative new technologies are reshaping economies and societies. But as they create new opportunities, they also pose new challenges, not least of which is rising inequality. Increased disparities and related anxieties are stoking societal discontent and political ferment. Harnessing technological transformation in ways that foster its benefits, contain risks, and build inclusive prosperity is a major public policy challenge of our time and one that motivates this book. In what ways are the new technologies altering markets, business models, work, and, in turn, economic growth and income distribution? How are they affecting inequality within advanced and emerging economies and the prospects for economic convergence between them? What are the implications for public policy? What new thinking and adaptations are needed to realign institutions and policies, at national and global levels, with the new dynamics of the digital era? This book addresses these questions. It seeks to promote ideas and actions to manage digital transformation and the latest advances in artificial intelligence with foresight and purpose to shape a more prosperous and inclusive future.

BRAHIMA COULIBALY is vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings and the Edward M. Bernstein Scholar, having served earlier as director of the program’s Africa Growth Initiative. Previously he was chief economist and head of the emerging market and developing economies group at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He has published widely on topics in international finance, macroeconomics, economic development, monetary economics, and trade. His research has featured in prominent media outlets. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

ZIA QURESHI is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. His research covers a broad range of global economic issues. He has recently led research projects at Brookings on the implications of technological change for productivity, growth, jobs, inequality, and globalization. Previously he worked at the World Bank and the IMF, where he held leadership positions, including serving as director, Development Economics, at the World Bank. He led several World Bank and IMF flagship publications. He holds a D.Phil. in economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.