Markus' Academy

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Princeton University's Markus Brunnermeier hosts conversations with leading academics and policymakers on the global economy, global politics, and artificial intelligence.

  1. 4D AGO

    250 Years of the Wealth of Nations with Ross Levine & Sandra Peart

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/ross-levine-on-the-250th-anniversary-of-adam-smiths-wealth-of-nations-a-conversation/ Ross Levine is the Booth Derbas Family/Edward Lazear Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Research Associate at NBER. Sandra Peart is the Dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies & the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. A summary in four bullets: ● Smith’s conception of human nature combines a propensity to truck, barter, and exchange with the social desire to be admired and praiseworthy ● Admiration, status-seeking, and faction lead individuals to overvalue wealth and social rank relative to virtue and intelligence, distorting our moral sentiments ● The invisible hand requires a framework of justice, competition, and well-governed institutions; mercantilist policies, monopolies, and state-sponsored privileges are its central enemies that corrupt markets and entrench power ● Smith’s defense of liberty encompassed an opposition to slavery, a critique of empire and a support for education Timestamps: [03:12] Why do we work so hard? [20:50] Do we admire the wrong people? [27:57] The invisible hand and its enemies [53:30] Liberty, slavery and the American colonies [57:52] Education

    1h 7m

  2. 4D AGO

    The Impact of AI on US Productivity with Nick Bloom

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/nick-bloom/ On Thursday, February 19, Nick Bloom joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on the impact of AI on US productivity. Nick Bloom is the William Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and the Co-Director of the Productivity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at NBER. A summary in four bullets: ● We see an extremely wide range of forecasts for AI’s growth impact—from Dario Amodei (2026), who projects 10–20% annual growth, to Daron Acemoglu (2025), who estimates 0.5% total additional growth over a decade. ● Given the uncertainty and the lack of clear historical precedents, managers’ expectations may be our best available data ● In their recent working paper, Nicholas Bloom and coauthors (2026) leverage existing central bank surveys to ask 6,000 executives about AI ● They document four facts: (1) 70% of firms use AI (2) 75% of executives use AI, with an average 1.5 hours per week (3) AI has had little impact on employment and productivity in the last 3 years (4) AI is expected to double productivity growth over the next 3 years Timestamps: [08:41] A new age of productivity growth? [19:05] What is the current data on firm AI use? [24:58] The survey [29:29] Results on firms’ AI use [43:39] Employment effects and employee responses

    57 min

  3. 4D AGO

    Past Automation and Future AI with C. Jones & C. Tonetti

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/chad-jones-chris-tonetti-on-past-automation-and-future-ai-how-weak-links-tame-the-growth-explosion/ On Thursday, February 12, Chad Jones and Chris Tonetti joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on their paper, Past Automation and Future AI: How Weak Links Tame the Growth Explosion. Chad Jones is a Professor of Economics at Stanford University and a research associate of the NBER. Chris Tonetti is an Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University and a research associate at the NBER. A summary in three bullets: ● How much of past economic growth is due to automation? Around half. Jones and Tonetti built a standard task-based model to answer the question, and then simulated the model to speculate about the future of AI ● Automation boosts growth by switching from slowly improving humans to rapidly improving machines on an increasing number of tasks. However, it can also create bottlenecks and spread capital thin. TFP growth may slow even as automation advances due to the slow-productivity-growing tasks that will still have to be done by humans ● AI may deliver explosive growth, but with a 75-year delay due to the weak links. Humanity may have time to solve its problems around inequality, political economy, and AI’s existential risks Timestamps: [04:19] The basic weak-link model of automation [26:20] How much of economic growth comes from automation? [48:03] The Future Consequences of AI

    1h 14m

  4. 4D AGO

    Challenges and Opportunities for India with V. Anantha Nageswaran

    For the full summary please visit: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/venkatram-anantha-nageswaran-on-building-strategic-leverage-in-the-emerging-new-world-order-challenges-and-opportunities-for-india/ On Thursday, February 5, Venkatram Anantha Nageswaran joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on “Building Strategic Leverage in the Emerging New World Order: Challenges and Opportunities for India.” V. Anantha Nageswaran is the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. Introductory remarks by Markus Brunnermeier. A summary in four bullets: ● In the episode, Nageswaran presented his vision of India’s growth strategy, included in India’s 2025–2026 Economic Survey, which has been described as a disruptive shift in India’s growth strategy ● The strategy is based on the idea of Investment in National Strength, with three pillars: (1) Intelligent import substitution, (2) Strategic resilience, and (3) Strategic indispensability ● National reforms in tax, labor, infrastructure, public procurement, state-level deregulation, and R&D support aim to lower input costs, crowd in private investment, and build a Mittelstand-style manufacturing ecosystem ● India remains an oasis of macro stability in a turbulent world, with sustainable non-inflationary growth, fiscal prudence, supply-side reforms and investments Timestamps: [05:36] India’s manufacturing future [20:51] Designing intelligent import substitution [31:17] A reform agenda for strategic resilience [45:49] Growth in strategic sectors and under global fragility

    1h 18m

  5. JAN 10

    ChatGPT's Stock Return Biases with Clifton Green

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/t-clifton-green-on-chatgpts-stock-return-biases/ Link to sign up for the webinar series: https://bcf.princeton.edu/markus-academy-old/signup/ On Thursday, January 8, T. Clifton Green joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on ChatGPT’s Stock Return Biases. Clifton Green is the John W. McIntyre Professor of Finance at Emory University. A Summary in four bullets: In the talk Green presented his recent paper (Chen et al., 2025), which shows that LLMs exhibit the same behavioral biases documented in humans (optimism, overconfidence, extrapolation, and framing effects), despite demonstrably “knowing” the behavioral finance concepts studiedWhen asked to rank stocks by expected returns, models strongly extrapolate from past returns, with prompt engineering only modestly reducing the biasLLMs are overly optimistic about expected returns, while pessimistic about upside (90th percentile) returnsLLMs are more optimistic in predicting returns when historical information is provided as return charts rather than price charts Timestamps: [02:42⁠] Literature and overview [22:20⁠] Extrapolation in stock returns and market sentiment [42:43⁠] Optimism in the distribution of stock return forecasts [54:23] Framing effects [59:09] Implications for using LLMs in finance

    1h 9m

  6. 12/31/2025

    John Maynard AI Keynes - A Conversation about AI, generated by AI

    In this special episode of Markus’ Academy we debut a new format: a conversation with John Maynard Keynes, recreated through an AI model grounded in his collected writings and archival audio.Keynes’ ideas reshaped modern macroeconomics. Here, Markus Brunnermeier asks AI Keynes how his theories have held up over the last century since the publication of his 1930 essay "Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," especially in the face of artificial intelligence. They discuss the impact of technological progress, resilience, bubbles and more.For a real-life recording of Keynes see: Professor Keynes is Optimistic  We are grateful for feedback from Lord Robert Skidelsky, Harald Hagemann, and Harold James.Script and production by Pablo Balsinde, PhD student at the Stockholm School of Economics.Timestamps:[00:00⁠] Introduction[01:22⁠] Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren[04:22] Alan Turing[06:58] J-Curved Transitions[10:07⁠] Populism[13:06⁠] Jevons' Paradox[16:09] AI Platforms[18:43⁠] Stock Market Bubbles[22:07] The Master Economist[24:48] The Importance of Economics[25:57⁠] ConclusionNote: This is a historically grounded AI simulation for educational purposes, and not a real recording or newly discovered statement by Keynes.

    28 min

  7. 12/11/2025

    Philippe Aghion - Should we fear AI?

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/philippe-aghion-on-should-we-fear-ai/ Link to sign up for the webinar series: ⁠⁠⁠https://bcf.princeton.edu/markus-academy-old/signup/⁠⁠ On Thursday, December 4, Philippe Aghion joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on “Should We Fear AI?” Philippe Aghion is the Kurt Björklund Chaired Professor in Innovation and Growth at INSEAD, a professor at Collège de France and visiting professor at the London School of Economics. Aghion is one of the recipients of the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction. Introductory remarks by Markus Brunnermeier. Timestamps: [8:09] New estimates of the impact of AI[28:02] Superstar firms and renewing AI competition policy[33:48] AI and employment[43:43] Conclusion and Q&A

    1 hr

  8. 11/03/2025

    John Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai on How to Make Personal Finance Work for Everyone

    Follow the link for the full summary: https://bcf.princeton.edu/events/john-campbell-and-tarun-ramadorai/ Link to sign up for the webinar series: ⁠⁠https://bcf.princeton.edu/markus-academy-old/signup/⁠ On Monday, October 27, John Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai joined Markus’ Academy for a conversation on their book, Fixed: Why Personal Finance is Broken and How to Make It Work for Everyone. Campbell is the Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Ramadorai is Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College London. Introductory remarks by Markus Brunnermeier. Timestamps: [6:12] The problem[38:45] The specifics: what goes wrong in personal finance[48:02] Solutions: shove, don't just nudge[1:04:49] A new vision: a personal finance “starter kit”

    1h 23m
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Princeton University's Markus Brunnermeier hosts conversations with leading academics and policymakers on the global economy, global politics, and artificial intelligence.

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