200+ Economists Urge Immediate Action on AI's Economic Impact

More than 200 leading economists, including 16 Nobel laureates such as Daron Acemoglu, Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Spence, signed an open letter titled “We Must Act Now”. The statement warns that artificial intelligence could reshape the global economy faster than the Industrial Revolution, posing a risk of massive job displacement while also offering large gains in living standards.

The signatories call on governments, policymakers and technology leaders to create incentives, safeguards and institutions that steer AI development toward complementing human work and benefiting society. They stress the need for regulatory frameworks, data‑sovereignty measures and agile organisational models to avoid a “tsunami” of disruption, as Erik Brynjolfsson described. The letter urges immediate research and policy action to manage the rapid acceleration of AI capabilities expected over the next decade.

The initiative, coordinated by Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab, also includes executives from major AI firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind. It highlights the urgency of addressing potential large‑scale unemployment and calls for measures ranging from protective barriers to possible universal basic income schemes.