Economist and journalist John Cassidy will discuss the economic and political implications of artificial intelligence during a public lecture at the Institute for Advanced Study.
The talk, titled “A.I. and the Crisis of Capitalism: A Historical Approach,”*will take place Friday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall.
The lecture will explore how technological change and economic disruption have historically reshaped capitalism. Cassidy will draw on ideas from his 2025 book”Capitalism and Its Critics,” which examines the long history of debates surrounding capitalism and its challengers.
Organizers say the discussion will consider how artificial intelligence may represent the latest phase of economic transformation and how past critiques of capitalism may help explain the challenges ahead.
Cassidy has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1995 and writes the magazine’s economics column, “The Financial Page.” His work has examined a wide range of topics including globalization, economic inequality, and financial crises.
He is also the author of “How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities,” and “Dot.Con: How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era”.
The lecture is part of the S. T. Lee Public Lecture series and is made possible through the Dr. S. T. Lee Fund for Historical Studies.
Registration is required to attend. More information is available at ias.edu/events/st-lee-lecture-april-2026.
