MIT Economics Launches Stone Center on Inequality and Future of Work

The MIT Department of Economics is set to launch the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work, marking a significant advancement in research, policy, and education concerning wealth inequality and the evolving labor market. This initiative is made possible through a generous gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation.

Scheduled to officially commence in July, the center will build upon the foundation laid by MIT’s Shaping the Future of Work Initiative. A public launch event is planned for the fall of 2025.

The Stone Center will be under the leadership of Daron Acemoglu, an Institute Professor, along with co-directors David Autor, the Daniel (1972) and Gail Rubinfeld Professor in Economics, and Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship. It will become part of a global network of 11 wealth inequality centers funded by the Stone Foundation, all dedicated to exploring the causes and effects of increasing wealth concentration.

Provost Cynthia Barnhart emphasized the importance of this gift, stating, “This generous gift from the Stone Foundation advances our pioneering economics research on inequality, technology, and the future of the workforce. This work will create a pipeline of scholars in this critical area of study, and it will help to inform the public and policymakers.”

The Shaping the Future of Work Initiative, originally established with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, focuses on applying economic research to promote a more equitable labor market, particularly for workers without a college education. The initiative addresses the decline in labor market opportunities for non-college workers, which has contributed to growing wealth inequality and reshaped the economy and society.

With the Stone Foundation’s support, the new center will broaden its research to include the relationship between technology and inequality, as well as the technology sector’s role in shaping future inequality.

Key objectives of the Stone Center include fostering collaboration among scholars studying automation, AI, the intersection of work and technology, and wealth inequality. This collaboration will span various disciplines within the Department of Economics, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. The center will also focus on developing emerging scholars in these fields and disseminating research findings to the public, students, and policymakers.

James M. Stone expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “Cathy and I are thrilled to welcome MIT to the growing family of Stone Centers dedicated to studying the urgent challenges of accelerating wealth inequality.”

Agustín Rayo, dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, highlighted the cross-disciplinary potential of the center, noting, “Not only will it enhance the cutting-edge work of MIT’s social scientists, but it will support cross-disciplinary interactions that will enable new insights and solutions to complex social challenges.”

Jonathan Gruber, chair of the Department of Economics, praised the initiative’s foresight, stating, “The initiative’s leaders have been far ahead of the curve in anticipating the rapid changes that technological forces are bringing to the labor market… The generosity of the Stone Foundation will allow them to continue this incredible work, while expanding their priorities to include other critical issues around inequality.”

Acemoglu, a Nobel laureate, added, “We hope to go beyond exploring the causes of inequality and the determinants of the availability of good jobs in the present and in the future, but also develop ideas about how society can shape both the work of the future and inequality by its choices of institutions and technological trajectories.”

Johnson emphasized the importance of the partnership, stating, “We look forward to working with all our colleagues, at MIT and around the world, to advance understanding and practical approaches to inequality and the future of work.”

Autor concluded, “This support will enable us — and many others — to focus our scholarship, teaching and public outreach towards shaping a labor market that offers opportunity, mobility, and economic security to a far broader set of people.”