Over 200 Economists Call for Immediate AI Policy Action

A group of more than 200 leading economists and researchers issued an urgent call on Monday, July 13, 2026, for governments and technology leaders to immediately develop policies and institutions to manage the accelerating economic disruption caused by artificial intelligence. The joint statement, titled "We Must Act Now," warns that AI could drive an economic transformation larger than the Industrial Revolution but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame, posing significant risks including large-scale job displacement.

The signatories include 15 Nobel laureates, such as Michael Spence, Daron Acemoglu, and Simon Johnson, alongside prominent figures from leading AI companies. These include OpenAI's finance chief Sarah Friar, Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, and the chief economists of both OpenAI and Anthropic. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla also signed the document.

The statement argues that while AI presents opportunities for major gains in living standards and a multi-trillion-dollar boost to global GDP through unprecedented productivity growth, societies may have only a few years to adapt. The...