James A. Robinson is a political scientist and economist and the Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies and University Professor at the University of Chicago. They are the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, which won numerous prizes.

DARON ACEMOGLU is Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, researching the historical origins of prosperity, poverty, and the effects of new technologies on economic growth, employment, and inequality.

He is the recipient of several awards and honours, including the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to economists under forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge (2005); the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in economics, finance, and management for his lifetime contributions (2016), and the Kiel Institute's Global Economy Prize in economics (2019). He is the co-author (with James Robinson) of The Narrow Corridor and the New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail.