Economist Dambisa Moyo: CEOs must help maintain the consumer class as AI displaces workers

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  • In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady’s conversation with economist Dambisa Moyo.
  • The big leadership story: Trump dismisses oil price worries as they climb beyond $100 per barrel.
  • The markets: The oil price surge is triggering a harsh worldwide market downturn.
  • Plus: All latest updates and workplace discussions from .

Good morning. This day marks the 250th anniversary of Scottish economist Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, a cornerstone work of modern economics that motivated America’s founders to build an economy on free markets, equitable taxation, natural labor division, and a government committed to safeguarding the essential conditions for these principles. The timing resonates deeply during current U.S. economic challenges, wars, and tariffs.

On Friday, I interviewed Dambisa Moyo, a distinguished economist, author, and baroness following her 2022 life peer appointment to the U.K. House of Lords. She will deliver an address on Adam Smith today at the University of Edinburgh. (Viewing available at 2 p.m. ET)

“Repeatedly, Adam Smith has proven that free markets, liberated populations, and more robust capital markets collectively drive advancement,” Moyo states, referencing Smith’s prior work on moral sentiments to consider his perspective on today’s world. “He believed humanity would show greater empathy… he would judge that insufficient ethical consideration exists among business executives and citizens regarding inequality and societal costs.”

Moyo contends we are entering an era where technology might displace economics, just as economics previously displaced philosophy and religion, creating a reality where “governance will be technology-driven” and expansion could occur without employment. In contrast to OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla, who portrays an optimistic vision of universal prosperity in a recent interview with Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell, Moyo aligns with my apprehension that growth without jobs will harm society.

“I doubt that a society where individuals remain idle would provide aspirational fulfillment,” Moyo observes, noting nations where an excess of unemployed young men has already increased civil disorder, violence, substance abuse, and health problems.

From her perspective, the magnitude and velocity of AI-driven disruption is altering the equation for successful business operations. Similar to Henry Ford’s recognition that workers needed sufficient wealth to purchase his vehicles, corporate leaders must help maintain the consumer base through wages and purposeful work.

“If you wish to safeguard your operating permit, we are leaving behind an era where you could declare, ‘Tough luck, government, unemployment hit 20%—not my concern,'” Moyo explains, highlighting that a restricted tax base of few highly profitable companies and well-compensated employees erodes the policy-making foundation built on Smith’s principles of limited labor and capital.

Moyo’s guidance for executives: “You must begin considering, perhaps we could contribute slightly more through royalties or utility payments.” Consider workforce retraining, skill development, absorbing somewhat more of these expenses, thus evolving into more of a collaborative partner to preserve your operating license.

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