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Profile Books bags Nobel Prize-winning economist’s latest in six-figure deal
Profile Books has acquired What Happened to Liberal Democracy? Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity by Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu.
Managing director Rebecca Gray and editorial director Izzy Everington acquired UK and British Commonwealth rights for six figures following an auction from Max Brockman at Brockman, Inc. The book will be published in August 2026.
The description reads: "The core promises of liberalism and liberal democracy were shared prosperity, democratic values and the free pursuit of knowledge. The liberal agenda flourished when it pursued these principles and faltered when it moved away from them. Today, it may seem as if liberal democracy is fundamentally broken."
"In his new book, Nobel prize-winning economist and co-author of Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu argues that it is not just possible, but it is imperative that we remake liberalism.
"The book charts the rise and fall of liberal democracy, in the process offering a new theory for why liberalism is the best framework for us to build a fair and prosperous society."
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Everington said: "Profile Books published Daron’s first book, Why Nations Fail, 13 years ago, which has sold over a million copies globally and become an enduring title in the political canon. It feels incredibly fitting to welcome him back to Profile with his most ambitious book yet. Daron’s work, which earned him a Nobel prize among many other accolades, has been at the forefront of identifying the reasons behind prosperity and paucity.
"In a time of growing political uncertainty, his new book gets to the heart of why a political ideology premised on delivering prosperity for all failed, and more importantly how it can be rebuilt to provide a better, more abundant future for all."
Acemoglu is an institute professor at MIT, faculty co-director of MIT’s Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and a research affiliate at MIT’s Blueprint Labs. He is the author of six books and has won several awards for his work, including the John Bates Clark Medal, the Nemmers Prize, the BBVA Frontiers Award and the Global Economy Prize. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024.
Acemoglu said: "It’s a tremendous honour for me to have an opportunity to work with Profile again, especially for this book, whose message I hope will resonate globally. The book explains how liberal democracy succeeded when it prioritized shared prosperity, community and self-governance, and how its current crisis started when it and liberal activists moved away from these principles.
"I hope the message of the book is timely, as we need to renew liberalism before anti-liberal and anti-democratic movements become completely dominant around the world."
