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feigaobox10/ai-economics-reader

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

29HTMLAudience · generalComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A free bilingual e-book that rewrites a 2025 NBER economics workshop on transformative AI into a high-school-readable course with diagrams and study aids.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((AI Economics Reader))
    What It Does
      Explain NBER workshop
      Economics primer
      Study aids
      Diagrams
    Tech Stack
      HTML
      PDF
    Use Cases
      Self study
      Classroom material
      AI economics overview
    Audience
      Students
      General readers

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Read a beginner-friendly explanation of how transformative AI could reshape jobs, growth, and markets.

USE CASE 2

Use the built-in economics primer to learn core concepts like supply, demand, and comparative advantage from scratch.

USE CASE 3

Study the chapter summaries, key concept boxes, and reflection questions to prepare for a class or discussion.

USE CASE 4

Open the self-contained HTML or PDF version offline in English or Chinese.

What is it built with?

HTML

How does it compare?

feigaobox10/ai-economics-readerlcbuaaliu/ai-jian-kouboakisato57/aki-bangumi-vault
Stars292930
LanguageHTMLHTMLHTML
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity1/53/52/5
Audiencegeneralvibe codergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Self-contained HTML pages open directly in a browser with no internet connection needed, PDF versions also included.

You can share or adapt the content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the source and share your version under the same license.

In plain English

This repository contains a free e-book titled "The Economics of Transformative AI: A Reader," available in both English and Chinese. It was written to explain a September 2025 academic workshop hosted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, where leading economists gathered to discuss a single question: if AI becomes capable of doing most human mental work, how does the economy change? The original workshop talks were dense and aimed at fellow economists, so this project rewrites all 17 of them into a single course that a high-school reader can follow. The book is split into four parts. The first covers how AI affects the value of knowledge and what it means for firms and research. The second looks at economic growth, jobs, and what place people might have in an AI-heavy world. The third covers markets, AI agents acting on behalf of people, and how competition might shift. The fourth addresses government finances, the cost of reducing AI-related risks, and the challenge of measuring AI's impact in official statistics. Before the main chapters, the book includes a short economics primer that builds up core ideas from scratch: supply and demand, production functions, comparative advantage, labor share of income, and similar concepts. Each chapter then adds study aids, including a summary, a key concept box, and open-ended questions for reflection. Twelve hand-built diagrams illustrate ideas like the productivity curve over time and how labor's share of income could trend toward zero. The files are self-contained HTML pages that open directly in any browser without needing an internet connection, plus PDF versions for printing. Both languages are included in the same repository. The project is unofficial and not endorsed by the NBER or any of the speakers whose talks it adapts. The authors are transparent about this and recommend checking original published papers for anything that needs to be cited. The license is Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0, meaning anyone can share or adapt the writing and diagrams for non-commercial purposes as long as they credit the source and share under the same terms.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Summarize the four parts of the Economics of Transformative AI reader in plain language.
Prompt 2
Quiz me on the economics primer chapter using the reflection questions in this book.
Prompt 3
Explain the diagram about labor's share of income trending toward zero from this reader.
Prompt 4
What does this book say about how AI agents might change competition in markets?

Frequently asked questions

What is ai-economics-reader?

A free bilingual e-book that rewrites a 2025 NBER economics workshop on transformative AI into a high-school-readable course with diagrams and study aids.

What language is ai-economics-reader written in?

Mainly HTML. The stack also includes HTML.

What license does ai-economics-reader use?

You can share or adapt the content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the source and share your version under the same license.

How hard is ai-economics-reader to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is ai-economics-reader for?

Mainly general.

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