Eswar Prasad

So they go to emergency rooms rather than getting routine care.

The safety net really doesn't work for a significant share of the population.

And this is where I think the sense of unfairness comes into play because the government is, you know, reducing the tax burden on wealthier families, many of which do pay.

a significant amount of taxes, at least in absolute terms.

But at the same time, it is fraying the social safety net.

And measures we've seen taken over the last year or so have hurt the economically disadvantaged the most.

You know, there are inner city schools which are starved of resources.

There are, you know, homes in these neighborhoods where violence is sort of the norm for the kids.

So if you think about the kids in this country, you know, it is by many measures the richest country in the world, maybe not per capita, but in terms of aggregate income.

And we're just not taking care of those who are left out of all of the good things that we are seeing around us.

And this is the unfortunate reality.

This is an incredibly dynamic situation.

rich economy that is generating enormous resources, that is leading the world in many ways.

But if you go into the inner cities in any part of the US, it's a very different world out there.

Do you expect that AI will improve this situation or make it worse?

So I do have a discussion of technology in my book, Ed.

And as I mentioned, in the cheerful version of the book, I had thoughts about what forces would take us to a better place.

And I'm a technology optimist.

I mean, AI is doing wonderful things.

In the chapter on technologies, I also talk about digital currencies and social media, which have enormous power to bring us together.