Simon and Gary tackle the history of immigration in the U.S. and think about what lessons from the past can be applied to today.

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Economic Consequences of the Second Trump Administration, which Simon and Gary co-edited, can be found here.

Host bios:

Gary Gensler is Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management as well as of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and former Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, U.S. Treasury Department. With broad experience in the private sector, advising political leadership, and running policymaking agencies, Gary has been teaching at MIT’s Sloan School of Management since 2017. Gary also coauthored a book presenting common-sense investing advice for everyday Americans, The Great Mutual Fund Trap, (Broadway Books, 2002).

Simon Johnson was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund in the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis (2007-08) and is the long-time head of the Global Economics and Management Group at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Best selling author of 13 Bankers, Jump-Starting America, and Power and Progress. In 2024, for his work on “institutions and economic growth,” Simon was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Simon also previously co-founded and ran a successful blog, BaselineScenario, which discussed developments in the global economic and financial system. In 2025, the British government appointed him as an “AI Ambassador”. At MIT, Simon co-directs the Stone Center for Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work.