In this interview, Philippe Aghion, professor of economics at Harvard University, returns to the contributions of new economic theories of growth that he has helped develop since the late 1980s. He examines the role of the system and banking, state (budgetary, industrial and educational and research policies) and ecological innovations for growth. He also presents his recommendations to improve research policy in France and Europe.
Former pupil of the School Normale Supérieure de Cachan, doctor of economics in Paris 1 and in Harvard, Philippe Aghion is a member of the Economic Analysis Council (Cae), associate researcher in Bruegel, and was part of the Commission for the Liberation of French Growth, known as Attali Commission, whose report was rendered on January 23, 2008 to President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was recently charged by Minister Valérie Pécresse for a report on the university reform.
He first developed, with Peter Howitt, a theory of growth known as “ Schumpeterian Which emphasizes the importance of technological innovation. He then extended this theoretical framework to many areas, such as the impact of growth on inequalities, the analysis of credit constraints and financial liberalization, the role of education and investments in research. He is also a specialist in contract theory and organizational economics.
Summary of questions:
- You have contributed for twenty years to the renewal of economic theories of growth: how these theories have evolved since the start of your research ? (See the video)
- That these new models have brought to explain the differences in growth between countries and why growth is not necessarily a linear phenomenon ? (See the video)
- That exactly the credit constraints are and what influence do they have on growth ? (See the video)
- How to take into account financial factors and credit constraints in growth theories makes it possible to rethink the role of the State ? In times of recession, is the role of the State limited to a Keynesian policy of recovery of investment ? (See the video)
- Today we hear a lot talking about the need to reduce public deficits and the weight of the state when we are still in times of recession: what do you think of these decisions ? (See the video)
- What do you think would be a good education and research policy ? Are there examples to follow ? (See the video)
- Today the government policy which aims to bring back French universities in the “ Shanghai ranking »Partly based on the creation of large university poles. But prestigious foreign universities like Harvard where you teach are not so big: do you think that size is a decisive criterion for the success of universities ? (See the video)
- How, in the report you have submitted to Valérie Pécresse, do you think the insertion of the Grandes Ecoles in Universities ? What are the current bases and specificities of the French system which would allow good reforms, without bringing it to purely and simply to the Anglo-Saxon system ? (See the video)
- Your research shows that, contrary to a received idea in the economy, the growth and the preservation of the environment are not incompatible: to which the complementarity between the two ? In your opinion, a carbon market as defined in the Kyoto protocol is insufficient ? (See the video)
- Do you think that the diffusion of “ green technologies »Can also be favored by international trade ? (See the video)
- Europe does you think you will return to a structural growth rate greater than 2% within ten years ? (See the video)
Video: A. Williamson