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🇸🇪 Sweden /Economy & Trade

Nobel Laureate Philippe Aghion: “Olof Palme Changed My Life”

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Nobel-winning economist Philippe Aghion says Europe has fallen behind the United States in productivity and has failed to implement enough breakthrough innovation.
  • He argues that Europe must invest more and retain its talent to narrow the growing gap with the United States and China.
  • Aghion says he remains hopeful about Europe and presents his criticism as a call to make better use of the continent’s institutional strengths.

Philippe Aghion’s world-famous research has made him one of Europe’s most sought-after economists, but his daily life remains concentrated within a few blocks of Paris’s Saint-Michel district. He works at the Collège de France, where his research on growth and innovation earned the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel last year, jointly with Joel Mokyr and Peter Howitt.

Meeting during another heat wave, Aghion speaks about Europe with both confidence and alarm. His new book, “The Power of Creative Destruction: How Innovation and Prosperity Are Created,” argues that the continent must change course if it is to avoid falling hopelessly behind the United States and China.

Europe must invest much more. We are facing relative decline compared with both the United States and China.

· Philippe AghionHe explains why Europe needs stronger investment in innovation.

“Europe must invest much more,” he says. In recent decades, he argues, Europe has failed to put breakthrough innovations into practice. Productivity has declined relative to the United States, while the gap with China has narrowed.

My criticism comes from someone who loves Europe, believes in European institutions and wants Europe to succeed.

· Philippe AghionHe distinguishes his warnings about Europe from pessimism.

Aghion rejects the idea that his criticism makes him a pessimist. He says Europe has strengths that could prove invaluable, provided they are used properly. His research has attracted supporters on both the right and left. In France, he has advised President Emmanuel Macron and former Socialist President François Hollande. Johan Norberg, a market-liberal Swedish commentator, wrote the foreword to the Swedish edition of his book.

The Nobel prize has brought invitations from universities, politicians, heads of state and international institutions. Aghion welcomes the opportunity to meet decision-makers who can apply his ideas about innovation and dynamic economies, but says the attention has left him with too little time for research. He gives particular importance to discussions with Mario Draghi, the Italian economist and former prime minister.

The prize is a real recognition and a great relief for my research colleagues. But for me, research is like a drug. I need research.

· Philippe AghionHe describes the effect of the Nobel recognition on his work and schedule.
About this summary

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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