Philippe Aghion received the Nobel Prize in Economics,  along with Israeli-American Joel Mokyr and Canadian Peter Howitt,  for his research on the “theory of sustainable growth through creative destruction,” more specifically for his studies on “the dynamics of aggregate growth and innovation achieved by heterogeneous firms.”

Philippe Aghion (ENS, PhD from Paris I University and Harvard University) was a research fellow at the CNRS and an economist at the EBRD. He was a member of the Economic Analysis Council (CAE) and the Commission for the Liberation of French Growth. He has taught at MIT, Oxford University, University College London, and Harvard University. He is currently a professor at the Collège de France, INSEAD, the London School of Economics, and the Paris School of Economics. He has written numerous scientific articles and books, as well as several official reports, notably for MEDEF (“growth spurt”) and for the government (“Our ambition for France”), reviewed below by the Turgot Club.

Since the 1990s, his research has focused on the issues of incentive mechanisms, bankruptcy, and governance. He then proposed the founding model of the endogenous growth theory known as Schumpeterian, based on technological innovation as a factor in the creative destruction of old ecosystems.  During the 2000s, he explored the relationships between competition, institutions, and growth. He established an inverted U-shaped relationship between competitive intensity and innovation. He showed that disruptive (or radical) innovations stimulate economic growth but widen social inequalities, particularly the gap between the incomes of the poorest and the richest. He revealed that these gaps can be partially bridged by greater professional, geographical, and social mobility among the working population, as well as by appropriate public policies, especially fiscal policies. Above all, he emphasized the importance of general and vocational training both as a stimulus for innovation and as a factor in reducing social inequalities.

Philippe Aghion has also studied the conditions conducive to economic take-off in developing countries. He shows that to overcome the “middle-income trap,” these countries must promote and stimulate endogenous innovation through appropriate training, stable institutions, effective competition, and an active stock market.  His latest work examines the effects on growth of process automation, artificial intelligence, and investments in environmental protection.

Jean-Jacques Pluchart

This book reproduces the official report of the Study Commission on Artificial Intelligence created by the government of Elisabeth Borne in September 2023. The Commission was tasked with presenting “operational, realistic, and ambitious proposals supported by a long-term, comprehensive, and objective vision.” AI is omnipresent in public debate, although it is not new. Alan Turing, the British mathematician and cryptologist considered to be its initiator, was already interested in 1950 in the ability of a machine to imitate conversation. However, generative AI, which appeared in 2022, represents a decisive turning point for this new technology. Through a written or oral dialogue interface with humans, the machine generates content in the form of text, images, sound, video, or code, opening up a field of possibilities for automation. This technological revolution, which has considerable potential for growth, affects all areas of activity and all social groups. Although Europe—and France in particular—has real strengths in AI, it seems to be suffering from a sense of powerlessness and technological decline, unlike China and the United States, which have made AI the cornerstone of their power strategy and the driving force behind their development.
The Aghion-Bouverot Commission has identified, detailed, and quantified 25 recommendations grouped into six major areas of structural action, considered essential if Europe and France wish to pursue a policy of deploying and harnessing the potential of AI; immediately launch an awareness and training plan; redirect savings towards innovation and create a “France & AI” fund; make France a major hub for computing power; facilitate access to personal data while respecting intellectual property rights; adopt the principle of an AI exception in public research; and finally, promote global governance of AI. The proposed plan represents an annual commitment of around €5 billion over the next five years, with 45% allocated to technological and industrial investment and 35% to the dissemination of AI in the economy. This represents an increase of around 0.3% in public spending, bearing in mind that the cost of inaction would be much higher and would put France at risk of historic decline.
Philippe Aghion is a professor at the Collège de France, INSEAD, and the London School of Economics. Anne Bouverot chairs the board of directors of the ENS and co-founded Abeona, which is working towards the development of responsible AI
Philippe Alezard