Major future economic challenges - June 2021

Responding to the global challenges facing our societies requires new analytical frameworks and the emergence of new ideas, especially in the aftermath of the global health crisis. The President of the Republic asked Olivier Blanchard, Professor Emeritus at MIT, and Jean Tirole, Honorary President of the Toulouse School of Economics, to chair a commission of renowned international experts, supported by France Strategie. The committee focused on three long-term structural challenges: climate change, economic inequality and demographic change. Their work led to the production of a detailed report on these three challenges. 1 - Climate change: time to act. The work of the IPCC has highlighted the role of human activities in climate change and the importance of acting now to limit the rise in temperatures to less than 2 deg. C compared to the pre-industrial era. With this objective in mind, and following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, France has set itself the objective of being carbon neutral by 2050. By committing today to ambitious policies and setting clear and credible milestones, France and Europe can play a leading role in international climate action. The commission, led by Mar Reguant, Associate Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, Illinois, and Christian Gollier, Professor and Director General of the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), presented an analytical framework and proposals to accelerate the achievement of these goals. 2 - Economic inequality and insecurity: measures for an inclusive economy. Equal opportunities, social protection, fair and efficient tax and social redistribution... Even if France is in a better position than most other countries, in order to ensure that economic opportunities benefit as many people as possible and are fairly distributed, France must act on several fronts and at different stages of people's economic lives. The commission, led by Stefanie Stantcheva, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and Dani Rodrik, Professor of Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, makes the case and sets out a framework for good policy. 3 - Facing demographic change: ageing, health and immigration. Ageing implies finding a fair and efficient balance between periods of employment and retirement. To achieve this, it is necessary to modernise the pension system, but also to support older people in their activities. This includes strengthening vocational training and the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Axel Boersch-Supan, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich, Claudia Diehl, Professor at the Munk School of the University of Konstanz, and Carol Propper, Professor of Economics at the Imperial College Business School in London, have examined the facts and their perception before drawing up a series of recommendations