Nobel Prize winner in Economics Philippe Aghion calls for "stopping" pension reform until the presidential election

"I think we need to stop the clock now until the presidential elections. That is to say, we are at 62 years and 9 months, we stop at 62 years and 9 months until the presidential elections," he said, considering that "it's the way to calm things down" and that "it doesn't cost very much to stop."

"This doesn't mean that the reform is being scrapped," continued Philippe Aghion, who recalled that he had "always been in favor of a 63-year-old plus a review." "It means that if nothing happens, it will resume in 2027."

On Tuesday, the 2026 budget project will be presented to the Council of Ministers by Sébastien Lecornu, who was reappointed as Prime Minister on Friday and who opened the door to a debate on the suspension of the contested pension reform, demanded by the Socialist Party.

Philippe Aghion, interviewed by Léa Salamé, reiterated his disagreement with the Zucman tax.

"I think there needs to be an effort from high net worth individuals, but I don't want to affect the productive tool and I don't want to affect those who are seeking to innovate," Philippe Aghion defended.

However, he considered that there was an "abuse of family holding companies." "That needs to be addressed," he said.

The Nobel Prize was awarded for his Schumpeterian-inspired work on growth and innovation, developed with the Canadian Peter Howitt in the book "Theory of Endogenous Growth" (1998).

The other half of the prize went to Joel Mokyr, 79, "for identifying the preconditions for sustainable growth through technological progress."