Our productivity growth is collapsing: in 25 years, GDP per capita has become 1/3 lower than that of the US.
Three-quarters of this gap is explained by lower productivity.
The culprit = digitalization, without which the productivity growth of the two blocs would be identical.
Another major handicap: 60% of companies suffer significantly from energy prices, a major obstacle to investment, and consequently, they spend half as much as their American counterparts in the vital sector of Research.
We must develop a genuine long-term economic policy with TWO axes and ONLY TWO: invest massively in the sectors of digitalization (and AI, of course) + energy.
These absolute priorities are not at all incompatible with our levels of social protection, AND will also have the side effect of addressing the most important source of income inequality: unemployment.
Any increase in spending will naturally be self-financed – even in the short term – by focusing our public policies on these two major axes.
Also: fundamentally reform the status of the ECB.
Did you know that, while our central bank’s sole mandate is to combat inflation, the US Federal Reserve has TWO mandates: inflation, of course, but also – with equal priority – the promotion of growth.
This is what is known in jargon as the “dual mandate” and – believe me – it changes everything!
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