Francesco Grigoli

With all my admiration for Philippe Aghion’s work on the importance of innovation (what he has done with Peter Howitt in the 1990s and what he does these days with his collaborators at the College de France is essential theoretical and empirical work), a caveat. An economy can grow without being at the frontier. Indeed, most economies in the world are not at the frontier. And most have experienced substantial growth. More important than being at the frontier, is to be able to use these new technologies in the rest of the economy. This puts the focus on other aspects, the organization of the labor market, bankruptcy codes, a new type of education, etc. Less exciting project than new AI centers, but probably more important. An analogy. It is nice to be ahead during a bicycle race. But it is easier to be just behind, protected from the wind by the racer who is ahead. One ends up second, but still with an impressive time. If Europe can be first, then all means let us try. If not, let’s make sure we are a close second.