French Nobel Prize winner in economics Philippe Aghion pleaded on Monday evening on France 2 to suspend the pension reform until the 2027 presidential elections. He suggests halting the gradual increase in retirement age at 62 years and 9 months to ease tensions. This statement comes as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has opened the door to debate on suspending the contested reform.
Philippe Aghion, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his work on growth and innovation in collaboration with Canadian Peter Howitt, appeared on France 2's evening news on Monday. Questioned about the 2023 pension reform under former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne's government, he urged halting its implementation until the 2027 presidential elections.
« I think we need to stop the clock now until the presidential elections. That is, we are at 62 years and 9 months, we stop at 62 years and 9 months until the presidential elections », he stated. According to him, this measure « is the way to calm things » and « it doesn't cost much to stop ». Aghion clarified that it would not mean abolishing the reform, of which he has always been supportive in the form of a retirement age of 63 with periodic review. « It means that if nothing happens, it resumes in 2027 », he added.
This stance comes amid heightened political tension. On Tuesday, the 2026 budget draft is to be presented to the Council of Ministers by Sébastien Lecornu, reinstated as Prime Minister on Friday. Lecornu has recently opened the door to debate on suspending the reform, a demand reiterated by the Socialist Party (PS), which threatens to censure the government if it is not paused.
Aghion also touched on fiscal issues, criticizing abuses of family holdings that he believes should be targeted, while defending innovation and productive tools against taxes like that proposed by Gabriel Zucman. The other half of the Nobel went to American Joel Mokyr for his analyses on the conditions for sustainable growth through technological progress.