Jacques Mistral
In partnership with the World Affairs Councils of America and Radio des cinq académies de l’Institut de France (Canal Académie)
Lecture as part of the Great Decisions program
The Speaker
Jacques Mistral is Professor of Economics, head of economic research at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales [French Institute for International Relations – IFRI] and a member of the Conseil d’Analyse Economique [Council for Economic Analysis] in the Prime Minister’s office in Paris. In 2008, he was elected President of the Political Economics Association – a society founded in Paris in 1846.
Jacques Mistral previously served as the Economic Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of France in the United States from August 27, 2001 to August 31, 2006. While in this position, he was invited to be a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, for the academic year 2005-2006.
Jacques Mistral was born on September 22, 1947 in Toulouse (south-western France). He attended France’s Ecole Polytechnique, and he holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Paris I (1977).
Before his Washington assignment, he was Special Adviser to then-Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Laurent Fabius, as well as a member of the French Council of Economic Advisers.
From 1992 to 2000, Jacques Mistral held various successive executive positions in the AXA Group, including CEO Axa Marine and Aviation, EVP Asian Operations, EVP Human Resources (France), EVP Finance (France). During this period, he also served as a member of the board of various Axa Companies (Hong Kong, Melbourne, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo)
From 1988 to 1991, Jacques Mistral served as Economic Adviser to then-Prime Minister Michel Rocard. Prior to holding that position, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the CEPREMAP (leading research center in Mathematical and Applied Economics).
Jacques Mistral has had a long teaching career, as a Professor of Economics at the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique [National School for Statistics and Economic Administration] (ENSAE) from 1974 to 1992, at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques [Institute for Political Studies] from 1982 to 1996 and at the Ecole Polytechnique from 1984 to 1994. He is the author of many articles in the fields of macroeconomics, economic policy and international economy. He serves as a member of the board of CEPII (leading research center in International Economics,) is an elected member of “Le Cercle des Economistes [Economists’ Circle – think tank]” and “Le Siècle [The Century, select think-tank-like club]”. His latest book, “La troisième révolution américaine” (The Third American Revolution) was awarded the 2008 prize for “best work in economics”, the 2008 prize for the most popular book among business school students and the 2009 prize awarded by the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques [Academy of Ethical and Political Science].
Lectures
America vs. the Challenge of China (lecture associated with the Great Decisions program) The unprecedented commercial and financial interdependence between China and America is so strong that the expression “ChinAmerica” has come into the language; what does this interdependence entail?
Of course the shared economic interests of the two countries are significant. But if they are obviously partners, America and China are just as obviously competitors and rivals in other respects.
China is an up-and-coming economic superpower; America is the hyper-power which is questioning its future. For the U.S., China is, above all, a challenge, and certainly not the first to face this country!
The path of future relations between the United States and China will undoubtedly be the most determining factor in the future of the planet. To outline an exact, precise view of this relationship, we need to examine strategy and economics simultaneously.
In America, China is on everyone’s mind, and not only with respect to issues of imports, outsourcing, and jobs. According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans believe that “China’s emergence as a superpower is a threat to world peace.”
At the same time, China has been deploying “soft power” arms, defined by Joseph Nye as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion.” This allows China to rapidly expand its regional influence which could reduce U.S. influence in the long run.
The two countries inevitably continue to hold divergent views on the way in which the world should be organized. Rather than attempting to increase bilateral cooperation to unattainable levels, it is probably preferable for the two partners and the rest of the world to concentrate on a more traditional multilateral approach.
The Crisis, the G20 and the Future of Globalization
For the past two decades, we have lived in the era of triumphal globalization. But the conjuncture of the gigantic financial crisis and a severe recession has shaken up the world order. What we have experienced is definitely behind us, but what does the future world hold in store?
First, we need to reflect on the origins of the financial crisis to avoid repeating history. Financial innovation, its use, and its supervision will be cast into doubt by such a reflection. Will the largest industrialized countries be able to reach agreement on the best technique to use in the future with maximum security for all, and the dynamism of the financial industry?
To this end, the G20 was an excellent initiative, and its major strong point is its very existence. There was no other way to confront together the difficult problems before us. The planet is heterogeneous, not yet multi-polar; it requires international economic coordination. After the first meetings of the G20, can new governance for the world economy see the light of day?
Myths and Realities in the Opposition between “Liberal America” and “Social Europe”
For the past two centuries, the market economy has registered its most striking success in the form of western capitalism. American and Europe have high standards of living, practice democracy, and respect the rule of law. But between America and continental Europe, we also note fundamental differences in social conditions. The operation of the job market, the extent of the welfare state, attitudes towards inequalities would almost suggest the existence of two different worlds.
For all of those who love America and much as Europe, or vice versa, it is important to answer the following questions: why are social benefits more or less extended to citizens? Where does the confidence in the corrective intervention of the government come from, and, on the contrary, the mistrust that “big government” inspires? Are we seeing a process of convergence after the onset of the crisis?
Taking the comparison one step further, we observe that the two social systems, different in their principles and operation, have long been faced with similar problems.
These problems have only increased during the financial crisis. On both sides of the Atlantic, for President Obama, just like his European counterparts, issues of reforming both the social and financial sectors continue to grow. Is the solution a rapprochement of the two models?
Is the Presidency of Barack Obama a “Third American Revolution”?
The start-date for today’s America is certainly the November 2008 election where results coming out of the polling stations clearly pointed to the belief that something was deeply rotten in the system.
The American ideal is that anyone who works hard and makes the right choices has a free ticket to the middle class, i.e. a good job, education for his or her children, health care, and a retirement plan for old age. But the beginning of the 21st century brought job insecurity, stagnation in wages, more restricted access to health care, increased costs for education, personal retirement plans in danger.
If we reread the history of the 20th century, a question comes to mind: will Barack Obama’s election appear in the future as a “third revolution”? Roosevelt’s election in the 1930s with the New Deal put an end to the disorder created by a capitalism which had already become too liberal, and then led to the adoption of civil rights. Reagan’s election, which restored playing the market and the dynamism of the economy, before the Bush-Cheney administration came along looking like a true counter-revolution.
The first year of President Obama’s term probably teaches us more about America than about the President himself. We can give him credit for not having committed any major gaffes in the face of a horrible situation, for having restored America’s image in the world, showed that he was seriously determined to find a “victorious” exit-strategy in Afghanistan. He has stabilized an economy which was in free-fall, and undertaken a fundamental structural reform, and been more successful in reaching this goal than any of his predecessors.
America is not satisfied with this assessment: the country is panicked at discovering its weaknesses and, faced with the huge problems at the moment, fumbling around trying to find a solution.
The U.S. is worried about China’s power: how should they react? The crisis has scared the country, but whom can they trust? Americans are afraid of insecurity, refuse to pay more in taxes, and reject government intervention. But the available choices cannot be put off indefinitely…
Links
http://www.canalacademie.com/Embarquez-pour-La-troisieme.html
http://www.cigionline.com/publications/2009/9/national-perspectives-global-leadership-france
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb7hju_interview-jacques-mistral_news
http://www.cfo-news.com/La-troisieme-revolution-americaine-10eme-Prix-du-Livre-d-Economie_a7547.html
http://www.ifri.org
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