The 2015 OECD NERO Meeting in Paris

The topic of this year's NERO meeting, an annual conference of the leading economic research institutes organised by the OECD, was "Prospects and Policies for Reviving Long-Term Growth and Reducing Inequality". Karl Aiginger proposed a two-stage strategy for industrialised countries. Economic growth will decrease in the second half of the 21st century, a development supported by declining marginal utility of income. On the other hand, industrialised countries have to learn to attain welfare goals like employment, health, and redistribution directly and without relying on high growth.

Double recouping is necessary, meaning an absolute and radical reduction of emissions as well as reducing the reliance of employment and welfare on economic growth. However, in the next ten to twenty years, growth is necessary since unemployment is high and firms as well as governments are heavily indebted. The first stage should, however, not be business as usual, but investment in change, e.g. renewable energy, energy efficiency, and social investments.

Download Karl Aiginger's presentation