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The Economics of Creative Destruction


A festschrift symposium in honor of Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, organised by Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen.

9-12 June 2021


In 1992, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt published "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction". To honour the 30th anniversary of this publication, Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen organised a four-day zoom seminar, followed up by a book edited at Harvard University Press: "The Economics of Creative Destruction".

More than a hundred renowned economists presented and exchanged ideas about how the creative destruction framework offers a fresh lens to think about questions such as:

  • What are the effects of creative destruction on employment and health?
  • Why did we observed a growth decline despite the IT and AI revolutions?
  • How does creative destruction interacts with competition and trade?
  • How can we explain and tackle inequalities to make growth more inclusive?
  • How can we reconcile growth with the environment, especially the challenge of climate change?
  • How should we finance and organize the innovation ecosystem to favor creative destruction?
  • How to regulate modern capitalism?

Find out more in the Economics of Creative Destruction website.


View the recordings of the conference presentations below: