Shaping tomorrow's world: economics

In an ever more complex and fast-changing world, numerous questions arise as to the future orientation of countries' economic policies, including France's. The work done by economics researchers is therefore taking on increasing importance and serving to inform the decisions taken by politicians. The work done by the researchers at X's Center for Research in Economics and Statistics is part of that dynamic and is contributing to a better understanding of the mechanisms that govern different aspects of the economy, but also to identifying areas where improvements can be made to the benefit of our society. The work done by Pierre Boyer, an economist at X's Center for Research in Economics and Statistics, concerns the political determinants of income tax reforms. His research is opening the way to practical applications that should provide a better understanding of the decisive factors behind changes to income tax since it was introduced in France in 1914 and explain the different developments. Other work being done includes that of Isabelle Méjean, a researcher at the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics, who uses microeconomic data, in particular corporate tax returns, to get a better understanding of macroeconomic trends. For her research, the economist starts with databases on French companies, identifies a certain number of factors such as size or presence on international markets and studies the impact of this diversity on the macroeconomic equilibrium. She has shown, based on tax data, that microeconomic shocks in companies contribute to fluctuations in French GDP. As for the research of Edouard Challe, Associate Professor at the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics at École Polytechnique, it concerns precautionary saving and the way households react when confronted with uncertainty about their future, such as the risk of unemployment. Households save rather than consuming, and this mechanism contributes to falling demand, aggravates economic crises and influences the way budgetary and monetary policies work. The researcher's work concerns the construction of macroeconomic models integrating changes in precautionary saving and shows that non-conventional economic policies can be necessary to restart economic activity and break the spiral of precautionary saving.