Jean Pisani-Ferry
Jean Pisani-Ferry holds the Tommaso Padoa Schioppa chair of the European University Institute. He is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel, the European think tank, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute (Washington DC). He is also a professor of economics with Sciences Po (Paris).
He sits on the supervisory board of the French Caisse des Dépôts and serves as non-executive chair of I4CE, the French institute for climate economics.
Pisani-Ferry served from 2013 to 2016 as Commissioner-General of France Stratégie, the ideas lab of the French government. In 2017, he contributed to Emmanuel Macron’s presidential bid as the Director of programme and ideas of his campaign. He was from 2005 to 2013 the Founding Director of Bruegel, the Brussels-based economic think tank that he had contributed to create. Beforehand, he was Executive President of the French PM’s Council of Economic Analysis (2001-2002), Senior Economic Adviser to the French Minister of Finance (1997-2000), and Director of CEPII, the French institute for international economics (1992-1997).
Pisani-Ferry has taught at University Paris-Dauphine, École Polytechnique, École Centrale and the Free University of Brussels. His publications include numerous books and articles on economic policy and European policy issues. He has also been an active contributor to public debates with regular columns in Le Monde and for Project Syndicate.
Disclaimer of external interests
Featured work
Why Europe’s Franco-German Engine Is Stalling
Completing Europe’s banking union: economic requirements and legal conditions
This contribution analyses the deficiencies of the current framework and identifies possible responses, in line with three levels of reform ambition.
Europe’s Looming Energy Disaster
With winter fast approaching, the absence of common guidelines for national energy policies should be regarded as an economic emergency.
How to get the European Banking Union unstuck
Enlarging and deepening: giving substance to the European Political Community
The EPC would not be, and should not be, regarded as a substitute for EU accession, but should be designed to work as an accelerator.
How to make the EU Energy Platform an effective emergency tool
The platform could become an effective emergency tool to safeguard Europe’s gas supply, but policymakers need to address challenges to make it work.
Fiscal support and monetary vigilance: economic policy implications of the Russia-Ukraine war for the European Union
Policymakers must think coherently about the joint implications of their actions and avoid taking measures that contradict each other.
The economic policy consequences of the war
Whatever the duration of the war, its legacy will be long-lasting. It will shape Europe’s policy choices for the years and decades to come.
Greening Europe’s post-COVID-19 recovery
This Blueprint includes some of the Group’s most prominent voices on the different aspects of the multidimensional issue of green recovery.
The failure of global public health governance: a forensic analysis
In this Policy Contribution, we seek to understand the reasons for these failures of global collective action.
The Euro at 20
The euro’s advocates hoped that the single currency would deliver economic and financial integration, policy convergence, political amalgamation, and
The geopolitical conquest of economics
Although economics and geopolitics have never been completely separate domains, international economic relations were shaped for 70 years by their own
Global asymmetries strike back
This essay addresses an old question that international relations scholars view as fundamental, but which economists regard as secondary: that of asym
The end of globalisation as we know it
The tension between the unprecedented need for global collective action and a growing aspiration to rebuild political communities behind national bord
Is Bidenomics more than catch-up?
The Biden administration's promises to 'think big' and rebuild the country seem like a major historical departure from decades of policy orthodoxy.
Persistent COVID-19: Exploring potential economic implications
We see three main economic implications of a scenario of recurrent outbreaks: lasting border restrictions, repeated lockdowns and enduring effects on
The EU can’t separate climate policy from foreign policy
How to make the European Green Deal succeed.
Central banking’s brave new world
Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, central bankers have been busy developing new policy instruments to fight fires and ward off emerging threats. N
La dette : une obsession prématurée
Ce qui est malsain, avec la proposition d’annuler la dette, c’est le déni de réalité consistant à affirmer que l’Etat peut effacer une partie de ses e
The EU can’t separate climate policy from foreign policy
How to make the European Green Deal succeed.
The geopolitics of the European Green Deal
The Green Deal will redefine Europe’s global policy priorities; as such, it is a foreign policy development with profound geopolitical consequences
A Global Pandemic Alarm Bell
The appearance of new strains of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil has given the world no choice but to design and imple
Résilience : la nouvelle boussole
Pour surmonter le choc de la pandémie de Covid-19, l’économiste écarte, dans sa chronique, l’idée d’un repli protectionniste, mais suggère de passer d
Grading the big pandemic test
COVID-19 almost one year on, it is time to assess who passed the test, and who failed.
Globalisation needs rebuilding, not just repair
An attempt merely to restore the pre-Trump status quo would fail to address major challenges; the task ahead is one of rebuilding, rather than repair.
European Union recovery funds: strings attached, but not tied up in knots
Ensuring effective recovery spending is a high-stakes challenge for the European Union, with the potential for derailment because of fuzzy objectives
Trump’s International Economic Legacy
If Donald Trump loses the United States presidential election in November, he will ultimately be seen to have left little mark in many areas. But in t
Europe’s recovery gamble
Next Generation EU, was rightly hailed as a major breakthrough: never before had the EU borrowed to finance expenditures, let alone transfers to membe
Financing the European Union: New Context, New Responses
With the European Union for the first time taking on debt to help finance the economic recovery from the coronavirus, new resources are needed to fund
The Challenges of the Post-Pandemic Agenda
There is a growing possibility that the COVID-19 crisis will mark the end of the growth model born four decades ago with the Reagan-Thatcher revolutio
A new policy toolkit is needed as countries exit COVID-19 lockdowns
Most governments have taken measures to protect vulnerable workers and firms from the worst effects of the sudden drop in activity related to COVID-19
The message in the ruling
The German Constitutional Court's ruling on the ECB's asset purchase programme is open to much criticism but it can hardly be blamed for raising an im
Building a Post-Pandemic World Will Not Be Easy
Both the COVID-19 crisis and the climate crisis highlight the limits of humanity’s power over nature. But while both remind us that the Anthropocene e
Facts, not words: the EU role in the de-confinement phase
The EU should be modest, but not shy. As far as public health is concerned, it is not in the driving seat and there is no reason to pretend it should
Monetisation: do not panic
The extraordinary operations that are under way in most countries in response to the COVID-19 shock have raised fears that large-scale monetisation wi
Will the economic strategy work?
Because even thriving companies can be killed in a matter of weeks by a recession of the magnitude now confronting the world, advanced-economy governm
A Radical Way Out of the EU Budget Maze
It can be tempting to treat European budgetary discussions as a fairly inconsequential distributional game. But with the EU's role increasingly focuse
Britain faces a triple contradiction
If Boris Johnson can negotiate agreements that are better than the EU system, it would be a serious challenge for the 27
Explaining the triumph of Trump’s economic recklessness
The Trump administration’s economic policy is a strange cocktail: one part populist trade protectionism and industrial interventionism; one part class
The Green Deal is not just one of many EU projects, it is the new defining mission
The EU has already invested so much of its political capital into the green transition that a failure to deliver would severely damage its legitimacy.
Understanding populism
Political identity is a group stereotype. As no camp corresponds exactly to our expectations, we choose the one to which we are closest and which is a
Europe can take a bigger role in providing public goods
The EU should invest where it can deliver more value than member states acting alone.
A Primer on Developing European Public Goods: A report to Ministers Bruno Le Maire and Olaf Scholz
This report was prepared for the French and German Ministers of Finance.
Europe: en finir avec la politique en silos
Projetée dans un monde de rapport de force dont les principaux protagonistes ne séparent pas géopolitique et économie, l’UE va devoir conduire un chan
Thomas Piketty's New Book: Impressive Research, Problematic Solutions
Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century blended history, statistics, and theory. Capital and Ideology his new magnum opus, is long enough
How to ward off the next recession
Despite confident official pronouncements, the deteriorating state of the global economy is now high on the international policy agenda. The OECD rece
Questions to the High Representative and Vice-President-designate Josep Borrell
Josep Borrell, the incoming High Representative and Vice-President-designate must explain how von der Leyen’s ‘geopolitical Commission’ intends to ada
Competing Globally: Europe’s Debate Over Trade and Sovereignty
This blog is part of a series following the 2019 Bruegel annual meetings, which brought together nearly 1,000 participants for two days of policy deba
Collective action in a fragmented world
International collective action is in search of a new paradigm. It cannot rely anymore on global binding rules supported by universal institutions. Ne
Retraites : pour la clarté
L’économiste regrette, dans sa chronique au "Monde", que les tensions internes au gouvernement aient conduit à s’écarter de la stricte logique d’un sy
Dousing the Sovereignty Wildfire
In time, the current spat between French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro regarding the Amazon rainforest may be
How long is the head table?
An empirical assessment of concentration in global collective action
The Coming Clash Between Climate and Trade
The new leaders of the European Union, who have relentlessly championed open markets, will, ironically, likely trigger a conflict between climate pres
The threats to the European Union’s economic sovereignty
Memo to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The authors describe the current context and the increasing inte
Faut-il s’endetter pour le climat?
Jean Pisani-Ferry, soutient qu’il ne faut pas s’interdire de financer une partie du coût de la transition écologique par l’endettement.
Farewell, flat world
In the last 50 years, the most important economic development has been the diminishing income gap between the richer and poorer countries. Now, there
Redefining Europe’s economic sovereignty
This Policy Contribution delves into the position of the EU in the current global order. China and the United States increasingly trying to gain geopo
Europe’s citizens say they want a more political EU
The recent European Parliament election suggests that a growing share of European voters sees things differently from national governments. Whereas ci
L’euro sans l’Europe : un projet incohérent
Jean Pisani-Ferry constate que tous les grands partis ne remettent plus en cause l’euro. Il souligne néanmoins que trois vulnérabilités – économique,
When facts change, change the pact
“When facts change, I change my mind,” John Maynard Keynes famously said. With long-term interest rates currently near zero, the European Union should
Europe and the new imperialism
For decades, Europe has served as a steward of the post-war liberal order, ensuring that economic rules are enforced and that national ambitions are s
The case for green realism
The transition to a carbon-neutral economy is bound to make us worse off before it makes us better off, and the most vulnerable segments of society wi
The EU needs a Brexit endgame
Britain and the EU must try to preserve the longstanding economic, political, and security links and, despite the last 31 months spent arguing over Br
Fifty shades of yellow
Who are the Yellow Vests? What are the true roots of their uprising? And what do they want? Six weeks after they started rocking French politics and a
The great macro divergence
Global growth is expected to continue in 2019 and 2020, albeit at a slower pace. Forecasters are notoriously bad, however, at spotting macroeconomic t
Macroéconomie et gilets jaunes
Les analyses de la fronde des gilets jaunes ont surtout mis l’accent sur la répartition des revenus et des prélèvements entre catégories sociales et s
Euro area reform: An anatomy of the debate
A year ago, a group of 14 French and German economists joined forces with the aim of forging common proposals for euro area reforms. Their report gave
The global economy’s three games
In this column, Jean Pisani-Ferry portrays the current international economic and geopolitical order as increasingly reminiscent of chess. Three key p
Should we give up on global governance?
The pervasive gridlock affecting the traditional global governance approach calls into question the idea of broadening its scope beyond its core remit
One club does not fit all in Europe
In this column, Jean Pisani-Ferry argues how the EU can become a more effective global player, following the Policy Brief "One size does not fit all:
One size does not fit all: European integration by differentiation
The need for reform of the EU is increasingly urgent. The authors of this policy brief suggest a new governance model, combining a bare-bones EU with
Is Europe America’s Friend or Foe?
Since Donald Trump took office as US president, a new cottage industry in rational theories of his seemingly irrational behavior has developed. On one
Europe should avoid a no-deal Brexit
The UK government finally tabled a serious proposal for the country’s future relationship with the European Union (EU). The White Paper puts the ball
Ubu ou Machiavel?
L'administration Trump veut imposer une approche transactionnelle des relations économiques gouvernée par le rapport de force bilatéral en lieu et pla
Can Multilateralism Adapt?
Global governance requires rules, because flexibility and goodwill alone cannot tackle the hardest shared problems. With multilateralism under attack,
« Mieux vaudrait laisser les gouvernements libres de tenter les politiques de leur choix »
Les peuples ont le droit de faire des erreurs: Selon l’économiste Jean Pisani-Ferry, l’Union européenne doit accepter les aspirations légitimes à des
Mattarella’s line in the sand
The vital task confronting Europe is to reconcile citizens’ right to make radical choices with the need to ensure that decisions leading to constituti
La PAC n’est pas taboue
Dans cette chronique, l'auteur estime qu’une renationalisation graduelle de certaines politiques pourrait utilement contribuer à la nécessaire redéfin
The upheaval Italy needs
While Italy remains without a new government, it would be foolish to believe that a country where anti-system parties won 55% of the popular vote will
The Lesser Evil for the Eurozone
For three decades, the consensus within the European Commission and the European Central Bank on the need for market reforms and sound public finances
The EU’s Seven-Year Budget Itch
On February 23, EU members began negotiations on the bloc's multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. But, with all countries focusing on net bal
The International Economic Consequences of Mr. Trump
What has fundamentally changed with the Trump administration is not that it behaves more selfishly than its predecessors, but that it seems unconvince
Reconciling risk sharing with market discipline: A constructive approach to euro area reform
This publication proposes six reforms to improve the Eurozone’s financial stability, political cohesion, and potential for delivering prosperity.
A resilient Euro needs Franco-German compromise
In a piece signed by 15 leading French and German economists, Nicolas Véron lays out a path to a more sustainable Euro. Germany will need to accept so
Europe after Brexit: A proposal for a continental partnership
This paper leaves aside the issue of EU reform and focuses on the desirable EU-UK relationship after Brexit. The authors argue that none of the existi
Bruegel: an unlikely start-up
Bruegel was born out of an unusual openness to new ideas and an extraordinary coincidence of minds in the French and German Treasuries. The story of i
Bruegel year in review - 2013
EU-IMF assistance to euro area countries: an early assessment
This study provides an early evaluation of the assistance programmes implemented by the Troika in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The study assesses the
Europe’s Troika should grow up
In early 2010, a group of men (and a few women) in dark suits landed in Athens. They belonged to a global institution, the International Monetary Fund
Deleveraging and global growth
Paper based on the Asia Europe Economic Forum conference of 21-22 January 2013.
La voie étroite de l’intelligence budgétaire
Le débat sur l’austérité budgétaire a repris en Europe. Ce n’est pas étonnant.
EU-Korea Economic Exchange
Articles published during the Bruegel/Korea Institute of Finance project on ‘EU-Korea policy responses to the global financial and economic crisis and
An evaluation of the Troika's programmes in the euro area
Is the Euro Crisis Over?
Financial crises tend to start abruptly and end by surprise. Three years ago, the euro crisis began when Greece became a cause for concern among polic
Europe’s banks need to be recapitalised – now
Europe’s growth performance was disappointing before the financial crisis. It has been dismal since. Five years into the “great recession”, the r
Europe's growth problem (and what to do about it)
The issue: The European Union's pre-crisis growth performance was disappointingenough, but the performance has been even more dismal since theonset of
The Politics of Moral Hazard
It is an old and a never-ending contest. On one side are the moral-hazard scolds, claiming that one of the major responsibilities confronting policyma
Chypre : calculs, cafouillages et émotions
Une bonne intrigue combine classiquement le froid calcul des acteurs rationnels, la dose de cafouillage nécessaire au réalisme, et ce qu’il faut d’émo