SGBL and the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) celebrated the 50th management breakfast, on the theme: “Global Economy: Return of Economic Growth or Sustainable Lethargy?” moderated by Mr. Jean-Marc Daniel, professor at ESCP Europe and the ESA. On this occasion, SGBL and ESA gathered over sixty regular breakfast participants in a friendly and relaxed setting in the multipurpose room of the Villa Rose at the ESA campus.
Launched in 2010, these monthly morning meetings aim at gathering ESA graduates and students and SGBL guests, serving as a platform for professional meetings between graduates and students, but also with businessmen and the media.
In his welcome address, ESA Director General Mr. Stéphane Attali indicated that these breakfasts have become a highly-anticipated monthly rendezvous and a platform for exchanges between professionals, ESA alumni and students. Mr. Philippe Dubois, Deputy CEO of SGBL, then declared that these breakfasts are the result of a fourteen-year partnership between the ESA and SGBL. He added: “This fruitful collaboration between our two institutions has increased cultural and human exchanges, and the transfer of expertise between the business world and the world of education and training,” expressing SGBL’s pleasure to work with ESA on a daily basis.
In keeping with tradition, Attali and Dubois then cut the cake bearing the colors of ESA and SGBL.
Mr. Jean-Marc Daniel then took the floor to address the sustainability of growth in Europe and the United States. “As developed economies are cyclical, we address the most positive phase of the cycle, that is even more favorable since it is accompanied by an oil counter-shock,” said Mr. Daniel.
He added that the analysis of the world economy requires overcoming the finding of this cyclical upturn, to anticipate long-term growth.
Long-term growth tends to wane, including in emerging markets, namely in the BRIC countries. The world economy is undergoing a transformation driven by new information technologies, profoundly altering the nature and therefore the extent of growth. Such technologies promote exchanges and the contacts between economic actors. This translates into increased competition and the organization of work that depends less on wage labor and more on contracts.
In this context, Mr. Daniel concluded that future economic policy should not be restricted to monetary policy, but should be based on three pillars: a fiscal policy of debt reduction; a policy of widespread competitiveness backed by new technologies, including in areas that directly depend on the State such as health or education; a policy of truth to encourage populations to adhere to the two preceding items.
Participants, delighted to take part in the discussion, then engaged in lively exchanges.
At the end, all guests received their souvenir photo and a gift from SGBL. They promised to meet again in November and thanked the organizers for their consistency, the variety of topics and the superiority of invited speakers.