What has the Nobel Prize in Economics changed for Esther Duflo and Jean Tirole?

It is a mathematical coincidence that befits the discipline: France has won four Nobel Prizes in Economics and each time, they came in pairs, five years apart.

There was Gérard Debreu in 1983 and Maurice Allais in 1988 then it was not until a quarter of a century before a new pair: Jean Tirole in 2014 and Esther Duflo in 2019. Monday, we will know if a Frenchman is able to break this "law. "statistics when the new winner was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The opportunity to reflect on what has become of Jean Tirole and Esther Duflo and to see what the Nobel Prize has changed for them.

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Esther Duflo: a book, reviews and a return to France

Let's start with the more recent of the two: Esther Duflo.

The youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, which she received at 46, the Franco-American has not rested for a year.

She continued to teach at the prestigious MIT, with her Academy Award-winning husband Abhijit Banerjee.

What has changed for her?

"Everyone wants to have our opinion on what will happen with the Covid crisis", she explained to the 

 in May.

At the same time, Esther Duflo, a specialist in development and poverty issues, published a new book, the first for eight years: 

, again with Abhijit Banerjee.

Esther Duflo also took a gap year at MIT to come and teach in France with her husband, a first.

She accepted a position as guest professor at the École normale supérieure, within the PSL-Paris Sciences et Lettres university cluster.

She will carry out research work and courses for students simultaneously.

"The presence of Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee within our teaching and research community is a tremendous opportunity for our institution, students and researchers", said Jean-Olivier Hairault, director of the Paris School of Economics, to which the Nobel Prize will be attached.

INTERVIEW >>

Esther Duflo, Nobel Prize for Economics: "It is the work of a whole movement that is rewarded"

Rather stingy with media outings, Esther Duflo had nevertheless tackled Emmanuel Macron in the

.

"In my opinion, the ISF should not have been removed. If there is a possibility of reestablishing it, let's do it," she said.

"It is a tool that does not strike me as revolutionary or radical. Although I recognize that it would not solve all the problems in the world […] it would reduce inequalities."

Lately, she pleaded, in a column published in 

, for a preventive containment before Christmas, in order to save the holiday season. 

Jean Tirole: loyalty to Toulouse and work for Emmanuel Macron

Jean Tirole has a little more perspective on his Nobel Prize, received in 2014. At the time, he said he wanted not to change too much.

Apart from a few courses given abroad, notably at MIT, he therefore stayed in France, at the Toulouse School of Economics, of which he is the honorary president, and where he continues to teach.

"He is very attentive to young people and students", praises Stéphane Gregoir, dean of the "TSE".

"He is always present for doctoral level courses, for fairly specific things. But he has agreed to give undergraduate and masters courses, open to all students, to present major economic issues."

Publicly, Jean Tirole regularly comments on the government's economic policy and shares his views on the world situation.

"We need less short-termism, consider the future rather than consuming. We can see it on the climate for example. We must change mentalities," he said on Europe 1 at the start of the coronavirus crisis.

The Nobel Prize winner, who looks favorably on Emmanuel Macron's action, has been leading a group of 26 economists installed by the Head of State since May to reflect on three "major challenges": the climate, inequalities and demographics.

This commission will report back to the government in December with the aim of presenting concrete measures.