Annual Henry George Lecture Set for October 30
Philippe Aghion, Ph.D., the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University, will discuss “What Do We Learn from Schumpeterian Growth Theory” at The University of Scranton’s Henry George Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the McIlhenny Ballroom on the fourth floor of the DeNaples Center on campus.
Austrian-born economist Joseph Schumpeter, who was a professor of economics at Harvard University from 1932 to 1949, argued that capitalism exists in the state of “creative destruction,” with spurts of innovation destroying established enterprises and yielding new ones. Schumpeterian growth theory has operationalized Schumpeter’s notion of creative destruction by developing models that illuminate aspects of the growth process not properly addressed by alternative theories.
Dr. Aghion’s research focuses on the economics of growth. He co-pioneered the Schumpeterian growth paradigm, which was subsequently used to analyze the design of growth policies and the role of the state in the growth process. A worldwide lecturer and prolific writer, he has published nearly 100 papers on various economic topics and a dozen books mainly on the subject of economic growth.
A fellow of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Aghion has received the following awards and honors: John Von Neumann Award (2009), Schumpeter Prize of the International Schumpeter Society (2006), Medaille d’Argent du CNRS (2006), Honorary Doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics (2005), Yrjo Jahnsson Award of the European Economic Association (2001), Prix de la Revue Francaise d’Economie (2001) and Medaille de Bronze du CNRS (1995). Born in Paris, France, he received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1987.
The Henry George Lecture Series is organized by the Economics and Finance Department at The University of Scranton and the campus chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society for economics. The series is funded by a grant from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, which was established in 1925 to propagate the ideas of the 19th century economist and social reformer Henry George as set forth in his book “Progress and Poverty” and other works.
The Henry George Lecture Series is the preeminent public lecture series in economics in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The list of distinguished speakers at previous lectures includes nine winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics: Robert Shiller (2013), Tom Sargent (2011), Peter Diamond (2010), Paul Krugman (2008), Joseph Stiglitz (2001), George Akerlof (2001), Amartya Sen (1998), Robert Lucas (1995) and Robert Solow (1987).
For additional information about the Henry George Lecture, contact The University of Scranton, Department of Economics and Finance at (570) 941-4048.