Twenty-five Nobel Prize winners on Tuesday denounced the "anti-European" and "protectionist" programs of certain presidential candidates, including Marine Le Pen, cautioning against a possible "destabilisation" of France and Europe in a forum published by Le Monde. "Some of us were cited by candidates in the French presidential election, notably by Marine le Pen and her teams, to justify a political program on the question of Europe", wrote the 25 economists, among whom were the American Robert Solow (Nobel Prize in 1987), the Indian Amartya Sen (1998) and the French Jean Tirole (2014).
Despite "different positions" on the "monetary union and stimulus policies", "our opinions converge to condemn this instrumentalisation of economic thinking" added the signatories, who judge the European construction as "crucial" to maintain the economic progress of EU members.
Among the 25 signatories were liberal economists as well as others more critical of globalisation and the euro, like the American Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in 2011, regularly quoted by the candidate of the National Front.
"The changes proposed by the anti-European programs would destabilise France and call into question cooperation between European countries, which now ensures economic and political stability in Europe", the 25 signatories wrote in their forum.
"Isolationist and protectionist policies and competitive devaluations, all carried out to the detriment of other countries, are dangerous methods of trying to generate growth" and "will prove detrimental to France and its trading partners", they added.
The 25 Nobel Prize winners have also taken up the cause of immigration, which is disapproved of by the candidate of the FN (National Front). "When they are well integrated into the labour market, migrants can be an economic opportunity for the host country", they say.
The Brussels Times
