Setting the Scene - 2026 Competition Open Day opens with Philippe Aghion

This video is a replay of the 2026 OECD Competition Open Day opening session featuring Nobel Prize–winning economist Philippe Aghion and opening remarks by Mathias Cormann (OECD Secretary-General) and Carmine Di Noia (Director, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs).

In his intervention, Nobel Prize–winning economist Philippe Aghion explores the central role of innovation and “creative destruction” in driving long‑term economic growth. Drawing on the Schumpeterian growth paradigm he helped formalise, Aghion explains how long-run growth is driven by a cumulative process of innovation with new technologies and firms replacing older ones, why competition is essential to sustaining innovation, and how countries must transition from imitation‑based catch‑up to frontier‑level innovation to avoid stagnation. He emphasises the need for strong institutions—education, research investment, flexible labour markets, and modernised competition policy—to ensure that technological progress remains both dynamic and socially inclusive.

The OECD Competition Open Day offers every year a unique opportunity to discuss cutting-edge topics recently addressed by the OECD Competition Committee.  The 2026 edition was held on 4  March and explore AI across the stack, efficiencies in merger control, banking in the age of digitalisation and remedy design.