Sustainability & Society
Geopolitics & Public Affairs
- Inequality sharply increases mental health problems and anxiety, while fuelling burnout and social distrust.
- Economic insecurity undermines life expectancy and drives self-destructive behaviours.
- Beyond a certain point, growth becomes counterproductive.
- Meritocracy produces structural injustices and weakens collective well-being.
- Diverse life paths must be valued in order to improve decision-making, strengthen collective action and restore meaning.
Invited by HEC Paris’s Purpose Center for the back-to-school conference for first-year students in the Grande École program, Olivier De Schutter explores three pillars of our societies: growth, inequality and meritocracy.
Olivier De Schutter is the author of the widely noted 2024 report: “The Burnout Economy: Poverty and Mental Health”.
At a time when mental health, social cohesion and the ecological transition are increasingly shaping public debate, he shows why GDP growth is no longer enough to improve collective well-being.
His talk connects economics, social justice and lived experience, from elites to the most vulnerable. It gives audiences a clear framework for understanding why diversity, solidarity and a plurality of life paths have become central to decision-making.
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Innovation & Entrepreneurship