Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt win Nobel economics prize

The Nobel Prize in Economic for 2025 has been awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for their groundbreaking work on innovation and economic growth.  According to the Nobel committee, the three economists were recognised for explaining innovation-driven economic growth. Joel Mokyr has played a crucial role in identifying the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress, while Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt worked for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.  

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth” with one half to Mokyr… pic.twitter.com/ZRKq0Nz4g7

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 13, 2025

Joel Mokyr, a Dutch-Israeli-American economic historian at Northwestern University, used historical evidence to understand how societies moved from stagnation to self-sustaining economic growth. Philippe Aghion of the Collge de France and Peter Howitt of Brown University were honoured for developing the influential theory of creative destruction. Their 1992 paper presented a model showing how economic growth occurs through a cycle in which new innovations replace old technologies and products. 
The Nobel committee said the trio’s research has helped economists and policymakers better understand the roots of economic progress. Their ideas have influenced the governments to think about supporting innovation, regulating markets, and balancing the needs of old industries with the opportunities of new ones.