Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2025

Summary

Navigate to: Summary- Joel Mokyr- Philippe Aghion- Peter Howitt Prize announcement Press release Popular information Advanced information Popular science background: From stagnation to sustained growth (pdf)Populärvetenskaplig information: Från stagnation till stadig tillväxt (pdf) From stagnation to sustained growth Over the past 200 years, the world has witnessed more economic growth than ever before. Its foundation is the constant flow of technological innovation; sustained economic growth occurs when new technologies replace old ones as part of the process known as creative destruction. This year’s laureates in economic sciences explain, using different methods, why this development was pos­sible and what is necessary for continued growth. For most of humankind’s history, living standards did not change considerably from one generation to the next, despite sporadic important discoveries. These sometimes led to improved quality of life, but growth always stopped eventually. This was fundamentally changed by the Industrial Revolution, which occurred a little more than two centuries ago. Starting in Britain, and then progressing to other countries, technological innovation and scientific progress resulted in a never-ending cycle of innovation and progress, rather than isolated events. This led to sustained and remarkably stable growth. This year’s prize relates to the explanations for sustained growth based on technological innovation. Economic historian Joel Mokyr is rewarded with one half of the prize for his description of the mecha­nisms that enable scientific breakthroughs and practical applications to enhance each other and create a self-generating process, leading to sustained economic growth. Because this is a process that challenges prevailing interests, he also demonstrates the importance of a society that is open to new ideas and permits change. Figure 1. New innovations build upon, and take over from, previous innovations due to creative destruction. Th...