Overview

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 11 million SEK prize, with half to Joel Mokyr and the other half shared by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt.
• Mokyr was cited for identifying the historical and institutional conditions that make continuous technological progress possible, including the need for scientific understanding and openness to ideas.
• Aghion and Howitt were honored for formalizing the creative destruction mechanism in a 1992 model showing how new technologies replace old ones and propel long-run growth.
• The committee said conflicts from disruption must be managed constructively because incumbent firms and interest groups can otherwise block innovation, echoing chair John Hassler’s warning that growth is not guaranteed.
• Speaking at the announcement, Aghion urged Europe to learn from the United States and China on reconciling competition policy with targeted industrial policy in areas such as defense, climate, AI and biotech.