Overview

• Joel Mokyr received half the 2025 award for identifying conditions for sustained growth through technological progress, while Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt shared the other half for formalizing growth via creative destruction.
• The Royal Swedish Academy said sustained growth cannot be taken for granted, and prize committee chair John Hassler urged defending the mechanisms that enable creative destruction to avoid stagnation.
• Aghion warned that deglobalization and tariffs are obstacles to growth because larger markets foster idea exchange, technology transfer and healthy competition.
• Howitt criticized President Donald Trump’s tariff policies for reducing the scale effect that supports innovation and said artificial intelligence should be regulated due to its potential to displace jobs.
• Opinion coverage applied the laureates’ framework to current debates, with El Economista arguing minimum‑wage hikes can purge low‑productivity firms and La Voz del Interior highlighting Argentina’s bureaucratic and political barriers to technological adoption.