Nobel economics prize goes to 3 researchers for explaining innovation-driven economic growth

By KOSTYA MANENKOV and MIKE CORDER Associated Press STOCKHOLM AP Joel Mokyr Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt won the Nobel memorial prize in economics Monday for their research into the impact of innovation on economic improvement and how new technologies replace older ones a key economic concept known as creative destruction The winners represent contrasting but complementary approaches to economics Mokyr is an economic historian who delved into long-term trends using historical sources while Howitt and Aghion relied on mathematics to explain how creative destruction works Professor John Hassler from left Hans Ellegren Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences and Professor Kerstin Enflo announce Joel Mokyr Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt as the recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm Sweden Monday Oct Anders Wiklund TT News Agency via AP Dutch-born Mokyr is from Northwestern University Aghion from the Coll ge de France and the London School of Economics and Canadian-born Howitt from Brown University Mokyr was still trying to get his morning coffee when he was reached on the phone by an AP reporter and disclosed he was shocked to win the prize People dependably say this but in this episode I am being truthful I had no clue that anything like this was going to happen he disclosed His students had required him about the possibility he would win the Nobel he mentioned I advised them that I was more likely to be elected Pope than to win the Nobel Prize in economics and I am Jewish by the way Mokyr will turn next summer but commented he has no plans to retire This is the type of job that I dreamed about my entire life he declared Aghion explained he was shocked by the honor I can t find the words to express what I feel he declared by phone to the press conference in Stockholm He explained he would invest his prize money in his research laboratory Related Articles In the modern day in History October Hedge fund billionaire sentenced in insider-trading incident Living hostages and Palestinian prisoners are disclosed as part of ceasefire in Gaza Trump mulls Tomahawks for Ukraine Trump sets off for the Mideast to mark a ceasefire deal and urge Arab leaders to seize the moment The present day in History October First woman lights Olympic flame Urged about current bargain wars and protectionism in the world Aghion noted that I am not welcoming the protectionist way in the US That is not good for world advance and innovation The winners were credited with better explaining and quantifying creative destruction a key concept in economics that refers to the process in which beneficial new innovations replace and thus destroy older technologies and businesses The concept is usually associated with economist Joseph Schumpeter who outlined it in his book Capitalism Socialism and Democracy The Nobel committee reported Mokyr demonstrated that if innovations are to succeed one another in a self-generating process we not only need to know that something works but we also need to have scientific explanations for why Aghion and Howitt studied the mechanisms behind sustained advance including in a article in which they constructed a mathematical model for creative destruction Aghion helped shape French President Emmanuel Macron s economic effort during his electoral contest campaign More in recent weeks Aghion co-chaired the Artificial Intelligence Commission which in submitted a account to Macron outlining recommendations to position France as a leading force in the field of AI The laureates work shows that economic rise cannot be taken for granted We must uphold the mechanisms that underlie creative destruction so that we do not fall back into stagnation declared John Hassler chair of the committee for the prize in economic sciences One half of the million Swedish kronor nearly million prize goes to Mokyr and the other half is shared by Aghion and Howitt Winners also receive an -carat gold medal and a diploma The economics prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel The central bank established it in as a memorial to Nobel the th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes Since then it has been awarded times to a total of laureates Only three of the winners have been women Nobel purists stress that the economics prize is technically not a Nobel Prize but it is dependably presented together with the others on Dec the anniversary of Nobel s death in Nobel honors were broadcasted last week in medicine physics chemistry literature and peace Corder informed from The Hague Netherlands David McHugh in Frankfurt Germany and Chris Rugaber in Washington contributed to this overview