Joel Mokyr deserves his Nobel prize

Illustration: Getty Images / The Economist

Oct 13th 2025|4 min read

On October 13th the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel prize in economics to three people. Philippe Aghion of the London School of Economics and Peter Howitt of Brown University have made big contributions to researchers’ understanding of how economic growth happens, and shared half the prize. The other half went to Joel Mokyr (pictured, centre) of Northwestern University, along with half the prize money of 11m Swedish kronor ($1.2m). The award is well deserved—and a reflection of how intellectual currents are changing.