This prestigious award, officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the last award given this year and is valued at 11 million Swedish kronor (1.2 million dollars). The academy noted in a statement: “Our winners have taught us that sustainable growth cannot be taken for granted.” Mokyr is a professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, United States, while Aghion is a professor at the Collège de France and INSEAD in Paris, and at the London School of Economics and Political Science in Britain. Howitt is a professor at Brown University in Providence, United States. Mokyr received half of the award, while Aghion and Howitt shared the other half.
He added: “Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt developed a mathematical model of creative destruction, an endless process in which new and improved products replace the old ones.” In his comments, Aghion said he is “still speechless,” adding: “I did not expect this at all, so I can’t find the right words to express how I feel.”
He stated: “In Europe, in the name of competition policy, we have become strongly opposed to any form of industrial policy. I believe we need to evolve in this area and find ways to reconcile industrial policy in fields such as defense, climate, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, where we excel with excellent research.”
