Nobel Prize in Economics 2025 Awarded for Research on Innovation and “Creative Destruction”

On October 13, 2025, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025 — commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Key Points:

• Laureates:
  • Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University, USA)
  • Philippe Aghion (Collège de France, INSEAD, and London School of Economics)
  • Peter Howitt (Brown University, USA)
• Prize Money:
  • Total: 11 million Swedish kronor (≈ ₹10.25 crore)
  • Half awarded to Joel Mokyr.
  • Remaining half shared between Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt.
• Awarded For:
  • Their groundbreaking research on how innovation and the forces of “creative destruction” drive long-term economic growth.
• Concept of Creative Destruction:
  • Coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942.
  • Describes how new innovations replace old technologies, disrupting existing industries while creating new ones.
  • Example: Wireless communication and smartphones replaced wired telephones, ending industries like public call offices (PCOs) but spawning new sectors such as mobile internet and app-based businesses.
• Significance of Research:
  • Highlights the dynamic and disruptive role of innovation in capitalist economies.
  • Provides a framework for understanding how technological progress and entrepreneurial activity fuel economic transformation and growth.