Nobel Economics Prize Awarded โtoo Aghion, Howitt, and Nordhaus for Innovation Research
STOCKHOLM – Philippe Aghion, Peterโค Howitt, โฃand Paul M. Nordhaus have been jointly โคawardedโ theโฃ 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics โขfor their groundbreaking work โคonโ innovation,growth,and the concept of “creative โdestruction.” Theโค royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognizedโข their research for revealingโ howโ innovation drives long-run economic โgrowth.
The award โขarrives as the global economy potentially stands on โthe cusp of a new โคera fueled by artificial intelligence, but also amidst growing concerns โขabout tradeโฃ barriers and โฃtechnological competition. โAghion and Howitt’s research, developed independently and then collaboratively,โข built upon the earlier work of Nordhaus,โข who โฃpioneered the โintegration of โฃclimate โchange into long-run economic modeling.
Speaking atโข a press conference, Aghion emphasized theโข detrimentalโ effects of protectionist policies. “De-globalisationโ andโ tariff barriers were ‘obstaclesโ to growth,'” โขhe stated, adding that “the bigger theโ market theโข more possibilities to exchange ideas, transfer technologiesโข and for healthy competition.” He warned,”Anything thatโ gets in โฃthe way of openness isโข an obstacle to growth. So โฃI see there kind of darkโ clouds currently accumulating, pushing for barriers to trade โand openness.”
Aghionโข also urged Europe to reassess its approachโ to industrial policy,advocating for a โขbalance between competition andโ strategic investment. โ”In Europe,โฃ in the name ofโ competition policy, we became very anti any form of โคindustrial policy. I think weโค need to evolve on that and find ways to โreconcile industrial โคpolicyโ in areas like defense,โค climate, AI, biotech,” โhe โฃsaid.
howittโค echoed concerns about trade policies, specificallyโข criticizing former President Trump’s โtariffs. He explained to Reuters โขthat โsuch โคmeasures “are going to discourage innovation by reducingโ what we call theโ scale effect.” He further โstated, โข”Starting โคa tariff war just โreduces the size of the โขmarket for everybody.” Howitt also questioned the economic wisdomโข of attempting to reshore manufacturing jobs to the United States, arguing, “We’reโ good at designing running shoes, but it’s best โfor us to leave othersโข to make them.”
The Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry,โข and peace were announced last week, continuing aโข tradition established by Alfred Nobel’s will in โ1895โ and โfirst โขawardedโ in 1901, with interruptions โคprimarily due to the โWorldโค Wars.
Reuters
