"Ideas, especially philosophical ones, are fundamental to economic growth."

“The weaker the government, the better it is for innovation.”

~ Joel Mokyr

"Today, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University), Philippe Aghion (London School of Economics), and Peter Howitt (Brown University) “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth.”1 This follows a recent trend for the Committee to award to economics focused on economic growth, following Acemoglou, Johnson, and Robinson in 2024 and Kremer, Duflo, and Banerjee in 2019...

"One of the big mysteries of human history is the so-called 'hockey-stick of prosperity.' That is, the fact that, for much of human history, standards of living were virtually unchanged. Very little separated the Roman citizen in 1AD from the British citizen in 1700. But, starting in the 1700s, standards of living skyrocketed. ...

"Enter Mokyr, Aghion, and Howitt. Collectively, their work helped explain why this growth happened, why it happened where it did, and how it is sustainable. ...

"All three winners explain economic growth through technology and culture (broadly defined). ... I highly recommend the Nobel Committee’s overview of their contributions."

~ Jon Murphy from his post '2025 Nobel: Growth Through Technology and Culture'

"Hurrah! Joel Mokyr has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. One of the greatest economic historians of our time. If you haven’t read him yet, start with 'The Lever of Riches,' 'The Gifts of Athena,' 'A Culture of Growth,' and 'An Enlightened Economy'."

~ Johan Norberg

"Mokyr's key insight is that one needs more than inventions that work—one needs a culture of knowledge-seeking, innovation, progress.

"Note the abstract from his now-classic 2005 paper [below], pointing us from the Industrial Revolution to the broader Enlightenment culture within which it arose—and to the earlier Baconian philosophical revolution.

"Ideas, especially philosophical ones, are fundamental to economic growth."

~ Stephen Hicks on the Nobel award

"Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the future of the American economy. Mokyr rejects the claims that the we are entering an area of stagnation or permanently lower economic growth. He argues that measured growth understates the impact on human welfare. Many of the most important discoveries are new products that are often poorly measured and not reflected in measures such as gross domestic product or income.

"The conversation closes with a discussion of the downsides of technology and why Mokyr remains optimistic about the future."

~ conversation with Joel Mokyr at EconLog