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Archive » December 2025 » Sustained Growth or Sustainable Development? The 2025 Nobel Prizes in Economics and the Challenges of Innovation

Sustained Growth or Sustainable Development? The 2025 Nobel Prizes in Economics and the Challenges of Innovation

Claudia Rotondi
December 2025 - n. 12
Keywords: Premio Nobel per l’economia 2025, crescita economica sostenuta, sviluppo sostenibile, innovazione tecnologica, economia della conoscenza
Jel codes: A11; B31; N01; 033; Q01

The Nobel Prize was awarded in 2025 to economic historian Joel Mokyr «for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress» and to economists Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt «for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction». What these scholars share is the view that innovation and technological change are the main drivers of sustained economic growth. To fully understand this choice, it is useful to place the award within the history of the Nobel Prize in Economics, which has already outlined a significant trajectory around the themes of development, growth, and innovation. This critical review opens the way to a critical reflection on the challenges posed by technological innovation in relation to the issue of sustainability.

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