00:01Why do humans live so much better now than our ancestors did?
00:05That's the main question tackled by the trio of academics
00:09who've been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics
00:13for their work on how innovation drives growth.
00:16American-Israeli Joel Mokir took half the prize
00:19for his long-term studies based on historical sources,
00:23while French economist Philippe Aguillon
00:26shared the other half with Canadian Peter Howitt
00:31for their mathematical model quantifying creative destruction,
00:35the idea that innovations destroy older technologies and businesses,
00:40but in the long run generate stable growth and improve human welfare.
00:44It's particularly timely amid growing anxiety over the AI revolution
00:49and its potential to make many jobs obsolete.
00:53With the understanding of the mechanisms of creative destruction
00:57provided by the laureates and the follow-up research,
01:01we have a better chance to make sure growth can continue
01:05and be guided in the direction that benefits humankind.
01:10Reacting to their win, Howitt and Aguillon
01:13warned against the protectionist policies of the current U.S. administration,
01:17saying they could stifle innovation.
01:20Anything that gets in the way of openness is an obstacle to growth.
01:25So I see their kind of dark clouds currently accumulating.
01:29The three laureates will each take a share of the 1 million euro prize.
01:33Philippe Aguillon says he intends to invest his part in his research lab
01:37at the Collège de France and INSEAD Business School,
01:40helping to fund young researchers' work on AI and green growth.
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