Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt received the 2025 Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. And the three researchers have connections to the University of Graz. On the one hand, Aghion and Mokyr were lecturers at the "Graz Schumpeter Lectures". On the other hand, Aghion and Howitt are working on the theory of "creative destruction through innovation". This term was coined by the social scientist Joseph Alois Schumpeter, who was a professor at the University of Graz.
"They will receive the Nobel Prize 2025 for their contributions to the idea that there is no long-term growth without innovation," explains economist Maik Schneider, who also heads the Graz Schumpeter Centre. And the recent Nobel Prize winners are working in the tradition of the centre's namesake at the University of Graz. The social scientist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), who taught and researched at the University of Graz from 1911 to 1919, created the concept of "creative destruction".
Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt build on this with their "Schumpeterian growth theory". Maik Schneider explains: "Technological innovations that improve products and services can have a destructive effect on the other hand, because what already exists is replaced by something new."
This is precisely where current research at the Graz Schumpeter Centre comes in. Maik Schneider, for example, is investigating how as many people as possible can benefit from technological progress (you can find the article here). In general, this year's Nobel Prize and the research at the Graz Schumpeter Centre illustrate how relevant Schumpeter's ideas still are today.
Schneider also sees the prize as a signal to Europe: "We must ensure that we are part of the technology competition and utilise our innovation potential for long-term growth."