Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been jointly awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Joel Mokyr ‘for having explained innovation-driven economic growth’. Aghion and Howitt were cited by the Nobel committee ‘for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction’. As this column explains, their work transformed creative destruction from an evocative […]
At the beginning of my advocacy journey, I often searched for affordable ways to present myself at events. A friend of mine had launched a small clothing business, offering creative designs that young people like me could afford. She hired a tailor to bring her ideas to life, but struggled with rent and limited capital. […]
When economies lose momentum and stagnation becomes entrenched, a shift in thinking and action is imperative. So urged Kofi Annan at a Davos panel decades ago—a call that now rings true for South Africa, where economic growth has languished and policy has too often wavered. The likes of Singapore, Vietnam and Poland have shown that sweeping, […]
With demand from US and China weakening, the EU can boost trade by focusing on other markets and strengthening global partnerships. The global trading system is undergoing profound changes, and current developments in the US and China will have significant implications for the European economy. Both countries were at the heart of globalisation but are […]
Infrastructure diplomacy has become a central arena for strategic competition. This column examines how China’s Belt and Road Initiative has reshaped Japan’s overseas infrastructure engagement and diplomacy with participants of the initiative. It finds that Japanese project counts fell and foreign leaders visited Japan less often. To be successful, Western initiatives such as Build Back […]
Technological innovation, including disruptive innovation, is a driving force for economic growth and social change, but early identification of such technologies and assessments of their impact are challenging. This column introduces recent approaches to identifying innovative and disruptive technologies from academic literature, with an application to Japanese research. The methods can help allow policymakers to […]
Education is part of the enabling infrastructure required for jobs, social development, and future economic growth. Unfortunately, low- and middle-income countries face an urgent skills crisis with nearly 70% of children unable to read a simple text by age 10. In response, governments, households, and donors spend more than $5.8 trillion annually on financing education […]
Economic growth in Europe continues to lag behind that of the US, largely due to smaller productivity gains. This column uses a general equilibrium model to show that a more integrated capital market in Europe could strengthen investment by reducing the cost of capital (price effect) and encouraging the entry of investors more inclined to […]
Working hours are a fundamental determinant of economic growth and wellbeing, but we still lack a comprehensive picture of how they vary globally and historically. This column presents a new database covering 160 countries, documenting global patterns in hours worked. Hours per adult average 25 per week, with a strong bell shape by age. Women […]
Inequality is a major concern for many economies, prompting the question of whether some regimes are more effective at reducing inequality than others. This column uses measures of welfare including health status and living space to show that, despite Soviet communism’s aim of radical egalitarianism, it failed to eliminate inequality as effectively as promised. While […]
