Politics
Trio wins economics Nobel for work on tech-driven growth
The Nobel prize in economics was awarded on Monday to American-Israeli Joel Mokyr, France’s Philippe Aghion and Canada’s Peter Howitt for work on technology’s impact on sustained economic growth.
Mokyr, 79, won one half of the prize “for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Aghion, 69, and Howitt, 79, shared the other half “for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction”, it added.
John Hassler, chair of the prize committee, told reporters their work answered questions about how technological innovation drives growth and how sustained growth can be maintained.
“During almost all of humankind’s history, living standards did not change noticeably from generation to generation. Economic growth was, on average, zero, and stagnation was the norm,” Hassler said.
But over the last two centuries “things have been very different.”
‘Creative destruction’
“During the last 200 years, the world has seen more economic growth than ever before in human history,” Kerstin Enflo, a member of the economics prize committee, explained to reporters.
However, she cautioned that “200 years is still just a short period compared to the long run history of stagnation that we saw before.”
“The laureates’ work reminds us that we should not take progress for granted. Instead, society must keep an eye on the factors that generate and sustain economic growth,” Enflo said.
Mokyr, who is a professor at Northwestern University in the United States, “used historical sources as one means to uncover the causes of sustained growth becoming the new normal”, the jury said in a statement.
Aghion and Howitt then created a mathematical model for “creative destruction”, which refers to the process “when a new and better product enters the market, the companies selling the older products lose out”.
‘Openness’
“I can’t find the words to express what I feel,” Aghion told reporters via telephone during the prize announcement.
“I’m still speechless. It came really as a huge surprise,” he continued.
Speaking about what could risk upsetting growth, he mentioned the threats of steep tariffs introduced since US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“Openness is a driver of growth. Anything that gets in the way of openness is an obstacle to growth,” Aghion said.
The economist also warned Europe not to let the United States and China dominate technological innovation.
“I think European countries have to realise that we should no longer let (the) US and China become technological leaders and lose to them,” he said.
The economics prize is the only Nobel not among the original five created in the will of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.
It was instead created through a donation from the Swedish central bank in 1968, leading detractors to dub it “a false Nobel”.
But like the Nobels in chemistry and physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences chooses the winner and follows the same selection process.
The economics prize wraps up this year’s Nobel season which honoured research into the human immune system, practical applications of quantum mechanics and the development of new forms of molecular architecture.
The literature prize went to Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai whose works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and melancholy.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was given the highly watched Nobel Peace Prize.
In a surprise move, Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, who had made no secret that he thought he deserved it.
The Nobel economics prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a $1.2 million cheque.
The laureates will receive their prizes at formal ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10.
That date is the anniversary of the death in 1896 of scientist Alfred Nobel, who created the prizes in his will.
- India, Canadian FMs agree to deepen cooperation.
- Both sides seek to repair trust after two years of tensions.
- Emphasise partnership to counter global economic vulnerabilities.
India and Canada agreed on Monday on a new roadmap for their relations after talks between their foreign ministers in New Delhi, as both countries seek to mend ties strained over the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist.
The two countries, both of which are looking to diversify trade away from the United States due to tariff announcements, agreed to collaborate on areas like critical minerals, trade and agricultural value chains, a joint statement said.
“Reviving this partnership will not only create opportunities for enhanced economic cooperation but also help mitigate vulnerabilities arising from shifting global alliances,” it said.
Almost two years of strained relations
The statement came after Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday.
“Both of our governments agree on the importance of elevating the relationship,” Anand said in her opening remarks at the meeting with Jaishankar.
Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa were strained for almost two years after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi in 2023 of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India denied Canada’s allegations of involvement in the murder and, in turn, accused Ottawa of fostering separatist groups on its soil.
In June this year, Trudeau’s successor Mark Carney hosted Modi at the G7 summit in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta.
India is Canada’s top source of temporary foreign workers and international students, as well as an important market for pulses such as lentils and yellow peas.
Canada is home to an influential Sikh community. Indian leaders say there are some fringe groups there that are still sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan to be carved out of Hindu-majority India.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza and the occupied West Bank to welcome home freed prisoners under a US-brokered ceasefire deal — a day marked by tears, cheers, and the bittersweet weight of loss and hope.
The prisoners were released after the Hamas militant group freed the last 20 living hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war in Gaza.
Under the deal, Israel is set to release 250 Palestinians convicted of murder and other serious crimes as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the war began, 22 Palestinian minors, and the bodies of 360 militants.
Several thousand people gathered inside and around the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, awaiting the arrival of freed prisoners, with some waving Palestinian flags and others holding pictures of their relatives.
Fighting back tears, one woman who asked to be identified as Um Ahmed said she said that despite her joy at the release, she still had “mixed feelings” about the day.
Freed prisoners arrived in buses, some of them posing from the windows, flashing V-for-Victory signs. They will undergo medical checks at the facility.
Earlier, about a dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, members of Hamas’ armed wing, arrived at the hospital where a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.
Loudspeakers blared songs celebrating the Palestinian national cause.
Hamas said 154 prisoners were also deported to Egypt.
During previous releases, mass gatherings had flooded entire streets in Ramallah, with people waving Palestinian flags as well as those of political factions including Hamas.
‘Live my life’
Dressed in the grey tracksuits of Israeli prisons, many prisoners also wore a black-and-white kuffiyeh around their necks — the traditional scarf that has become synonymous with the Palestinian cause.
Some of the newly released prisoners happily let themselves be carried away on relatives’ shoulders.
“Prisoners live on hope… Coming home, to our land, is worth all the gold in the world,” said one freed detainee, Samer al-Halabiyeh.
“God willing, peace will prevail, and the war on Gaza will stop,” Halabiyeh added.
“Now I just want to live my life.”
Journalists rushed to talk to the prisoners, but many declined to engage, sometimes explaining that before their release, they were advised not to speak.
In the south Gaza city of Khan Yunis, a crowd gathered near Nasser Hospital, in the hope of catching sight of the prisoners taken during the war with Israel.
In the afternoon, thousands cheered to welcome their loved ones as they caught glimpse of the buses carrying them home.
United States President Donald Trump on Monday addressed the Israeli parliament, following a peace deal he brokered to end the war in Gaza.
Here are 10 key takeaways from his address:
1. Gaza agreement dawn of a new Middle East
Trump was of the view that peace in Gaza ushered in the dawn of a new Middle East, saying that it ended the “long and painful nightmare” for all parties involved.
2. Offer to Iran for a peace deal
The US president expressed hope for a peace deal with Iran, saying his administration was ready for any agreement with the country.
3. Plan to disarm Hamas
The US president stated that the entire region has endorsed his plan to disarm Hamas.
4. Call on other nations to join Abraham Accords
Trump expressed hope that other countries would join the Abraham Accords quickly after the Gaza peace deal.
5. Acknowledgement of US help to Israel in Gaza war
“Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arm[s],” the US president said.
6. Call for a pardon for Israeli PM
Trump called for a pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of corruption.
7. Muslim nations’ role in peace efforts
Terming the Gaza deal a triumph, the US president thanked mediators from the Arab and Muslim world for their crucial role in the peace efforts.
8. Role in the rebuilding of Gaza
Trump said that he intended to be a partner in the effort to rebuild Gaza.
9. Israeli lawmaker interrupts Trump’s speech
A left-wing lawmaker was expelled after he interrupted the US president’s speech to the Israeli parliament.
10. Time to focus on Russia
Trump told his envoy Steve Witkoff that “we’ve got to get Russia done” following the implementation of the Gaza peace deal.
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