— Canadian economist Peter Howitt has been named one of the three recipients of this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, in recognition of groundbreaking work that has reshaped the understanding of innovation-driven economic growth. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday that Howitt, together with Dutch-born economic historian Joel Mokyr and French economist Philippe Aghion, has been awarded the prestigious prize for “having explained innovation-driven economic growth.” Howitt, who received the news early Monday morning, described the honour as “the dream of a lifetime come true.” He learned of the prize through a persistent Swedish reporter who called his wife’s phone before the committee officially reached him. “By the time they called, I already knew,” he said with a laugh, adding that the day would now be filled with phone calls and unexpected celebrations. “We didn’t have any champagne in the fridge in anticipation of this,” he joked.
Howitt and Aghion are internationally recognized for their pioneering research on creative destruction, a concept that explains how new innovations replace older technologies and business models, driving economic growth while simultaneously transforming industries. Their collaboration spans more than three decades, including a landmark 1992 paper in which they developed a mathematical model to describe the mechanisms behind sustained economic growth. Howitt said he is especially looking forward to celebrating the award with Aghion, noting that their families plan to gather in Sweden for the Nobel ceremony. “I’m really looking forward to getting together with him, to celebrating with our family,” he said. “We have children all around North America, and we look forward to going to Sweden together.”
Born in 1946, Peter Howitt completed his bachelor’s degree in economics at McGill University in Montreal and his master’s degree at the University of Western Ontario. He is currently a professor of social sciences at Brown University in Rhode Island. Howitt shares one half of the nearly $1.6 million Canadian prize with Aghion, while the remaining half has been awarded to Mokyr. The Nobel announcement marks a proud moment for Canada’s academic community, celebrating a scholar whose work has influenced economic policy, growth theory, and innovation studies around the world.