Opinion: China and the Nobel Prize’s Lesson

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to three economists for “having explained innovation-driven economic growth,” a subject of critical importance to a world wrestling with sluggishness and resurgent protectionism. Half the prize was awarded to Joel Mokyr for “having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress,” with the other half shared by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for “the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.” The work of these three scholars, who have long studied the engines of prosperity, highlights the indispensable role of knowledge and innovation — a lesson with profound implications for China’s push for high-quality development.