Joel Mokyr keynote speaker

Nobel Prize speaker Joel Mokyr is a distinguished economic historian whose groundbreaking research explores how innovation and ideas have shaped modern prosperity. Born in the Netherlands and raised in Israel, he has spent his career bridging the gap between economics and history, showing how societies cultivate progress through knowledge, curiosity, and also institutional openness. As Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University, Mokyr has inspired generations of scholars and policymakers to view growth not just through numbers, but through the lens of human creativity.

Awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Mokyr was recognized for identifying the essential conditions that enable sustained technological and economic growth. His work reveals how cultural attitudes toward science, trust, and experimentation allowed certain societies to escape stagnation and embrace progress. By linking past transformations to today’s challenges, he provides valuable lessons for navigating the future of innovation and inequality.

In his engaging talks, speaker Joel Mokyr brings history to life with clarity and wit. He connects the Industrial Revolution to the digital age, showing how ideas – and the people who champion them – drive prosperity. Audiences leave with a renewed sense of how progress emerges from a complex interplay of values, institutions as well as imagination.