Israeli Nobel Laureate Joel Mokyr Says Hostages’ Return Brought Him More Joy Than the Award

Mokyr says Israel is “by far the most creative nation in the world relative to its size.”

By Shula Rosen

When Israeli American economic historian Joel Mokyr awoke before dawn on October 13, his thoughts were on the news from Gaza, where Israeli hostages were finally returning home.

By the end of that same morning, his life had changed dramatically.

“I woke up very early to check the updates about the hostages,” Mokyr told The Times of Israel. “While reading, suddenly my inbox filled with ‘congratulations’ messages. I thought, ‘What the hell is this?’ Then I noticed a missed call from Sweden—and that’s when I learned I had won the Nobel Prize.”

The 79-year-old Northwestern University professor, who also teaches at Tel Aviv University, shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in economic sciences with Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for their groundbreaking research on innovation-driven growth.

Mokyr was recognized for tracing the historical and intellectual forces that enable technological progress, earning half of the 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million) prize.

Despite the global acclaim, Mokyr said the release of Israeli hostages that same morning “meant far more than any personal achievement.”

Speaking from his summer home in Michigan, he described the moment he shared the news with his wife. “We sat down, caught our breath, and she said, ‘That’s great—we can pay for our grandchildren’s private school.’”

Born in Leiden, Netherlands, to Dutch-Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust, Mokyr moved to Israel at age nine and grew up in Haifa.

He later earned degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Yale University. His lifelong interest in history was sparked by a Polish Jewish teacher he described as “a brilliant historian.”

Mokyr visits Israel at least once or twice a year and teaches at the Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. A devoted listener of Kol Hamusica, Israel’s classical music station, he calls the country “by far the most creative nation in the world relative to its size.”

Reflecting on his legacy, Mokyr said his proudest achievement is not the Nobel itself but the next generation of scholars he has mentored. “I’ve trained more than 60 Ph.D.s in economic history,” he said. “They’re the ones carrying it forward.”