Joel Mokyr's intellectual journey to the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics began at Yale, where he was Ph.D. student in the early 1970s under the mentorship of the late William Parker, a path-breaking economic historian.
Parker, who supervised Mokyr's thesis, pioneered the systematic use of quantitative data and statistical methods to better understand how economies change over time. His support left a lasting impression on the future Nobel laureate.
"Bill Parker was not just a great economic historian, he was also witty, urbane, and well-read," Mokyr '74 Ph.D., the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and professor of economics and history at Northwestern University told Yale News this week. "A true intellectual and a thoroughly decent man, a wonderful companion, and a mensch. Yale was a decisive influence on me, best years of my life. Brilliance all around!"
Mokyr, who studies the economic history of Europe, this week was recognized by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his theory explaining how sustained economic growth occurs. He was awarded half of this year's Nobel Prize; the other half was awarded to two economists, Philippe Aghion of the Collège de France and the London School of Economics and Peter Howitt of Brown University.