666. This Is How Progress Happens

Economists don’t usually talk about “culture.” But Joel Mokyr argues that it’s the engine of innovation — and the Nobel Prize committee agreed. Stephen Dubner sits down for a thousand-year conversation (including advice!) with the new Nobel laureate. SOURCES: Joel Mokyr , economic historian at Northwestern University. RESOURCES: Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in Europe and China, 1000–2000 , by Avner Greif, Joel Mokyr, and, Guido Tabellini (2025). " The Outsize Role of Immigrants in US Innovation ," …