From steam engines and mass electrification to personal computers and artificial intelligence, technological innovation has transformed how we live and work, driving unprecedented economic growth.
Understanding how that growth occurs – and how societies can sustain it – has been central to the work of 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences laureate and McGill alumnus Peter Howitt, who will deliver the 2026 Beatty Lecture at McGill University on Oct. 22 during the University’s annual Homecoming festivities. Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC’s national radio program Ideas, will moderate the event.
Howitt, who graduated from McGill with an honours BA in Economics and Political Science in 1968, is Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences Emeritus at Brown University.
In his lecture How Do We Sustain Growth in an Age of Disruption – and Who Benefits?, Howitt will bring a real-world perspective to questions about innovation, economic growth and the distribution of prosperity in an era of accelerating technological change.
Howitt was awarded the Nobel Prize for his foundational contributions to economic theory. In 1992, he and fellow economist and joint winner of the Nobel Prize, Philippe Aghion, presented a mathematical model that demonstrated sustained prosperity is driven by “creative destruction,” a concept first proposed by economist Joseph Schumpeter in the 1940s.
Howitt’s work is particularly relevant in an era of rapid and profound transformation. While the model shows that creative destruction benefits societies by raising living standards, it also disrupts livelihoods as established products, skills and ways of working are left behind.
“The models of economic growth that we had before, not only did they take technological progress as given, but they just assumed that everyone benefited from them, that technological progress just sort of fell like manna from heaven, and everybody got their share of it,” said Howitt in his Nobel acceptance speech.
His work has helped economists, policymakers, central banks, corporations and international institutions better understand how such policy levers as antitrust laws and research and development incentives can support technological change while mitigating its disruptive effects on markets, industries and workers.
“Peter Howitt’s pioneering, Nobel-prize winning work helps us to understand the role of innovation in social transformation, and how we can address the opportunities and challenges ahead,” said Dominique Bérubé, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “We are especially proud to welcome him back to McGill as a Nobel laureate and a distinguished member of our alumni community.”
A lifelong fascination with economics
Howitt was born in Guelph, Ont. His journey to becoming one of the world’s leading economists began with a high school job at a wool brokerage. Observing prices fluctuate on the office teletype machine and learning about supply and demand sparked a fascination that led him to pursue undergraduate studies at McGill.
In an interview with McGill News after his Nobel win, Howitt said his time at McGill “was a great experience for me. By the time I was finished, I was head over heels in love with economics.”
Howitt went on to earn a master’s degree from Western University and a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University. He taught at Western from 1972 to1996; at Ohio State University from 1996 to 2000; and then at Brown University, where he was a professor of economics and social sciences until his retirement in 2013.
Howitt’s return to McGill during Homecoming carries special significance: his daughter, Katherine Howitt, is also a McGill alumnus, having earned an honours degree in Economics and History in 2004.
About the Beatty Lecture
Established in 1954, the Beatty Lecture is one of Canada’s longest running and most prestigious public lecture series. Hosted by the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation), the series brings influential thinkers from around the world to speak about timely and transformative ideas.
CBC Ideas host Nahlah Ayed, a celebrated journalist and veteran foreign correspondent, returns for her sixth year moderating the event.
The 2026 Beatty Lecture will be held on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at Pollack Hall on McGill’s downtown campus. Tickets are now on sale. For event details, please visit the Beatty Lecture website. Media are invited to contact the Beatty organizing committee.