For decades, the World Economic Forum at Davos symbolized the confidence of a deeply interconnected global economy. Yet Davos 2026 unfolded under a far more uncertain atmosphere shaped by geopolitical rivalry, rising protectionism and growing concerns over long-term economic resilience. The forum ultimately revealed a world attempting to balance economic cooperation with intensifying strategic competition and structural shifts in geopolitics.

For the vast majority of human history, economic stagnation was the default. The standard of living for a peasant in the Roman Empire was not significantly different from that of a farmer in the 17th century. Suddenly, the world changed. On 13 October 2025, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Joel Mokyr for shedding light on this profound transformation, awarding him half of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences. This was for identifying the specific conditions that allowed the Industrial Revolution to ignite a new era of steady growth. As an economics major observing the current technological landscape, Mokyr’s work provides a critical historical lens through which we can understand the present trajectory we are on.