Growth Academy 2025
July 21 – July 25, 2025
The University of Chicago

Special Fireside Chat: H.E. Bandar Ibrahim Alkhorayef
This year’s Growth Academy featured an exclusive fireside chat with His Excellency Bandar Ibrahim Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia. As a key architect of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, he shared insights on industrial transformation, economic diversification, and the future of sustainable development.
GROWTH ACADEMY 2025 SPEAKERS

Indermit Gill
Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics
The World Bank Group
“Middle Income Trap” (Slides)

Philippe Aghion
INSEAD, London School of Economics and College de France
“Economics of Creative Destruction” (Slides)

Lars Peter Hansen
David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Statistics, and the Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago
“Uncertainty, Social Valuation, and Climate Change Policy” (Slides)

Fabrizio Zilibotti
Tuntex Professor of International and Development Economics
Yale University
“Creative Destruction and Distance to Frontier: Implications for Emerging Economies“ (Slides)

James Heckman
The Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College
The University of Chicago
“Roots of the Skills Gap: Family Life and Black-White-Hispanic Disparities” (Slides)

Penny Goldberg
William Nordhaus Professor of Economics and Global Affairs
Yale University
“The Global Gender Distortions Index” (Slides)

Susan Athey
The Economics of Technology Professor
Stanford University
“AI and the New Economy” (Slides)

Brent Neiman
Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics
The University of Chicago
“Global Capital Allocation“ (Slides)

Michael Greenstone
The Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College
University of Chicago
“The Economics of the Global Energy Challenge“

Somik Lall
Senior Adviser to the Chief Economist of the World Bank
The World Bank Group
“Energy, Emissions, and Creative Destruction” (Slides)

Ufuk Akcigit
The Arnold C. Harberger Professor in Economics and the College
The University of Chicago
“The Role of Firms and Talent in Shaping Economic Sophistication and Growth” (Slides)

Chang-Tai Hsieh
Phyllis and Irwin Winkelried Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and PCL Faculty Scholar
The University of Chicago
“Where is China Headed“

James Evans
Max Palevsky Professor, Department of Sociology; Faculty Director, Masters in Computational Social Science Program
The University of Chicago
“The Paradox of Innovation Institutions: Designing Flexible Ecosystems that Accelerate Discovery, Invention, and Growth” (Slides)

Josh Lerner
Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking
Harvard Business School
“Growing Entreprenurial Clusters” (Slides)

Michael Kremer
University Professor in Economics and the College and the Harris School of Public Policy
The University of Chicago
“Experimentation, Innovation, and Economics“

Joel Mokyr
Robert H. Strotz Professor
Northwestern University
“The Marshall Plan: Then and Now“

