The Swedish Schumpeter Lectures, hosted by the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum, have become an annual hallmark for discussing the pivotal role of entrepreneurship in economic development. Each year, a globally recognized scholar shares their research into how entrepreneurship shapes economies, societies, and innovation. Esteemed Swedish voices from academia, industry, and politics are invited to offer commentary and reflections, fostering a rich dialogue around these insights.

 

Attracting a diverse audience, the Schumpeter Lectures complement SIRI’s mission to encourage cross-sectoral dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and community-building around transformative innovation and systemic change.

 

2025 Swedish Schumpeter Lecture

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Fiona Murray on "The Economics of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Geopolitical World: Implications for Scholarship and for Practice"

 

Date: Monday, May 19, 2025

Time: 10:30–11:45​

Location: Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65, Stockholm (Main Building) and online via Zoom.

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About the lecture:

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This year’s Swedish Schumpeter Lecture features professor Fiona Murray, Associate Dean for Innovation at MIT Sloan School of Management. A leading expert in innovation strategy and science commercialization, she also serves as a Vice Chairman at the NATO Innovation Fund.

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In her thought-provoking lecture, ”The Economics of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Geopolitical World: Implications for Scholarship and for Practice”, Murray explores how rising geopolitical tensions—such as the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China and its shifting alliances with Europe—are reshaping the global innovation landscape.

 

Traditionally, economic historians have portrayed innovation as driven by wartime competition, while recent decades have emphasized peaceful, globally integrated R&D ecosystems. Today, however, strategic competition is returning to center stage, raising important questions:

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• How is geopolitics influencing innovation and entrepreneurship now—and how is this different from the past?

• What does this shift mean for our economic theories of innovation?

• And how should we prepare the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to navigate this new global reality?

 

Drawing on academic insights and real-world experience working with NATO, Fiona offers an urgent perspective on innovation at the intersection of security, resilience, and entrepreneurship.

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The full lecture is available on YouTube and linked here.

 

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Past lectures

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2024: Javier Miranda on "The Promise and Peril of Entrepreneurship"

 

Professor Javier Miranda's talk explored entrepreneurship as both a vehicle for individual job creation and a catalyst for broader economic dynamism. Examining trends in the U.S. and Europe, he provided insights into the decline of startup and high-growth firm activity and discussed the challenges that barriers to entrepreneurship and resource reallocation pose to economic growth.

 

For a deeper understanding of Miranda’s perspective on the role of entrepreneurship in economic transformation, watch the full lecture available on YouTube and linked here.  ​​​​

 

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