Joseph A Schumpeter

Pan Am, Gimbel’s, Pullman, Douglas Aircraft, Digital Equipment Corporation, British Leyland—all once as strong as dinosaurs, all now just as extinct. Destruction of businesses, fortunes, products, and careers is the price of progress toward a better material life. No one understood this bedrock economic principle better than Joseph A. Schumpeter. “Creative destruction,” he said, is the driving force of capitalism. Described by John Kenneth Galbraith as “the most sophisticated conservative” of the twentieth century, Schumpeter made his mark as the prophet of incessant change. His vision was stark: Nearly all businesses fail, victims of innovation by their competitors. Businesspeople ignore this lesson at their peril—to survive, they must be entrepreneurial and think strategically. Yet in Schumpeter’s view, the general prosperity produced by the “capitalist engine” far outweighs the wreckage it leaves behind. During a tumultuous life spanning two world wars, the Great Depression, and the early Cold War, Schumpeter reinvented himself many times. From boy wonder in turn-of-the-century Vienna to captivating Harvard professor, he was stalked by tragedy and haunted by the specter of his rival, John Maynard Keynes. By 1983—the centennial of the birth of both men—Forbes christened Schumpeter, not Keynes, the best navigator through the turbulent seas of globalization. Time has proved that assessment accurate. Prophet of Innovation is also the private story of a man rescued repeatedly by women who loved him and put his well-being above their own. Without them, he would likely have perished, so fierce were the conflicts between his reason and his emotions. Drawing on all of Schumpeter’s writings, including many intimate diaries and letters never before used, this biography paints the full portrait of a magnetic figure who aspired to become the world’s greatest economist, lover, and horseman—and admitted to failure only with the horses.

Joseph A. Schumpeter was one of the great economists of the twentieth century. His History of Economic Analsyis is perhaps the greatest contribution to the history of economics, providing a magisterial account of the development of the subject from Ancient Greece to the mid-twentieth century. Schumpeter's views on his predecessors have proved to be a constant source of controversy. Here individual chapters examine such disparate questions as Schumpeter's apparent disregard for the American Institutionalists, his grudging respect for Adam Smith, the perspicacity of his views of Quesnay and his preference for Walras over Pareto. Four chapters are devoted to the early Medieval schools, neglected in all of his writings. Schumpeter's magnum opus is related to the rest of his economic output, especially his views on money and on methodology. With contributions by leading historians of economics from six countries, this volume analyses Schumpeter's contribution to the history of economics, considers its lasting significance, and uses it as a benchmark to assess the current state of the field.

Joseph Alois Schumpeter is arguably the most important economist of the 20th century. Most readers are familiar with his Theory of Economic Development and his classic Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Less well-known are his seminal works published before he left Europe for the United States in 1942. In particular for the first time the missing Chapter Seven of his Theory of Economic Development has been published in this volume. It tries to put Economic Development into the broader context of culture, law and policy. Many of his earlier writings display a similar integrative approach and are therefore often treated as sociological writings. As Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy shows, he did not dissociate the different social sciences in his own mind but rather strove to keep the unity of the social sciences. Entrepreneurship, style and vision are the unifying concepts of his work.

This book is the first to contain all of Schumpeter's important texts on the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship in English.

Explores the relation between a socialist view of society and the democratic method of government; argues that socialism is probably inevitable, for political rather than economic reasons. The book developes five principal themes, presented in five parts. Part I, "The Marxian Doctrine," attests to Schumpeter's belief in the importance of Karl Marx's thought, and discusses Marx in the roles of prophet, sociologist, economist, and teacher. His strength lay in synthesis of history, economics, and politics into a vision and system (which Schumpeter admires) that that can be used for solving problems and contributing to knowledge and insight; the value of Marx's theories and conclusions are found wanting. Part II "Can Capitalism Survive?" shows that a socialist form of society will inevitably emerge from the inevitable decomposition of capitalist society. Essential to capitalism is the process of "creative destruction," which constantly revolutionizes the system from within; this revolutionary transformation of capitalism, which spells its doom, results from its success--not, as Marx argued, from its failure. In Schumpeter's view of capitalism, monopolistic policies promote stability and increase efficiency; unemployment and business cycles accompany economic growth; and without political interference, output would increase and standard of living increase. The entrepreneurial function, which revolutionizes production by exploiting innovation, becomes routine and obsolete due to technical development and rise of big firms; the entrepreneur becomes a bureaucrat. Without innovating enterprise, profit will vanish or become unimportant. Capitalism's success undermines the social conditions that protect it. Capitalism will not survive because public opinion will not support it: the bourgeoisie is not equipped for politics; corporate evolution and decline of the family have reduced the bourgeois sense of property and incentives; destruction of monarchy and aristocracy have deprived the bourgeois of its protectors; and disenchanted intellectuals inflame discontent with free enterprise. Establishment of socialism can be expected. Part III, "Can Socialism Work?" answers, "Of course it can." Socialism for Schumpeter is centralized control over the means of production. Necessary for the success of socialism is reaching the requisite stage of industrial development and resolution of transitional problems. The assessment of a socialist society should be based less on economic efficiency than on the quality of the bureaucratic apparatus operating the system. Socialism may likely be as successful in satisfying consumers, promoting economic progress, and enforcing discipline and efficiency. Part IV, "Socialism and Democracy" argues one can have autocratic, theocratic, or democratic socialism. Socialism's economic problem should only be discussed referring to the given state of the social environment and historical situation. Schumpeter alternatively defines democracy as people's selection of a government. Socialism may be democratic if certain conditions are met: politics must be culturally valued, range of political decisions must be fairly narrow, a well-trained bureaucracy exists, and the public exercises democratic self control. Part V, "Historical Sketch of Socialist Parties" analyzes the history of the most important socialist parties in England, Sweden, U.S., France, Germany, and Austria, emphasizing how they tried to live within the structure of a Marxist system and to remain alive and grow politically. Socialism, though, is likely to present fascist features. (TNM).

The destruction of businesses, fortunes, products, and careers is the price of progress toward a better material life. No one understood this economic principle better than Joseph A. Schumpeter, who made his mark as the prophet of incessant change. Drawing on all of Schumpeter's writings, including many intimate diaries and letters never before used, this biography paints the full portrait of a magnetic figure who aspired to become the world’s greatest economist, lover, and horseman—and admitted to failure only with the horses.

The renowned economist Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950) made seminal contributions not only to economic theory but also to sociology and economic history. His work is now attracting wide attention among sociologists, as well as experiencing a remarkable revival among economists. This anthology, which serves as an excellent introduction to Schumpeter, emphasizes his broad socio-economic vision and his attempt to analyze economic reality from several different perspectives. An ambitious introductory essay by Richard Swedberg uses many new sources to enhance our understanding of Schumpeter's life and work and to help analyze his fascinating character. This essay stresses Schumpeter's ability to draw on several social sciences in his study of capitalism. Some of the articles in the anthology are published for the first time. The most important of these are Schumpeter's Lowell Lectures from 1941, "An Economic Interpretation of Our Time." Also included is the transcript of his lecture "Can Capitalism Survive?" (1936) and the high-spirited debate that followed. The anthology contains many of Schumpeter's classical sociological articles, such as his essays on the tax state, imperialism, and social classes. And, finally, there are lesser known articles on the future of private enterprise, on the concept of rationality in the social sciences, and on the work of Max Weber, with whom Schumpeter collaborated on several occasions.

Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) is one of the most fascinating and influential economists of the twentieth century, renowned for his brilliant and unorthodox insights into the nature of capitalism. His students include leading economists such as Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow and the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan. The Theory of Economic Development is one of Schumpeter's most important books and the one that made him famous. He poses a fundamental question: why does economic development proceed cyclically rather than evenly? Turning prevailing economic theory, which approached economics as equilibrium, on its head, Schumpeter argues it is because economics is constantly transformed by its own internal forces. These forces are the 'circular flow' of economic life; economic development, characterised by disruption and innovation; and finally, the levers that push and pull capitalism including credit, profit and interest. These are all manifested in the ‘business cycle’, one of Schumpeter's major contributions to understanding economics and now a perennial feature of virtually all economics and business curricula. He is also the first economist to place the entrepreneur at the heart of capitalism, anticipating subsequent fascination with entrepreneurship in popular business and management writing. Schumpeter also lays the groundwork for his subsequent, highly influential idea of the 'creative destruction' characteristic of radical and rapid economic change. The Theory of Economic Development remains a vital, magisterial account of economics and the nature of capitalism whose many insights remain highly relevant today. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Introduction by Richard Swedberg.