Joseph Alois Schumpeter

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 outcome of a bibliographical research and historical analysis of the evolution of the international literature on J.A. Schumpeter. The research has been carried out in the last few years with the organizational support of the "International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society" and through the establishment of connections with libraries, universities and research institutes throughout the world. Schumpeter's papers at the Harvard University archives have also been scrutinized. The volume includes a historical and critical assessment of the literature on the Austrian economist - according to the most important and specific Schumpeterian "categories": biography, methodology, development, money, cycle, sociology, politics, and history. The book is characterized by the completeness and richness of its information and by the homogeneous treatment of all the possible sources which could have provided news on Schumpeter. Besides Europe and the US, the research has been extended to the USSR, Latin America, Eastern Europe and, above all, to Japan where the Schumpeterian tradition is very deep-rooted.

Schumpeter proclaims in this classical analysis of capitalist society first published in 1911 that economics is a natural self-regulating mechanism when undisturbed by "social and other meddlers." In his preface he argues that despite weaknesses, theories are based on logic and provide structure for understanding fact. Of those who argue against him, Schumpeter asks a fundamental question: "Is it really artificial to keep separate the phenomena incidental to running a firm and the phenomena incidental to creating a new one?" In his answers, Schumpeter offers guidance to Third World politicians no less than First World businessman. In his substantial new introduction John E. Elliott discusses the salient ideas of The Theory of Economic Development against the historical background of three great periods of economic thought in the last two decades.

These volumes provide immediate and easy access to Schumpeter's work on economics, political philosophy and the theory of economic development and show how his work has been received and modified by others.

In this major scholarly study of the life of Joseph A. Schumpeter, one of the great intellectual figures of the twentieth century, the distinguished economist Wolfgang Stolper delves into the mind of his former teacher, exploring the development of his ideas and, especially, their influence on politics and public policy. After reflecting briefly on Schumpeter the man, Stolper explains the evolution of Schumpeter's work, particularly his insights during the 1920s on public finance, his contributions to monetary theory and the study of business cycles, and his writings on socialism. Stolper goes on to desribe and evaluate Schumpeter's public activities following World War I and his role as a finance minister, placing the development of his thought in the turbulence political context of his times. Drawing on a vast array of new and exciting sources, Stolper paints a portrait of his mentor as a decent, ambitious, and complex man whose many insights into economy and society found their way outside of the academy and into the practical world of economic policy. All readers interested in the history of economic thought and twentieth-century political and intellectual history will find this book invaluable. Wolfgang Stolper is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Michigan. He is author of The Structure of the East German Economy and Planning Without Facts and has made seminal contributions to international economics. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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.

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).

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