Joseph Schumpeter
From Freepedia
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (February 8 1883 – January 8 1950) was an Austrian economist (though not an 'Austrian economist' in the sense of being a member of the Austrian School of economics) and a giant in the history of economic thought.
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Works
Background
In Schumpeter's theory Walrasian equilibrium is not adequate to capture the key mechanisms of economic development. Schumpeter also thought that the institution enabling the entrepreneur to purchase the resources needed to realize his or her vision was a well-developed capitalist financial system, including a whole range of institutions for granting credit. Economists were divided between those who emphasized "real" analysis and regarded money as merely a "veil" and those who thought monetary institutions are important and money could be a separate driving force. Both Schumpeter and Keynes were among the latter. Nevertheless, Schumpeter, who was a conservative, rejected Keynesianism. Some have seen this to be partly due to jealousy – Schumpeter might have seen that he would be judged by history as the second-greatest economist of his day, and he knew who would be first. During his lifetime and even on his own campus, this certainly was the case; since the 1980s, however, this is at least not so clear anymore – the Wall Street Journal has called him "the most important economist of the 20th century."
Schumpeter, Capitalism and why it can't work
Schumpeter's most popular book in English is probably Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. This book opens with a good treatment of Karl Marx. Schumpeter is quite sympathetic to Marx's analysis, although Schumpeter concludes capitalism will be replaced by socialism for non-Marxist reasons. It is in this book that Schumpeter characterizes capitalism with the famous phrase "creative destruction" in which old ways of doing things are endogenously destroyed and replaced by the new. Schumpeter thinks that the success of capitalism will lead to a form of corporation and a fostering of values, especially among intellectuals, of hostility to capitalism. The intellectual and social climate needed to allow entrepreneurship to thrive will not exist in advanced capitalism and it will be succeeded by socialism of some form or another. There will not be a revolution, but merely a trend in parliaments to elect social democratic parties of one stripe or another. Schumpeter emphasizes that he is analyzing trends, not engaging in political advocacy. Some have thought John Kenneth Galbraith was influenced in his The New Industrial State by Schumpeter's views on corporations.
See also
External links
- http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/schump.htm
- http://www.cpm.ehime-u.ac.jp/akamachomepage/akamac_e-text_links/Schumpeter.html
- http://www.geocities.com/bcschipper/schumpeter.html
- http://www.peterdrucker.at/en/texts/proph_01.html
