Schumpeter's Contribution Research Articles

Teaching and learning Schumpeter: A dialogue between professor and student

Joseph Schumpeter's contributions to economics, including theories about innovation and entrepreneurship, creative destruction, and the debate over capitalism versus socialism, all remain relevant today. There is evidence, however, that Schumpeter's ideas have long received less attention in the classroom than they deserve given the importance economists attach to them. This paper provides a description of a discussion-based course on Schumpeter. Using a dialogue between professor and student before, during, and after the course, we describe the structure of the course and specific details related to content. We also include a syllabus, sources for class materials, and a list of over forty discussion questions. The dialogue allows us to show the dynamic nature of a discussion-based class, something we think Schumpeter would approve.

Are Structural Fluctuations Natural or Policy-Induced? Analyzing Mises's and Schumpeter's Contributions to Business Cycle Theory

The 2007/8 financial crisis and economic recessions, much like the Great Depression of 1929, stimulated an increased interest in macroeconomics in general and business cycle theory in particular. Aside from a renewed interest in the various interpretations of Keynesianism, particular attention was devoted to the Austrian School. In the first half of the 20th century within the broader Austrian camp there existed two well-established theories that, despite their important insights, were neglected by the mainstream economics profession. However, Joseph Schumpeter and Ludwig von Mises—both members of the third generation of Austrian economists—built theories of economic depressions that, despite presenting some similarities on some particular issues, were fundamentally telling a different story. A closer look at their overall theoretical system seems to suggest that their fundamental divergences have their origin in methodological and epistemological questions. Enamoured with static equilibrium analysis, Schumpeter was led to construct a theory of booms and busts that saw these as the natural outburst of a capitalist system that was inherently disruptive and unstable. Mises on the other hand, focusing on the dynamic market process, was led to conceive of booms and busts as the inevitable consequence of systematic intervention into capitalist production by the government and its corollary, the banking system.

Teaching and Learning Schumpeter: A Dialogue Between Professor and Student

Joseph Schumpeter's contributions to economics, including theories about innovation and entrepreneurship, creative destruction, and the debate over capitalism versus socialism, all remain relevant today. There is evidence, however, that Schumpeter's ideas have long received less attention in the classroom than they deserve given the importance economists attach to them. This paper provides a description of a discussion-based course on Schumpeter. Using a dialogue between professor and student before, during, and after the course, we describe the structure of the course and specific details related to content. We also include a syllabus, sources for class materials, and a list of over forty discussion questions. The dialogue allows us to show the dynamic nature of a discussion-based class, something we think Schumpeter would approve.

“Schumpeterianism” Revised: The Critique of Elites in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

ABSTRACTA close reading of Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy underscores Schumpeter's critique of elite political capacities. Given the neglect of this critique in contemporary scholarship, it might warrant a revision of our understanding of “Schumpeterianism.” To notice the critique of elites, we need to read Part IV in the context of the work as a whole, and with greater sensitivity to the sarcasm, irony, and humor that permeate the book. Such a reading produces a fundamentally altered understanding of Schumpeter's contribution to democratic theory.

Prices in Motion: Schumpeter's Contribution to Price Theory

Schumpeter distinguishes between the circular flow of economic activity and economic development. The former is characterised by equilibrium, while the latter involves discontinuous change that induces business cycles. Schumpeter argues that with development prices are generally in motion. Schumpeter’s theory of the business cycle has been heavily criticised. Specific criticisms relating to his price theory include its characterisation of prices stabilising near the Walrasian competitive equilibrium for a stationary economy and its prediction of a downward trend in prices over the longest cycles. This paper reviews Schumpeter’s theory and the critiques before suggesting a way forward to a revised theory of prices in motion.

Schumpeter's Contribution to Price Theory

Schumpeter distinguishes between the circular flow of economic activity and economic development. The former is characterised by equilibrium, while the latter involves discontinuous change. The price theory that Schumpeter associates with the circular flow is the well established Walrasian price system. However, the price theory which Schumpeter proposes for economic development is only partially developed in writings and has been largely ignored since. Yet, it is the analysis of economic development that constitutes Schumpeter’s enduring contribution to economic thought. This paper provides a critical examination of Schumpeter’s price theory as it applies when there is economic development and provides some suggestions for further development of the theory.

Information, entropy, and progress: a new evolutionary paradigm

Partial Contents: Concepts, Definitions, and Analogies. Entropy & the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Irreversibility in Economics. Information. Theoretical Framework: What is Information? Joint & Conditional Probabilities. Information & Entropy. Physical evolution: From the Universe to the Earth. The Evolution of Matter. The First Picosecond & the Next Three Minutes. From Three Minutes to a Million Years. Geological & Biochemical Evolution. Geological Evolution of the Earth. Chemical Precursors. Digression: Other Unsolved Mysteries. Biological Evolution. Primitive Organisms. The Invention of Sexual Reproduction. Evolutionary Mechanisms & Discontinuities. Evolution in Human Social Systems. The Evolution of Cooperative Behavior. Games & Rational Choice in Social Systems. Evolution in Economic Systems. Evolution & Growth. The Problem of Economic Growth Revisited. Schumpeter's Contribution: Radical Innovation. The Economy as a Self- Organizing Information Processing System. The Analogy with Living Systems. Information Transformation and Value Added. Information Added by Materials Processing. Energy Conversion. Cost of Refining. Morphological Information. Labor as an Information Process. Ergonomic

Schumpeter's Contributions and Catholic Social Thought

Schumpeter's Contributions and Catholic Social Thought

Schumpeter's Contribution to Business Cycle Theory

Schumpeter's Contribution to Business Cycle Theory

Joseph Alois Schumpeter 1883-1950

Introduction, 333. — I. Childhood, 1883–1901, 334. — II. University, 1901–06, 335. — III. Early academic career, 1906–18, 338. — IV. Foray into statesmanship and business, 1919–24, 344. — V. Academic life in Bonn and Harvard, 1925–50, 354. — VI. Schumpeter's contribution to economics, 360. — VII. Why is there no Schumpeter school? 370.