Joseph A. Schumpeter: A Theory of Social and Economic Evolution(Great Thinkers in Economics)

This book examines Schumpeter's dramatic theory of social and economic evolution as the pivot of his life and work, resolving apparent paradoxes and clarifying Schumpeter's challenges to economists and other social scientists.

Table of Contents:
Introduction The Early Schumpeter, 1883-1913 From Equilibrium Economics to Evolutionary Economics The Entrepreneur versus the Economic System Railroadisation as Schumpeter's Standard Example Intermezzo, 1914-1925 Towards a General Theory of Social Evolution The Little Mecca for Economists, 1925-1932 The Harvard Professor and His Projects, 1932-1942 The Evolutionary Trilogy and the Schumpeterian Models The Basic Functioning of the Capitalist Engine The Complex Function of the Capitalist Engine The Economic History of Capitalist Evolution The Transformation of the Capitalist Engine The Capitalist Engine and Long-Term Social Evolution The Last Years, 1943-1950 References Index

About the Author :
ESBEN SLOTH ANDERSEN is Professor of Evolutionary Economics at Aalborg University, Denmark. He has previously held the position of President of the International Schumpeter Society and he received the Gunnar Myrdal Prize in 2010. Recent publications include Evolutionary Economics: Post-Schumpeterian Contributions (1994) and Schumpeter's Evolutionary Economics (2009).

Review :

'From the start of his career Joseph Schumpeter argued that continuing innovation causing both creative destruction and over the long run cumulative great improvements in the living standards of the common people was the most important feature of modern capitalist economies. He dedicated a professional lifetime trying to expand economic theory to recognize this. His general argument is widely accepted by academic economists, as well as by laypersons. On the other hand Schumpeter largely failed to move economic theory from its focus on equilibrium conditions. Esben Anderson does a beautiful job of telling this story.' - Richard R. Nelson, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University

'With this brilliant account of Schumpeter's intellectual history Andersen proves himself to be the leading expert on Schumpeter's writings. He tells us a thrilling story of an intellectual hero who, feeling compelled to revolutionize economic theory, wrestled all over his career with an evolutionary paradigm and eventually left it as an unfinished legacy.' - Ulrich Witt, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena