Saturday, October 08, 2022

Joseph Schumpeter predicted the end of capitalism and the victory of socialism

Some food for thought! Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950), besides Karl Marx, is probably one of the best known intellectuals to proclaim the demise of capitalism to be overtaken by socialism, but for different reasons.

Schumpeter is most famous for his economic concept of creative destruction!

I believe, Schumpeter was way too pessimistic as far as the success and survival of capitalism is concerned! No wonder, he lived through both  world wars and the Great Depression! He may have also underestimated the dynamics and power of creative destruction of capitalism.

"Can capitalism survive? No. I do not think it can... its very success undermines the social institutions which protect it, and ‘inevitably’ creates conditions in which it will not be able to live and which strongly point to socialism as the heir apparent.
—Joseph A. Schumpeter (1942), Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (Harper & Brothers), p. 61."

"... Many people today believe that Schumpeter’s predictions are coming true or at least the wheels of this transition are in motion in many of the world’s historically capitalist-based economies such as Canada, the United States, and most of Western Europe. These countries have all witnessed the size of government and economic intervention both growing rapidly. But to some, perhaps the clearest indicator that Schumpeter’s predicted transition, and its causes, are emerging is the growing prevalence of anti-capitalist views among the intellectual elite on college campuses."

A side note: Schumpeter was born in the same year as John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946).

Note: I did not have the time to read the essay below.

Entrepreneurial Economist Predicted Socialism | Fraser Institute

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