Can Capitalism Survive?

by Joseph A. Schumpeter

2011 Reprint of 1947 Second Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Originally Published as Part II of Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy [1947]. " Can capitalism survive? No. I do not think it can." Thus opens Schumpeter's prologue to a section of his 1947 book, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. One might think, on the basis of the quote, that Schumpeter was a Marxist. But the analysis that led Schumpeter to his conclusion differed totally from Karl Marx's. Marx believed that capitalism would be destroyed by its enemies (the proletariat), whom capitalism had purportedly exploited, and he relished the prospect. Schumpeter believed that capitalism would be destroyed by its successes, that it would spawn a large intellectual class that made its living by attacking the very bourgeois system of private property and freedom so necessary for the intellectual class's existence. And unlike Marx, Schumpeter did not relish the destruction of capitalism. "If a doctor predicts that his patient will die presently," he wrote, "this does not mean that he desires it."

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, Sociology, Philosophy, Social Issues

107 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

People know Moravian-born Joseph Alois Schumpeter, an American, for his theories of socioeconomic evolution and the development of capitalism.

This political scientist briefly served as finance minister of Austria in 1919. Of the 20th century, the most influential Schumpeter popularized the term "creative destruction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...

Reviews

[Don Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fan of paradoxes, Schumpeter argued that the destruction of capitalism will come not from the inherent weaknesses of the system but rather from its greatest strengths. The driving force of capitalism is the entrepreneurial spirit and through channeling that spirit: innovation. By creating a new method of production, a new product, or another improvement to our daily lives, entrepreneurs must destroy the pre-existing companies which produced what is now outdated products--or what Schumpeter termed "creative destruction." The common consumer, taking innovation for granted, does not celebrate the innovation, for he or she does not completely understand the process.

The capitalist system has created mass communication for the anti-capitalistic mentality to persist and grow. Intellectuals see entrepreneurs and CEOs earn enormous amounts of money and profits. Being intellectuals, they do not want to comprehend how someone they believe to be less intelligent and doing what they view as menial tasks should be financially rewarded higher than they; it is unjust.

Capitalism, Schumpeter believes, has created the products and resentment towards that very system. Overall, this book has an interesting take on the downfall of the capitalistic system. Other predictions relied on the inherent weaknesses of capitalism, while Schumpeter, a clear appreciator and a lover of capitalism, sees its downfall through its inherent strengths.

[Michael Gallagher]

Schumpeter’s inability to craft a coherent sentence kneecaps all the really timeless ideas about monopolies going on here; better off reading secondary literature or an overview

[Darren Glazier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liberal socialist garbage.

[Sarah McPherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A germane question, especially in the aftermath of the 2008 global rout. Schumpeter argues that there are seeds of creation in economic collapse, which tells us that perhaps new industries are emerging from the economic meltdown of the crisis. A tour de force.

[Mikko Arevuo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A shortened version of 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy."