Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
By Joseph Schumpeter
- Publisher: Routledge
- Number Of Pages: 460
- Publication Date: 2006-08-28
- ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0415107628
- ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780415107624
- Binding: Paperback
Book Description:
CS+D is one of the greatest books on political economy in the twentieth century. Schumpeter wrote this book when his generation was about to reach a fork in the road. What would the postwar world look like? Could Capitalism survive? Can Socialism work well enough to replace Capitalism? Was the dictatorial socialism of the USSR the wave of the future or could we have some form of democratic socialism? Schumpeter offered concise general answers to these questions. No, Capitalism cannot survive, and yes socialism can work.
In retrospect we can see that Schumpeter was wrong. However, there is no denying the greatness of this book. While Schumpeter's prediction of the demise of Capitalism was exaggerated, this is to some extent an understandable error. Schumpeter was right about how Capitalism would be attacked, but he overestimated the chances for the success of this attack. Capitalism did come under attack from the carping criticism of intellectuals. Many of those who you might expect to defend Capitalism remained silent. Yet capitalism survived anyway. Schumpeter's assertion that socialism can work is less defensible. Schumpeter also erred in predicting the obsolescence of the entrepreneurial function.
We can now use 20-20 hindsight to criticize Schumpeter for his general predictions. Or we could recognize that many of his individual supporting arguments are thought provoking, if not correct. Schumpeter had some good insights into democracy. His ideas on creative destruction and monopoly are important. Schumpeter does a good job discussing Marx too.
The important thing to remember while reading CS+D, is that you can learn much from it even though its major predictions failed the test of time. The issues explored in CS+D are vastly complex and involve elements that are hard to measure, let alone predict. One can be right on nine out of ten supporting arguments and still get the wrong answer in the end.
CS+D stands along side Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and Keynes' The General Theory as one of the most important and influential books of this mid Twentieth Century. Aside from its historical importance CS+D has many good insights. Schumpeter is worth reading despite the fact that his major predictions have failed. Read CS+D for its detailed analysis of economic and political systems, not for its general predictions regarding the postwar world.
Download this eBook
