I am thoroughly enjoying Prophet of Innovation, Thomas McCraw’s new biography of Joseph Schumpeter. Reading it reminds me of a long-harbored desire of mine to do a blog-post filled with many of the stunningly brilliant insights from Part II (“Can Capitalism Survive?”) of Schumpeter’s remarkable 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. (I first read this book as an undergraduate, a happy fact that forever immunized me against taking textbook theories of competition too seriously.) I’ll do that blog post soon. For now, though, I content myself with sharing these two quotations that McCraw reports (on page 405 of his biography) are from the mid-1940s Schumpeter’s diary:
Politicians are like bad horsemen who are so preoccupied with keeping in the saddle that they can’t bother about where they go.
And
A statesman is the criminal who works with phrases instead of with the burglar’s jimmy.
(Don’t miss Russ’s podcast with Thomas McCraw.)
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"I first read this book as an undergraduate, a happy fact that forever immunized me against taking textbook theories of competition too seriously"
For those of us who haven't read the book, can someone explain what this implies?
Biomed Time, it implies that you should read it too! That chapter on Capitalism is regarded by many to be the finest exposition on what the capitalist economic process is truly like in the real world.
I read the McCraw biography and was really impressed with Schumpeter the man, rather than the ideas of Schumpeter (though the ideas are what make him relevant). You really get a sense of what he was really like. It was touching to read the unbearable turmoil that had to have effected him from the time his mother and young wife died and then until his death in 1950. No man should have to experience that. I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I did Dr. Boudreaux.
By chance would that have been the chapter where Schumpeter introduced the term "creative destruction"?
I have noticed on this forum a strong dislike of government including politicians. Well – what's the alternative?
I'm sure vidyohs can answer that one.
Graf,
If you want an "alterative to politicians" you could look at Peter Leeson's 2007 article in Public Choice.
But most on this forum are not advocating an alternative to politicians, just recognition of the constraints of the political process. It is not a case between politicians and no politicians, but between powerful politicians and week politicians. Most of this forum’s readers, and certainly its authors believe that society operates best when compulsory actions through the political process are kept to a minimum.
Hope this helps,
Josh
I'm reading Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy now and I was amazed in the first part how the book was simultaneously be the best defense and take down of Marxism I have yet to read.
I do wish you'd go ahead with this project – I'd love to read it.
I'm doing the same thing right now with "The Other Path" – I just put up "quote 27".
It gives me a place to put the stuff I like, and it helps expose the work to more people.