The Economics Book

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Economic systems

KEY THINKER

Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950)

BEFORE

1867 Karl Marx states that capitalism moves forward by crisis, repeatedly destroying a whole range of productive forces.

1913 German economist Werner Sombart argues that destruction opens the way for creation, just as a shortage of wood led to the use of coal.

AFTER

1995 US economist Clayton M. Christensen distinguishes between disruptive and sustaining innovation.

2001 US economists Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan argue that even the most exceptional corporations cannot beat the capital markets indefinitely.

When a recession bites and companies and jobs start to disappear, ...