Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

Front Cover
Routledge, May 13, 2013 - Business & Economics - 460 pages
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy remains one of the greatest works of social theory written this century. When it first appeared the New English Weekly predicted that `for the next five to ten years it will cetainly remain a work with which no one who professes any degree of information on sociology or economics can afford to be unacquainted.' Fifty years on, this prediction seems a little understated.

Why has the work endured so well? Schumpeter's contention that the seeds of capitalism's decline were internal, and his equal and opposite hostility to centralist socialism have perplexed, engaged and infuriated readers since the book's publication. By refusing to become an advocate for either position Schumpeter was able both to make his own great and original contribution and to clear the way for a more balanced consideration of the most important social movements of his and our time.
 

Contents

THE MARXIAN DOCTRINE
Prologue
Marx the Prophet
Marx the Sociologist
Marx the Economist
Marx the Teacher
CAN CAPITALISM SURVIVE?
Prologue
Growing Hostility
Decomposition
A Preliminary Point
The Human Element
Transition
The Setting of the Problem
The Classical Doctrine of Democracy
Another Theory of Democracy

The Rate of Increase of Total Output
Plausible Capitalism
The Process of Creative Destruction
Monopolistic Practices
Closed Season
The Vanishing of Investment Opportunity
The Civilization of Capitalism
Crumbling Walls I The Obsolescence of the Entrepreneurial Function
The Destruction of the Protecting Strata
The Inference
Prologue
From the First to the Second World
The Consequences of the Second World
Preface to the First Edition 1942
Preface to the Third Edition 1949
The March into Socialism
Index
Copyright

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About the author (2013)

Joseph A. Schumpeter

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