J. Bradford DeLong on Joseph Schumpeter

“I can say that General Theory develops, justifies, rationalizes, extends, applies, and shows economists how to use what had by then become the author's standard themes and approaches in a way that Business Cycles, the History of Economic Analysis, and even Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy do not. Back in 1970, the economist Harry G. Johnson pointed out that all successful founders of schools not only are geniuses with profound insights but also provide a road map that tells their followers and successors what to do to make a successful academic career within the school. Schumpeter did not do that second part.”

“Empire was the equivalent of a modern-day sports team... The military aristocracy loved to play, and the people loved to watch. Schumpeter hated this. And he thought that it was on the way out—that as people became richer and more prosperous, the burgeois virtues would win, and the drive for empire would die. Schumpeter expected the con to end, and a peaceful, less aristocratic, less imperial, less bloodthirsty twentieth century. He was wrong.”