Log In | Subscribe
Features

What crisis? This is creative destruction

  23rd November 2008  —  Issue 152
Is this the end of capitalism? No, this is how capitalism works. But we must get smarter at lending to poor people

To discuss this article visit First Drafts, Prospect’s blog

Writing in 1942, Joseph Schumpeter observed that it was in the nature of capitalism to make progress by means of “creative destruction.” There has been much destruction in the financial sector over the past year: of asset prices, of banks and of confidence. It is not yet widely recognised that this has been part of a creative process, but there is good reason to think that it is.

Asset prices were overvalued, banks were poorly managed and confidence turned out to be complacency in disguise. The time was ripe for a Schumpeterian mutation.

This article is available to subscribers only

Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.

Subscription Types:

Print

As a print edition subscriber you can get over 20 per cent discounted from our cover price. Have the magazine delivered straight to your door each month, starting at just £16 for six months. All print subscriptions now come with a free online subscription which includes complete access to our searchable archive. Buy a subscription now »

Online

An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »

Renewal

Renew an existing subscription »

Institutional access

If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
  • Comment Subscribe to post comments