The Economics of Creative Destruction

Leading social scientists explore pressing issues—monopoly and inequality, growth and innovation, climate change and fraying social safety nets—through the lens of creative destruction. Far more than a theory of capitalist dynamics, creative destruction proves an important idea for illuminating a wide range of social and political challenges.

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A stellar cast of economists examines the roles of creative destruction in addressing today’s most important political and social questions.

Inequality is rising, growth is stagnant while rents accumulate, the environment is suffering, and the COVID-19 pandemic exposed every crack in the systems of global capitalism. How can we restart growth? Can our societies be made fairer? Editors Ufuk Akcigit and John Van Reenen assemble a world-leading group of social scientists and theorists to consider these questions and, in particular, how ideas about the economics of creative destruction may help solve the problems we face.

Most closely associated with Joseph Schumpeter, formalized by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt in the 1990s, the idea of innovation as creative destruction has become foundational in economics, reaching into almost every corner of the discipline—both theoretically and empirically. Now, at a time of rapid and disorienting change, is an opportune moment to pull the disparate strands of research together to assess what has been learned and continue an intellectual project that can aid economic decision-making in the decades to come.

The cutting-edge work in The Economics of Creative Destruction focuses on innovation and growth. Contributors offer illuminating insights into monopoly and inequality, the nature of the social safety net, climate change, and the ups and downs of regulation. Collectively, they suggest that governance has a role to play in capitalism, maximizing its benefits and minimizing its risks.