Innovation Is Not the Key Driver of Economic Growth
Contra the recent winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics, free markets, private savings, and entrepreneurship not so-called innovation, is what drives a market economy.
The Entrepreneur
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The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics: A “Creative Betrayal” of Schumpeter’s Vision
In their 1990 paper, “A Model of Growth Through Creative Destruction,” 2025 Nobel winners Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt attempt to formalize Joseph Schumpeter's theory of “Creative Destruction.” Their mathematical model is not creative, but it is destructive of the theory itself.
The Myth of the “Robber Barons”: James Hill versus the Crony Competitors
As a true market entrepreneur, as opposed to a political entrepreneur, James J. Hill successfully built a transcontinental railroad, outcompeting his government-subsidized competitors.
The Myth of the “Robber Barons”: James Hill versus the Crony Competitors
As a true market entrepreneur, as opposed to a political entrepreneur, James J. Hill successfully built a transcontinental railroad, outcompeting his government-subsidized competitors.
The Myth of Planned Obsolescence
The concept of “planned obsolescence” makes no economic sense and is often an excuse for governments to harass and shake down innovative entrepreneurs. Much of so-called planned obsolescence is really entrepreneurship at work improving products for users and consumers.
The Myth of Planned Obsolescence
The concept of “planned obsolescence” makes no economic sense and is often an excuse for governments to harass and shake down innovative entrepreneurs. Much of so-called planned obsolescence is really entrepreneurship at work improving products for users and consumers.
We Can’t “Teach” Entrepreneurship, But We Can Inspire Future Entrepreneurs
While it is true that one cannot create entrepreneurs in a classroom setting, it still is important that people how entrepreneurship works. No one explains entrepreneurship better than Austrian economists.
“The Public Be Damned”
The famous phrase was uttered by William H. Vanderbilt, which was interpreted to mean that the capitalists didn’t care for their customers. Vanderbilt knew he worked for his stockholders, but in working for them, he had to provide for his railroad’s passengers.
Disaster Prediction and Alerts Would Thrive in the Free Market
People (including most mainstream economists) assume that only a government bureaucracy can effectively deal with predicting disasters and alerting people in harm's way. However, this is an area of enterprise that is ripe for free markets.
Benjamin Constant: French Liberal Extraordinaire
“He loved liberty as other men love power,” was the judgment passed on Benjamin Constant by a contemporary. His lifelong concern, both as a writer and politician, was the growth of human freedom.
