Schumpeter's Venture Money

Distinctively tying history with theory, political economist Joseph A. Schumpeter reached far back in time to understand what drives economic development and determines its course. Historical and empirical research provided a laboratory for learning. At the same time, he reached for a long-term vision through theoretical inspection and utmost abstraction, seeking to distil a phenomenon's essential nature and function. He believed that good theory can indicate where the economy is headed in the future. Schumpeter's attention to history and theory also informed the plan for this book. Part I trails the historical stream of financial innovations and the scholarly struggle to assimilate them in monetary thought, while Part II focuses on Schumpeter's own monetary theory. Its deliberate reconstruction from scattered sources reveals a strikingly original and still modern conception. Drawing from the detailed study of documents at various archives in Austria, Part III then concentrates on the business history of Schumpeter's failed personal endeavours in banking and as a proto-venture capitalist. Finally, Part IV casts light on the legacy of Schumpeter's monetary ideas on contemporary thought. It depicts how monetary theory initially left them behind, yet has more recently set out to return to his ideas on money, financial innovation, and growth. Overall, a surprisingly coherent picture emerges from the study of Schumpeter's neglected monetary theory, his personal history, and his intellectual legacy on the present day.

Michael Peneder is senior economist at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and was its deputy director from 2010 to 2013. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto as well as Visiting Researcher at Stanford University and Harvard University. He teaches at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and is editor of the Journal of Industry, Competition, and Trade. As chairman of the Committee for Evolutionary Economics he was a board member of the German Economic Association. His research focuses on industrial development, innovation, and entrepreneurial finance. Andreas Resch is associate professor at the Institute for Economic and Social History at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He has spent two terms as Bye-Fellow at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, and has authored numerous publications in fields such as banking and financial history, industrial history, business history, and the history of innovation in German and English language.