ABSTRACT
The first six chapters have laid out a theory of economic progress that differs in fundamental ways from the framework presented by mainstream economic analysis in the early twenty-first century. Many of the ideas presented here are not entirely new, and the general orientation of this analysis can trace its foundation back to more than two centuries, to the ideas of Adam Smith. But the economics profession has not uniformly followed Smith’s lead, or built on his insights. Chapter 2 framed the issue by dividing the analysis of economic growth into two broad camps, one following the ideas of Smith, and the other following the ideas of David Ricardo. This volume takes the Smithian approach, building on Smith’s insights along with the insights of other economists, most notably Joseph Schumpeter and Israel Kirzner. One goal of this chapter is to discuss the relationships among the ideas of Smith, Schumpeter, and Kirzner. Doing this points toward a more general entrepreneurial theory of economic progress, leading to a second goal of this chapter, which is to synthesize the ideas of the previous chapters and describe the process that generates progress. Because this approach to economic progress differs in fundamental respects from the mainstream approach, another goal of this chapter is to highlight those differences.
