ABSTRACT
The end of his short career at the Ministry of Finance upset Schumpeter mainly because it spelled the end of a career possibility that might have made him famous and wealthy. But the assurance of political friends that lucrative opportunities would soon arise for him in business tempered the disappointment of political failure. He could not condemn the conservative politicians for acting in what they considered their own interests, nor did the actions of the Austro-Marxists embitter him because he knew that his continued presence was a liability to them. In a short time he was to write generous words of the socialists, and he always referred to Otto Bauer as “my dear friend.” But his cameo role in national politics did teach him one lesson: Economics and politics do not mix, at not least for Schumpeter, and he thenceforth seldom had kind words for politicians of any stripe.
