Someone born in 1600 would find the world of 1800 quite familiar. But someone born in 1800 would find today’s world beyond comprehension. What explains this transformation? The answer is: market capitalism.
Why has market capitalism proved so dynamic? The answer is that it contains within it a powerful engine of change. That is not just economic freedom, though this matters. Nor is it science and technology, though that matters too. It is what the great Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction”.
