Joseph Schumpeter and the German Historical School

So far Schumpeter's affinities with the German Historical School (GHS) have been inadequately acknowledged or even unexplored in major accounts of Schumpeter's work. This essay argues that Schumpeter formulated some of his principal theses in accordance with the conceptual framework of the GHS. Schumpeter's affinity with the GHS is established by examining his writings and his relationship with major scholars such as Schmoller, Max Weber and Sombart. It is demonstrated that Schumpeter's works built heavily on GHS insights, and he even referred positively to the ideas of certain of its members. However, some obvious differences between Schumpeter and the GHS are observed. The paper concludes that the GHS should inspire further research in evolutionary economics